I designed a three tiered, stackable container garden with a message for the Fourth of July for my gardening segment on the Home & Family show recently.
Along the front of a trio of stacked, white terra-cotta pots, I painted the words "God Bless America" in royal blue.
Turn the planters around and the message reads "Joy, Peace, Love," a perfect message for the Christmas holidays!
Painted with red letters, of course.
Stackable planters with messages are trendy these days and I always like to add my own design twist.
With "reversible" containers, I can extend the usefulness of the decorative garden display beyond the Fourth of July holiday.
I can keep the patriotic planter on the porch from the Fourth of July until Christmas!
How To Make Stackable Holiday Planters
Watch my TV segment from the Home & Family show, "DIY Stacked Patriotic Planter with Shirley Bovshow"
Select a small, medium and large terra cotta container and paint with white indoor/outdoor latex paint.
Tape off the inside of container as shown and paint the inner lip white, stopping short of the soil line.
Paint an accent color under the outside rim of the planters. I chose red.
If you are good at freehand drawing, paint your desired message.
I don't trust my hand, so I wrote message in pencil and filled it in with paint.
Begin with your large container and invert a sturdy plastic growing pot inside of it.
Growing pots can usually be found in recycle bins or at landscape centers for free.
Ask around.
This upside down container will serve as a platform on which to set the medium size planter.
You may need to stack a few empty containers until you are happy with the elevation of the medium container.
Once the inverted growing pots are stacked as high as you like, fill the space between them and the garden container with potting soil.
Move on to the next level, stacking the growing pots and then place the last container on top!
It's time to plant!
This patriotic planter design features red, white and blue plants, and I kept the variety of plants to a minimum on purpose.
Too many different plants creates a busy feeling and that's not what you want.
Plant Selection For Shirley's Patriotic Stacked Planter
RED
Zonal geraniums
Celosia- to add texture
WHITE
Nemesia
Gaura
Gerbera Daisy
BLUE
Lobelia
Planting Tips
Start planting from the top and work your way down.
This way, you won't spill soil on top of the plants in the lower levels.
Plant lower-growing annuals like the blue lobelia beneath the words so that it won't grow up and cover the message!
Cascading plants like the nemesia should be planted along the sides of the container.
Invest in a sturdy, strong plant caddy with casters so you can spin your container arrangement around when the holiday changes!
Isn't this fun?
Hi Marie,
Thanks for commenting and watching the show. I used regular acrylic paint for indoor and outdoors.
Shirley
Shirley, I love this idea. I'd have to use stencils, but I think I might give it a try. Did you use any special type of paint?