A plant-potting tip

About 13 years ago I was thumbing through a Martha Stewart magazine and came across the handiest tip for transferring potted plants. While filling the new container with soil, place the pre-potted plant INSIDE the container, and just fill in the dirt around it. Then, when you have the container all filled, take the potted plant out and there is a perfect little hole for you to place the sans-pot plant in. So easy. And you didn't have to hold an unpotted plant steady whilst filling in around it. Brilliant.

I used this tip over the weekend when I had a chance to put out our balcony planter boxes. I've been loving how much color and life they add to the front of our cozy little home. Here's a little step by step if you are wanting some flower boxes of your own and are a first-time-planter-box planter.

STEP 1: Give appropriate drainage

Plants need water drainage to thrive, so make sure your container provides it. My containers are solid on the bottom, so to provide adequate water drainage for the plant roots, I filled the bottom of my containers about an inch deep with small rocks I purchased at the hardware store in the gardening section. I then layered some moss on top to keep the soil from slipping down into the rocks. You can also drill holes in the bottom of your container if you prefer.

STEP 2: Filling with dirt

Like we talked about above, place your potted plants from the store inside your new container and fill in the dirt around them, making sure to press the soil down firmly to keep it nice and packed. See how the plants are still in their store pots down there?

STEP 3: Potting the plants

Once you have the dirt filled nearly to the top of the plant pots, gently remove the potted plants from the new planter, exposing the perfectly portioned hole for the plant to go in. 

Then, even more gently, remove the plants from their original containers. Be sure to break up the bottom of the root ball a little bit (simply use your hand to loosen the dirt on the bottom of the plant) before placing it in the new planter, and then pack in the rest of the dirt around the plant so is feels nice and cozy in its new home. And that's it! Enjoy your new planters.