Trendy Planters

Natural-looking containers, such as terra cotta, have long reigned on residential sites. Because of their popularity, Joan Archibald, branch manager, Garden Art International, Santa Ana, Calif., recommends custom finishes as one way for contractors to customize each job. Also popular in residential settings are glazed ceramic planters, which come in some beautiful greens, blues and yellows. “Everyone loves the glazed bowls,” says Amy Olson, project director, Moore Landscapes, Northbrook, Ill. “They come in great colors, like cobalt blue and burgundy.”

A terra cotta alternative is even showing up in commercial jobs. “Commercial applications usually use the plastic-looking terra cotta,” says Deirdre Toner, project director, Mariani Landscape, Lake Bluff, Ill. It’s more durable and won’t crack like real terra cotta as the soil inside goes from wet to dry and frozen to thaw.

But some customers are drawn to more contemporary containers with simple, clean lines. “We’ve seen a trend of sleek, angular planters being specified,” says Archibald. The typically ceramic pots come from China and Vietnam and offer landscape settings a look Archibald refers to as “Zen.”

Not only are containers becoming more popular, it’s becoming popular to use more containers. Called clustering, the idea is to group various-sized containers, instead of using only one pot. “You cluster a couple together to get a mixed impact,” explains Chris Lyon, president, Planter Technology and Tournesol Siteworks, Hayward, Calif. “So rather than just one plant, you’re getting multiple. You might get one flower bowl and one shrub-type plant.”

Some non-traditional containers are also gaining attention lately. Window boxes are a great way to not only install gardens right up to a house, but onto a house as well. Lyon says more clients want window boxes today than 10 to 15 years ago. “With today’s new window box products, you can put up a lot better quality window box and get better results with it than you used to be able to,” he says. “With some of the fiberglass boxes, you don’t have to worry about them corroding or rotting like you did with wooden boxes.”

Hanging baskets have also been popping up recently. Olson’s company installs and maintains the colorful baskets that line the streets of downtown Chicago. “The hanging baskets are very popular,” she says. “We’re seeing them all over now. In cities, we’re seeing them along main thoroughfares and along sidewalks.”

Lyon also encourages contractors to look for unique containers, something the client’s neighbors won’t have. “Try to pick something with character, something you wouldn’t find in a garden center,” he says. He encourages contractors to find information on creative containers in trade magazines, on the Web, by talking to manufacturers, or by locating a local distributor who specializes in pots.

“You want to establish the unique selling proposition,” Lyon explains. “That means what you’re selling is unique because you’re a contractor. It’s not something clients can do themselves.” Lyon also suggests avoiding the typical garden center variety pots, adding “There’s not much value in that stuff, and you’re trying to sell value.”