Best Large Outdoor Planters

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The number that should govern this purchase is not the diameter, it is the volume of compost the planter will hold once you fill it, because wet growing medium weighs roughly the same as water and a large container quickly becomes something you cannot move. A 20 by 20 by 20 inch cube is around 4.5 cubic feet, which is well over 200 pounds saturated, and that figure matters on a balcony with a load limit and on decking that flexes. Decide where it will live before you buy, and if there is any chance of moving it, look for a model with removable castors or plan to fit a plant caddy underneath. Material follows from that. Steel planters are rigid, hold a crisp shape and are heavy before you add anything; polyresin and resin composites weigh a fraction as much, resist frost better than terracotta and are the sensible answer for anything that has to be lifted. Then check drainage honestly, since large decorative planters are frequently sold with no holes at all or with a single hole too small for the volume, and a container this size with poor drainage will drown a shrub over one wet winter. A false bottom of coarse material reduces both the compost you need and the final weight. Set of two and four-pack listings only help if you actually want matching pots.