DIY Stacked Herb Garden
We love easy DIY Spring projects for our homes!
If you’re in need of a new (yet totally easy project) then you should grow your own herbs in this DIY stacked potted herb garden! Not only will it spruce up your outdoor space, but it’s also a convenient and frugal way to incorporate your own homegrown herbs into cooking!
This is a great project if you have mismatched pots lying around of course buying some new ones work just as well too! The basic idea is to find 3 different sized pots to use as a tower and then to use two small-sized pots (empty paint cans work too!) upside down for height and to stabilize the planter.
Consider painting all your pots in the same color as I did for a more uniform look.
Here’s What you need to make your own stacked herb garden:
-
- 5 pots of varying sizes to create a tower (plastic or terra cotta planters will work)
- Potting soil
- Herbs or flowers (For my planter I used basil, parsley, cilantro, and mint.)
- Outdoor garden markers
- Black craft paint
- White paint pen
- Paint for painting mismatched pots (if desired)
Here’s how you make your own stacked herb garden:
- Paint the pots (optional) and let dry.
- Start with the largest planter pot at the bottom and place an upside down small pot on the inside.
- Add potting soil and plant the first tier of herbs around the outside of the pot. Repeat for the second and third-tier.
- When done, you’ll have three tiers of herbs.
- Finish by dipping plain, plastic garden markers in paint and using a permanent paint pen to write the names of herbs.
Look at how beautiful it looks when you’re all done! 😍
My herbs lasted for almost the entire summer last year with normal watering – the basil and mint definitely lasted the longest. This year, I chose to fill my pots with $10 worth of annual flowers and I think they turned out great!
How fun, so pretty, thanks for a great idea
Hi everyone,
Do you know where i can get organic potting soil. Any ideas appreciated. First time i will do this, so i am without experience.
Few weeks ago i saw it in home depot. So i’m guessing you can get it most garden stores
Home Depot and lowes. I would stick to the miracle grow brand organic. We used a different brand last year and had major aphid problems. Their eggs were in the soil. I got the miracle grow organic garden soil this time and added perlite and peat moss to make my own potting soil. Did 2 parts soil, 1 part peat moss , 1/2 part compost and 1/2 part perliteHth!
Hardware stores like Home Depot.
Check out Big Lots for organic potting soil.
Miracle Gro organic potting soil was on clearance at my target for around $3.50/bag!
Miracle grow is full of toxins, you can make your own. You can make it for a tenth less, I use this https://theladyprefers2save.com/?p=116
I just bought some today at Home Depot for $8.98 a bag I believe. The brand was vigoro. The gardener there recommended it for bucket gardening. You could also try indoor or small outdoor compost pile to get you organic homemade soil.
I like this idea! Do you have to attach the containers to each other somehow? I was just wondering if they would shift or topple over if they’re not attached.
I did not attach mine. The soil makes it heavy, and I’ve not had an issue with it shifting 🙂 Thanks!
I wanted to do this for my front porch but I never thought about doing this as a Mother’s Day present. Thanks.
This is how we’ve done strawberries for the last couple years. It works so much better!
How did you grow strawberries? Can you please elaborate a bit? I would love to try this on our patio. TIA
You would just plant the strawberries in the above planter like she did the herbs and flowers (though I would put something else in the top pot, since the berries wouldn’t hang over as well there), and when the plants grow the berries and new shoots hang over the edge of the pot. This gives you and your berries multiple advantages: berries that hang over an edge do not mold as quickly and are easier to find. 🙂 Hope that helps! You may also want to invest in a mesh net to drape over the strawberry plants…birds love strawberries!
I can’t keep my hungry little dog out of my strawberries! Just about the time they get ripe, he gobbles them all up.
It’s a super cool idea and pardon me for sounding foolish but this way there is so little of the plant produce! I could and would use up all that basil and cilantro mint parsley in one go! What do you do then? Wait for them to regrow?
Yes this would be a small herb garden idea. Consider doing flowers as well 🙂
Am I missing something? Unless you plant the herbs from seed, can the herb plants you buy have their roots be separated to spread out around the entire pot? Does that make sense?
You could also plant a “starter,” which can often be found at a farmer’s market. Stores often sell larger versions of herbs/flowers for $2.50-$5, or you could try seeds, which are a bit harder. The “starters” cost less (about $1.50 or so at my local Saturday farmer’s market downtown) and are basically baby plants. Their roots and leaves will grow to fill available space, but because they are just starting out they are very easy to plant. An additional bonus is often the seller at the market is the person who grew them, and they can answer any questions you have about the plants and give tips on how to help them thrive. 🙂
Yes they can. You can split a herb plant in 3 or 4 clumps, no problem. That’s how a lot of plants are propagated.
This is so pretty, but I’m thinking of leaving it terracotta though, to avoid paint chemicals seeping into herb plants. Thanks for sharing!
It’s cute, but I’m wondering how practical it will be. The upside down pots remove a lot of potting soil from the pots, meaning it will dry up faster. Add in that it’s terracotta and it will dry EVEN faster. Expect to water this 2 or more times a day during the summer if you live in an area with hot and dry summers. There are other stacked planter designs out there, with stakes through the middle to give the design stability. And since they have pots over the soil, it would prevent the soil from drying out as much. Just some practical thoughts on the design.
I like this! The way it is built will use less of the expensive soil and the way the pots are stacked will allow water to not stay stagnant at the bottom so much to cause rotting roots. Will make it harder to over water. Great idea!
Great idea! We have 1 pot with a drip so it doesnt dry out. It kept our jalapeno pepper plant growing in the hot sun for 9 months in FL. I just may have to try the 3 tier set now. 🙂