9 classically beautiful large planters and pots to shop right now – for timeless style in your yard ahead of summer
Choose from our expert edit of elegant large garden pots for trees and big leaf plants
No garden is complete without pots overflowing with color, scent, and texture. The use of huge planters, filled with trees or large plants, gives the chance to deliver drama and visual impact in a relatively contained space. Plants can be added and edited as inspiration strikes, and for the horticulturally lustful amongst us, there is nothing as planning a large container of plants.
If you’re inspired by container gardening ideas, and in particular, looking for large pots ideal for trees or large plants, it's worth bearing in mind that the style of the pot you choose will make just as much of an impact as the plant you choose to put in it. Ensuring the aesthetic of both pot and plant work in harmony is essential, and considering large planters take up a lot of space, it's worth investing in the ones you love.
9 of the best large planters to shop now
A beautifully tactile, cauldron planter that gives the impression of being centuries old, when immersed in a rustic garden scheme and covered in dainty foliage and flowers. It's wide enough to accommodate even the largest of plants, including climbers and ramblers.
There is little else in the garden that gets my pulse racing quite as fast as an enormous terracotta pot. This time-honored terracotta planter is appropriate for most traditional or modern gardens. This one is made from frost-proof clay guaranteed to minus 15 degrees. One pot like this on either side of a front door always looks delicious.
Admittedly these aren't enormous, but they're far larger than traditional urn planters. With an antique finish and classic urn shape, these planters add traditional aesthetic appeal and are are built to last for years of outdoor use in any climate or season.
Remarkably, this planter is suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Its made from woven in poly-rattan, but looks wonderfully laidback and rustic, particularly when planted with a bay or gnarled olive tree and underplanted with dainty trailing plants.
One of the secrets to container gardening is to layer the heights of the pots to ensure continual visual interest. This looks particularly beautiful when planted with plants with an upright habit or trailing varieties that can spill over the edges. Best, though, in my opinion, are glossy-leaved agapanthus, which look staggeringly beautiful in pots of this shape.
If you want to make a visual statement in a pared-back, modern garden scheme, this planter will deliver the desired effect. This planter reminds us of sunnier climes, so much warmth and earthiness does this color palette bring, you half expect to see a gecko scuttle by in the sand.
A look that befits a stately home and reminiscent of a bygone era, this terracotta urn would look wonderfully elegant planted with ferns, hostas, and other glossy-leaved plants. Come summer fill it with trailing verbena and bumble bee loving salvia. It's deep enough to take bigger plants too; a fiddle leaf fig would look perfect in a pot of this shape and size.
This beautiful used wine barrel planter made of solid oak can be used in so many different contexts. This design is wonderfully versatile and unpretentious. There is a certain ruggedness to the aesthetic, but of course, that's part of its charm. That said, when luxuriantly planted, it will look dashingly smart and sophisticated.
These stunning whitewashed clay planters look as though they have been plucked from the Med. A spectacular way to bring modern romanticism to your yard and an injection of sunshine and warmth. They work both indoors and outdoors, and have a drainage hole so you needn't worry about stagnant water.
Deciding whether to buy a plant or a pot first is a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation. However, it's worth ensuring the plants you pick will thrive in pots, including taking note of the best trees to grow in pots (certainly not all trees will survive or flourish in pots) and those plants you should never put in a terracotta pot (we're looking at you, azaleas!)
One of the most common container gardening mistakes is selecting the wrong-sized container. A container that is too small will restrict growth and make for a miserable plant. A container that is too large can make certain plants look a little minimized. Crucially, you should consider the mature size of what you're planting to pick the perfect pot, and if in doubt, larger is better.
