Aspects of a plant pot?
Clare Symons
Posts: 3
I've asked this question on here before, but I didn't really get the answers I was expected so I've changed my questions slightly.
In my DT lessons I'm planning to make a plant pot out of wood for climbing plants. As part of my project I have to conduct a small survey,
Survey:
What attributes should a wooden plant pot have?
for example:
- size, look, function, manufacture, safety, weight
What is the ideal price of a plant pot?
Thank you 
0
Posts
How long is a piece of string? There's no such thing as a 'one size fits all' plant pot.
As it's for climbing plants it would obviously need some form of trellis or support frame but other than that there's no right or wrong answer.
For safety purposes I supose you could argue that the pot, filled, should not weigh more than 20kg but you would have to work out the weight/cubic capacity of the soil to work out the optimum size. Why this isn't terribly helpful in real life is, for example, a half oak barrel has excellent depth and moisture retaining properties and is IMO an ideal wooden planter but is so heavy empty it's hard to move and when filled would take the Incredible Hulk to pick it up.
The ideal price of a plant pot is free!
Again, in real life, there's no easy answer. If it is in a prominent display position price may not even be an object. For example, I would pay a lot more for a plant pot situated on my front veranda where the whole world will see it than a plant pot in the back garden where it will be less visible. Other people might take the completely opposite view and prefer to spend more money on their own visual pleasure.
I once bought a wooden trough, unlined, with a trellis up the back of it. It had been treated, but after about 10 years rotted and fell apart. The Nelly Moser clematis that was in it has now been transplanted to another pot.
Another thing about the wooden trough was that it was made of planks of wood, a bit like narrow decking planks, and it was very leaky, it was hard keeping it damp enough, when watered the water leaked out between the planks and leaked a lot out of the bottom.
Size depends on what you want to grow in it. A few bedding plants can manage in a smaller pot than a clematis. As Mac the Cat says wooden pots are very heavy. Ideal price is what you can afford. What it looks like depends on your personal taste. If you are making it yourself then a square one would be easiest.
Measured my pots with climbers. The smallest is 50cms tall and 40cms wide. In wood filled with damp compost that would be heavy to move easily, so put it where it will stay. Also, wood should be lined to stop the rot that ended the life of my pot and to retain some moisture. But it should also have drainage holes to stop water stagnating in the bottom and rotting the plants roots.
BL and Macthecat are right. No 'one size' fits all. I recently made raised beds for ornamentals which use treated timber and are lined. The same principle applies to a container but the drainage, as BL says, needs to be in place in the base. As to size, for any climber, the size is probably the most important thing. If you don't intend moving it around, you'd have one as big as possible as it will benefit the plants. I'd say BL is right again with sizing- anything smaller than around 40/50 cm is too small for most climbers to get a good chance of growing well. If you look at Versailles containers- originating in the orangeries at Versailles- you'll see that they are quite decorative with little ball finials at the corners. It makes them more pleasing in a garden. I'd suggest that something decorative - a panel of some sort, similar to the panels in lead containers - would be a worthwhile addition. Some built in feet to raise them would be a must to avoid waterlogging.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
plant pots made out of wood do not last well and if treated have to wait to use.They do look nice but they need a liner as you will need to perserve the wood .