Local Spotlight: Anatomy of a Fall Planter with Bex Design co.
Photograph by Timed Right Photography
Hello Friends!
My name is Bethany and I am the owner, operator and designer at Bex Design Co, where I create landscape designs & fibre art.
I am super passionate about helping my clients design beautiful gardens and outdoor spaces they will enjoy for life, but I also love curating custom planters that bring added curb appeal to my clients homes (I have a growing highlight on my instagram that features some of my creations). In this exciting new blog post, I’ll be sharing my best tips for creating your very own fall planter for your home!
Now, let’s flash back to the spring…You probably lovingly planted your pots with tropicals & annuals and watched them slowly fill out & bloom. Throughout summer you most likely nurtured them through all those hot dry spells, Japanese beetle attacks, and diligently deadheaded, watered & fertilized them…. But now it's nearing the end of August, and maybe your planters are starting to look a little cooked and like they’re about to give-up… Which is possibly because that one weekend you decided to go away and entrusted your teenage child to water your plants or a friendly neighbour but they somehow forgot, and you came home to the saddest looking flowers ever (true story… It happened to a friend of a friend of mine… wink-wink!).
You also could be saying “this didn’t happen to me”, and just maybe your planters still look delightful and you’re getting tons of compliments on them… BUT, you swap the summer ones out anyways because you’re just a fall girlie who whips out her autumn decor at the first whiff of pumpkin spice (same!!!!) and can’t wait for September 1st.
Either way, we are here to take planter design down to the bones, and help you build your best fall planters.
And for those of you who struggle with this or don’t have time to make your own.. I can help - Click here to get in contact with me.
The Basics
No matter the season, all good planter design can be broken down into 3 components:
Thriller
Filler
Spiller
Thrillers are your showpiece plant or decor item. These are going to be what catches the eye first. They often add height, movement or a pop of colour. For fall, think: ornamental grasses swaying in the wind, corn stalks that add height, a wooden sign, or a multicolour pumpkin stack for something bold & unexpected. Typically thrillers are placed in either the centre or towards the back of the planter. Where is your planter located? If it’s being viewed from all sides, place the thriller in the middle of the pot. If your planter is up against a pillar or wall, place your thriller towards the back.
Fall Planter from Bex Design Co.
Fillers are medium sized plants or decor items that will take up the bulk of the space in the planter & fill in any holes. Great plant picks for autumn are: fall mums, coleus, croton, ornamental kale/cabbage, or even a mix of several of these plants. Decor items such as pumpkins & gourds, artificial flowers or leaves, or small weatherproof statues also help fill voids and add personality. If your thriller is in the middle of your planter, you’re going to arrange your fillers around it. If your thriller is at the back of your planter, place fillers in front and on either side
And finally, spillers are trailing or cascading plants that soften the edges of your planter, fill any gaps, and add depth & visual interest. Favourites for fall are ivy, golden creeping jenny, low growing ornamental grasses or grapevine branches. Place your spillers around the perimeter of the planter. Don’t go overboard here. These are just an accent and we don’t want to draw the eye away from our thriller, or make the planter look too busy.
Other tips:
Make sure to choose plants that are suitable to the light conditions in your space
Incorporate battery powered mini lights for added ambiance here’s an affordable option.
Dried/artificial outdoor flowers & leaves make great fillers & will extend the life of your planters. They’ll also add a punch of colour once your blooms start to fade. Just make sure you’re purchasing items that are meant for outdoors
Where to shop:
Good resources for decor are: craft or dollar stores, even grocery stores selling seasonal goods. Or diy your own. Pinterest & Tiktok are some of my favourite places to find inspiration and how-to guides.
For plants, I will always recommend going to your local garden centre (we’ve linked some local Windsor-Essex ones below).
Firstly, it supports a small business (which is SO important these days). Secondly, the plants are usually better cared for and of a higher quality, and the staff are knowledgeable and can help you choose the plants best suited to your site conditions. A few of my local faves are linked below:
Anna’s Garden & Home Wellness — great spot with all year round with lots of beautiful seasonal decor!
Fred’s Farm Fresh — Pick up some delicious fresh produce and other grocery items while you’re here!
Colasanti’s — Family fun found here plus IKYK…. the signature donuts and peach juice!
Lastly, your back-yard could be a great resource! This is a great option for those making frugal or sustainable lifestyle choices.
Which leads us to our next topic: Designing planters on a BUDGET
Maybe you weren’t planning on doing fall planters this year. Why not? Is this the year you’re on a budget? Do your planters still look great? Or maybe you’re into #underconsumptioncore and are aiming to live more sustainably?
If this is you, a great option is to keep your summer planter intact, and just tweak it for fall instead. First, remove anything pink, light purple or blue, no matter how healthy it still looks. These colours will clash with your fall vibe. Next, remove any plants that are not cold hardy. Most of the flowers in your planters are tropicals. This means they only survive in warm climates and one good frost will kill them off. Plants that are especially susceptible to frost damage are potato vine, begonia & petunias. Cold hardy options include: croton, coleus & ornamental grasses.
By this time you’ll be left with a few “holes” in your planter. This is where you get to be creative! Fill these with:
ornamental cabbage
fall mums (so many colourful options)
small pumpkins & gourds (squirrels & small insects may be attracted to these and nibble on them)
decorative branches
Alternatively, if you can’t save your summer planters, or you’re starting from scratch on a budget, another option is to visit your local farmers market or roadside stand and purchase a large pumpkin or several smaller ones for a stack. Pumpkins are typically inexpensive and you can either use them to carve jack-o-lanterns at halloween, toss them on the compost pile afterwards & let the birds & squirrels feast on them, or save the seeds to grow your own next season!
Next, you’ll want to forage around your garden (or your friends gardens) and look for interesting branches & leaves to incorporate into your planter design. Hydrangea flowers make a show stopping display and remain beautiful even after they’ve dried out (Bonus Tip: once they’re dried out, you can save them & spray paint them to use in your Christmas planters!). Seed-heads from grasses, fall coloured leaves & plants with lots of texture, such as Coneflower seedpods will also add great visual interest.
I could go on and on but I believe that you now have the best recipe to build your own fall planter, so what are you waiting for? Go out there and create!
Bethany.
INCREDIBLE post right guys?
Thanks so much to Bethany for taking the time to write this blog post!
Not only did she make it very easy to follow along with, she also made a beautiful Fall planter to giveaway to one lucky winner!
So if you’re interested in that, it’s happening right now and you can enter it by checking out the details on our Instagram post.
If you’re wondering how else you can work with Bethany, you can find her socials below;
Or catch her at one of the local markets and events around the YQG area.
Thanks for spending the time with us reading our latest collab and if you have a chance to create a beautiful Fall planter, make sure you post it to your stories and tag us!
Cheers,
Markie.