Topsy Turvy Strawberry Planter (Part 2)

OH MY GOOD GOOD GOODNESS I think this is my favorite project so fare. I absolutely love this planter. I keep stepping out the door and looking at it. In <3

I have been wanting a strawberry planter for a few years now. When I started seeing these Funky Planters at the Nursery Shows for sale for 60 or more dollars. I decided this was the year I was going to build one. But you know me! :) I wanted mine more colorful. To see how I painted my pots you can go to Topsy Turvy Strawberry Planter (Part 1)

 I have never seen a demonstration on how to build one of these planters from the beginning so I want to share mine and Jeanne's steps with you.

You have to start out with your bottom pot a little larger then the rest, and of course you will need a rod. I wanted to anchor my rod in a little and weight down the bottom pot, to make sure it would not blow over.

I placed my rock so tight that the rod stood up by it's self.

My entire planter took 4 of these bags of soil.

I added water to the soil and pushed the soil down as hard as I could, to try and make the soil fit in around the rocks as tight as possible. I wanted to make sure the rod didn't tilt over in the pot. This trashed my nails, why didn't I wear gloves?

I completely filled this first pot with dirt. That completes the base pot of the Topsy Turvy Planter.

On to the tipsy pots; these pots have holes in the bottom all ready but when we placed them over the rod the holes were way off to the side, we found they were just to tipsy and would not stay up. Thank God I had Jeanne helping me today because she is real good at handling my husband big drill. She drilled a hole in the bottom just off center for me, but it wasn't big enough to go over the rod so she just moved the drill bit around in a circle until the hole was large enough. Thank You Jeanne!

Sliding the pot over the rod was really a lot of fun and very exciting. (I might have some problems if this is my fun and excitement.) LOL

Great fit! All you have to do is tip the pot to the opposite side of the rod and add dirt to hold it in place.

Just keep repeating these steps until you have all your pots stacked.

At this point I added more soil to top off my pots and started planting strawberry plants.

I used 3 different kinds of strawberry's one is my favorite only bears fruit in June and the other 2 are ever bearing so they will produce fruit all summer. I am so looking forward to just stepping out the front door and picking a strawberry, YUM YUM YUM !!! I am also hoping I can move this in to my garage in the winter and move it back out next spring so we can use it again next year too. I did notice the next day that my pots settled about 3/4 of an inch so my rod is just slightly higher then my top pot. So cut your rod about an inch shorter then what your pots measure.

If you remember in Topsy Turvy Strawberry Planter (part 1) I wasn't sure if I was totally satisfied with the finish of the pots, But I no longer think that the pots are too bright at all, and I also decided that they didn't need anymore decorating either. I know one thing, I am going to really enjoy this strawberry patch just out my front door step. :) :) :) Who wants to come visit me this summer and have a bite of strawberry on the way in the door?

I hope you try this space saving planter, it was one of the funnest and most exciting planters I have ever done. This would be great city or patio garden.
Hope you enjoy, Rosemary