Designer Fall Planters Done The Easy Way

Would you love the look of beautiful fall designer planters but don’t know where to start? I found a super easy and reasonably priced way to style planters for my home. I’m sharing my savvy secrets so you can have gorgeous fall planters for your outdoor spaces. Lots of ideas and how-to pictures.

Have you ever wished your outdoor fall planters and container gardens could look like they were done by a landscape designer? Well, you can have designer-looking planters and at a fraction of the cost. I’m sharing a very easy way to plant beautiful fall pots! I think you’ll be surprised!

I used to have a local landscape designer fill the planters around our home with the most gorgeous summer and fall plants just because I could not create overflowing pots of interesting and beautiful fall plants myself!

The fall planters were amazing, but they finally became cost prohibitive!

I needed a way I could get the fall planter look I loved without the HUGE price tag!

My Ah-Ha Moment!

One day while I was perusing a local garden center, I found the solution to the fall planter problem!

I found a beautiful pre-made fall arrangement in an inexpensive bushel basket! Then it occurred to me that I could probably plant this beautiful fall basket of plants in my own planters at home!

So, I took the bushel basket home and replanted the flowers just like they were in my existing porch and patio pots!

WOW! My planters looked so pretty! And they were almost half the price of the landscape designer’s fall pots I had planted all those years!

I’ve been repotting garden center fall planters for a few years now, and I have some savvy tips to share with you! I’m so excited because you can have designer-looking fall pots and planters too!

Here are some big benefits of repotting garden center planters…

  • you save $$$
  • it’s nice to carry only one planter or basket from the garden center
  • your outside planters will have a designer look
  • you can personalize your planters by adding some pretty extras (discussed below)

Here’s how I plant designer-looking fall planters every year!

Find A Ready Made Planter

This year mums made an appearance in my fall planters! I love mums!

I visited my favorite garden center to find some pre-potted fall planters in inexpensive containers.

Here are a few I found…

These pretty fall pots had 5 fall plants in each one, a basket, and fresh potting soil!

I actually got two of the same planter to flank the opening of our patio.

Here’s the style I picked to be planted in containers on our back porch…

FALL PLANTER FROM A LANDSCAPE CENTER.

The planter had…

  • one yellow mum
  • one rust mum
  • one purple fountain grass
  • one black pearl ornamental pepper
  • one flowering cabbage
  • lots of fresh potting soil
  • a bushel basket (I use these when I pick weeds, pick flowers or prune bushes)

I bought two extra black pearl ornamental pepper plants just in case I needed to tuck another little plant in each of the planters.

And I bought a 6-pack of yellow pansies.

I had lots of coleus at home from a few summer planters that I could transplant into the fall planters if needed.

Creating very full and lush planters was my goal. Fall is a short season, so the plants I tuck in a pot don’t really grow that much, if at all!

Prepare The Soil

First, I emptied out the planter of all the leftover summer plants. And dug out all the embedded root systems from the dirt.

EMPTY BLACK PLANTER TO BECOME A FALL PLANTER

It’s really important for the health of the new plants going in the soil to loosen up the dirt and remove and big root systems from previous plants.

I took out about a quarter of the soil in my planter to make room for the new plants and amended the rest of the soil with a good granular fertilizer.

How To Plant An Easy Fall Planter

Planting a fall planter could not be easier! Just put the plants into the planter the way they are in the pre-made one.

BASKETS OF PLANTED FALL PLANTS

First, I removed the plant in the back of the planter, a black pearl ornamental pepper. The beautiful berry-like peppers start red and turn black. I love how they contrast with the rust and yellow mums in the pot.

Because these were recently planted, the plants easily lifted out of their original containers.

I planted the black pearl in the back of the planter just like it was planted in the one I bought.

BEGINNING OF A FALL PLANTER

The back of the planter where the black pearl peppers were planted can be seen when we enter the patio from the garage side of our home, so I wanted something pretty and different at the back of the planter.

Then following the pattern of the pre-made planter, I added the red ornamental grass in the center of our black planter and the yellow mum to the right.

FALL PLANTER IN PROGRESS

Next, I planted the rust mums (yes, they are rust) and the flowering cabbage.

I used one of the black pearl peppers to fill in the front of the planter a bit more.

FALL PLANTER FROM INEXPENSIVE PLANTER AT A LANDSCAPE CENTER

I had coleus in a few pots, so I transplanted some of them to the fall planter too! And I used three little yellow pansies plants in this planter to give the container a pop of bright color!

Other Plants To Add To A Fall Planter

You might want to add a few more hearty fall plants to bulk up and add even more beauty to your fall planters!

Since fall is a short growing season, you can really pack a planter full of beautiful fall-hearty plants!

There are so many pretty additions to a fall planter that add a nod to the autumn season.

Here are a few…

  • pansies
  • flowering cabbage and kale
  • creeping Jennie
  • marigolds
  • lettuces
  • violas
  • asters
  • ivy
  • lambs ear
  • green or pink sedum
  • purple millet
  • lemon coral sedum
  • trailing sedum

Adding Natural Fall Elements

FALL PLANTER ON THE PATIO

How about adding natural fall elements, like pumpkins, to your planter? This is such a pretty look.

And they are such a fun surprise!

Remember to add natural fall elements to the base of the planter too. A few pumpkins casually grouped will give a planter more design heft!

Last Thoughts

You can use garden center planters for spring and summer and even Christmas too! Transplanting them into your own pots is so smart, saves $$$, is so easy and attractive!

Fall Planter Shopping Guide

Plant a FALL PLANTER  that looks like a floral designer planted it for you! But it is so much less expensive! I'll show you how easy it is to have the prettiest fall planters for your fall home!

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17 Comments

  1. Beautiful! I’m inspired.

  2. I’ve done this too. It does make it easier as someone has picked the right plants that go together for sun or shade. I have a cement planter by my front door where I actually insert the whole purchased pot into the planter. One and done! When changing out, I give it a twist to loosen roots that have come out the bottom and out it pops making changing over super quick.

  3. I’ve done this with window boxes. Planters next! Thanks for the great idea.

  4. Teri Pickens says:

    What a gorgeous fall planter! I will be using your planter ideas very soon! Thanks for the inspiration!
    Teri

  5. MARY-ANN (FROM CANADA!) says:

    Your fall planter is just beautiful, Yvonne! Thanks for the great tips!

  6. Marie Cosgrove says:

    Hi, Yvonne! I took inspiration from your fall wreath post and made the decorative corn cob wreath. Your instructions were perfect! The awesome wreath is on my mantel. I was in a car accident recently and have no car at the moment; I ordered the straw wreath from Amazon and the corn from Etsy. It was a fun project – thank you!

  7. Love this idea! Typically I pay my favorite nursery $75 for each planter full of an assortment. I know I can do this and save $.

    1. It is so much easier and more economical to plant your designer fall planters the easy way.

  8. Your autumn flowers are gorgeous! Can you make any recommendations of favorite nurseries or floral stands in the Lancaster area? I love to drive through the Lancaster countryside and visit new places. Thank you!

    1. Ken’s gardens is the best! I got these flowers at Hilltop Amish Greenhouse in Quarryville

      1. Thank you for your prompt reply! I am familiar with Ken’s Gardens and they are absolutely a joy to stroll through. I am excited to explore Hilltop in Quarryville….thank you for sharing!