HANGING PLANTER

Need a project for those fall and winter afternoons? Try making a hanging planter from PVC pipe. You can choose from the various sizes and lengths of pipe, depending on what you may want to plant in it. An eight-foot section of six-inch PVC can provide enough material for two hanging planters or one six-foot planter buried upright two feet into the ground.

Experiment with "T's" and elbows to create side planters off of the main column. The following is another method of creating side planters like a strawberry pot.

Determine and mark the locations you want to access. With a hacksaw, cut crosswise on the six-inch pipe to a depth of about one and one-half inch. Slowly heat the area of the cut with a propane torch. Please be careful. At it becomes pliable, insert a broom handle or other similar object into the cut at a forty-five degree angle and pull down to form a protruding lip similar to those on strawberry pots. Keeping the pipe pliable, press the upper lip of the cut into the pipe to complete the access hole. You may want to experiment with the depth of the cut to determine the size of the access hole. Place a cap on the end of the pipe to hold the soil, but with a small hole in it to allow drainage. Drill opposing holes near the top and use nylon cord to hang the planter.
Cut a piece of one-inch PVC the same length as your planter and put a cap on one end. Drill holes along the pipe, wrap it with screen wire to keep planting material from entering the pipe, and insert it into the middle of the six-inch pipe. Add your planting material and plants at the same time.
To water, punch a small hole in the bottom and lid of a one-gallon milk jug and add enough houseplant fertilizer to make one gallon. Place the jug on top of the planter so that the fertilizer drips into the one-inch pipe in the middle. Be sure to water thoroughly the first time.

J. D. Wood, Smith County Master Gardener
Texas AgriLife Extension Service

Landscape Index
Gardening Tips For Northeast Texas Index