Container Gardening - Saving Your Back

While we really love the look of the large planters with flowers cascading down, they can be next to impossible to move! We found this out the hard way. The first year we planted 7 very large clay pots and about a month down the road, they needed to be moved so we could stain the deck. These things were beyond heavy! They were really hard to lift and it took 2 people to move them. We knew we would need to make some changes.

The next year we used the same pots but before planting, we put each pot on a moveable base (board on wheels) so they could be easily moved. We liked the result of having the planters on wheels as we were able to rearrange the pots at a whim. This was great when we would bring out more furniture and we readjust the planters around the new arrangement. Trouble was they could also be easily moved by accident, even by the dog! In fact we had more than one get moved right off the deck, breaking two of the pots.

Conclusion: Putting large planters on a wheeled base can be a blessing for very heavy pots but they can also be moved right off the deck. They would work best on deck or patio that is either enclosed or ground level.