Commercial planters come in all shapes and sizes from tapered to square and large to tabletop, but there are also ways to special order personalized planters at PureModern. When you want your design to go the extra mile or exceed expectations of a client, think of your planter as a jumping-off point to bringing the project to the next level.

Surprisingly, planters are used for more than adding greenery to a space. They can be designed and fabricated to serve multiple purposes. For example, they can hold outdoor lights, much like how a stair-step light is installed on the vertical rise of outdoor stairs. Or rectangular planters can be fabricated to hold a trellis. This creates an instant wall of green to block the unsightly adjacent parking lot.

By adding commercial planter add-ons, you satisfy the current need for greenery and help with other aspects of the project too. For example, you can help your client keep plants properly watered by adding Ollie Plant Sippers to the planters or add casters to make the planters movable.

Use our commercial planter add-ons to create a true value-added product for your next planting plan.

modern elite planters — *Image from* *Villa BXV. Featured add-on: top lip. Photography credit: Jake Rajs*

Why add-ons are needed for commercial planters?

Allow a personalized planter to be manufactured with a particular planter add-on, or purchase a planter accessory to

Create a double-duty product solution: Add lighting directly to our Connect Modular Planter System to create a safe walking area in a dark breezeway or rooftop
Match your branding: Create a consistent feel and look throughout your establishment by engraving your designed logo in the planters
Decrease the amount of growth media: Decrease overall costs by purchasing fill bags instead of growth media or add internal shelves to tall planters
Decrease the amount of water needed: Purchase Ollie Plant Sippers which decreases the overall amount of water that is needed
Have a uniquely designed planter: Add personal flair by adding toe-kicks and top lips to create a design never before seen
Block the adjacent parking lot: Add a trellis to any planter and create a wall of greenery so a private conversation will not be interrupted by a well-used parking lot

What are commercial planter add-ons?

Personalized planter add-ons fall into three categories: an accessory, designed details, or an attachment. Planter accessories are items that are ordered in addition to a planter, but the planter itself has no modifications. Designed details are modifications that are made to the planter container specifications. And finally, attachments are added during manufacturing (such as internal shelves) or are added on-site (such as a trellis or a light), but are made specifically for the planter in mind. Examples of these three categories are below.

Planter Accessories: Ollie Plant Sippers, void fill bags, drip trays, planter liners, or faux plants
Design Details: Top lips, toe-kicks, engraving, irrigation access holes, anchor bolt holes, wood cladding or lights
Attachments: Trellises, casters, adjustable feet, internal shelves

Types of add-ons for commercial planters

Planter Accessories

Reservoirs

An Ollie Plant Sipper or reservoir, also known as a or sub-irrigation or subterranean watering tank system, is a separate item purchased with a new planter or for an existing planter. They are sold in a linkable tank style or as separate stand-alone tanks.

The reservoir is put into the planter, below the root ball, followed by soil with the access pipe above the surface of the soil where water and nutrients can be manually added. Then, the plant's roots will grow towards the reservoir and pull up the required amount of water by capillary action. To learn more about ways to water container plants, please click here.

Planter Void Space Fillers

EZ Fill-ter Bags are made of landscape fabric and 100% recyclable packing foam, which will enable a quick and cost-effective method of planting out. The EZ Fill-ter Bags are non-biodegradable and will fill the spaces of the planters not required for growth. There is no need for many bags or truckloads of rocks and soil for filtering and filling. Read more about how to fill your planter for optimal plant growth here.

Top Dressing

There are many ways to top dress a planter to hide soil if you are opting for a more simple planting pot plan. Use pebbles or moss to hide soil.

Drip Tray

A drip tray, also known as a drip pan or planter saucer, can be fabricated to your desired size and is typically used for a planter in an interior application. Our watertight commercial planters do not require drip trays, but we are happy to fabricate them upon request.

Container Liners

A container liner is especially nice for garbage or refuse containers, but are not required for most planters. The need for them really depends on the material of the planter you are using.

You do not need liners for marine-grade aluminum and fiberglass planters. Neither of these materials degrades from constant exposure to water and soil. Additionally, marine-grade aluminum and fiberglass planters are watertight, further removing the need for a liner.

Liners are good to use if the planter material will degrade when in constant contact with soil and water, such as a wood planter. Also, a liner is good to use in interior applications if the planter is not watertight.

Design Details

Clad Siding

When an organic feel is warranted, but strength, durability, and longevity are required, PureModern can clad your metal planter with wood. The planter is fabricated to hold the wood on the outside of the planter. Typically we use any outdoor rated wood to further increase the longevity of the planter.

Toe-Kicks

A toe-kick on a planter is essentially the same as the space at the base of a kitchen cabinet. When standing next to the cabinet, a space is made for the toes of your feet to fit into. In our case, the space is to act as a designed detail, so the planter looks as if it is floating. The toe-kick can be made to your exact specifications vertically and horizontally at the base of the planter.

Planter Top Lip

Typically, most planters are made with a top lip. But at PureModern, you have the choice, especially with metal planters, to have a top lip or not. At PureModern, a planter without a top lip is called a knife-edge. A client may choose a single or double return. Whether a top lip is present or not really is a personal preference. Unless the planter is longer than 36 inches, a top lip is not required, and a client can choose to have one or not.

Engraving

Using special tools in our fabrication shop, and depending on your planter material of choice, we are able to either engrave your logo or particular words. This is a great way to personalize your planter order and call attention to your logo.

Artistic Cuts

Similar to engraving, our CNC router tool can cut an image for your requested planter design. Send us a request for a quote to see how we can personalize your planter.

Irrigation Holes

We typically will drill holes in the base of planters 12 to 16 inches apart and are 1-½ inch x ¾ inch. But if there is a need for specific holes that are a certain size to accommodate irrigation and more drainage, we are happy to accommodate.

Anchor Bolt Holes

Have the added assurance that your planter will stay where it needs to be by anchoring your planter with bolts. We can drill holes to your specifications so that the planter is ready for on-site installation.

Lighting

You can design lighting into your planter plan. Lighting fixtures specifically manufactured for outdoor applications can be added to the side of metal planters or add lights with stakes inside the planter. These lights can be used in the following ways.

To illuminate an otherwise dark breezeway where adding traditional lighting might be difficult.
Use the Connect Modular Planter System as an avenue to hide required electrical wiring
Add to a rooftop planter, where ambient light is a challenge to add.

Planter Attachments

Casters

We can add casters to our Modern Elite powder-coated aluminum planters. Casters are essentially wheels that are added to the bottom of planters to make the planter easily movable and can be locking or non-locking. To have your planter fitted with casters, the planter must be at least 24 inches high and 16 inches wide.

Trellises

Planters can be retrofitted to stabilize trellises if you need a wall of green, and a hedge cannot be installed due to the lack of ground soil. These work best with rectangular planters or our Connect Modular Planter System. We are happy to use a trellis of your choice and retrofit a planter to it, or we can make a trellis to your design specifications.

Adjustable Planter Feet

Adjustable planter feet are a threaded bolt with a stabilizer foot and can be installed into your planter. Once the planter is in its final position, the threaded bolt can be turned to make the bolt longer or shorter to level the planter when the sub-base is not. These are specifically useful to accommodate for small grade changes but not large changes. For best results, ensure the planter’s subbase is as level as possible, so excess water does not pool up in a corner.

Internal Shelves

Adding internal shelves are especially useful when tall planters are specified because, in most cases, not all of the internal space is needed for optimal growth. Internal shelves decrease the amount of space needed for added fill. The internal shelf can be spot welded inside a metal planter and creates a platform for a plastic liner to be set on or add growth media directly into the planter.

This internal shelf is only inserted for metal planters and cannot be added to fiberglass planters. For fiberglass planters, we recommend filling the planter in the following order: a non-organic fill in the base of the planter followed by landscape fabric then finally growth media.

Insulation

Insulation is not always warranted, but when requested, we will add it to the interior of the planter.

Personalized planters are recommended for spaces in need of a double-duty product solution. PureModern creates personalized planters to your specifications, budget, and timeline. If you are interested in discussing your next planter plan, please contact us by clicking here.