This $22 Hack from The Home Depot Is the Best Gardening Idea I’ve Seen in Forever

Last spring I got a quick flower fix at The New York Botanical Garden’s Orchid Show. This year’s exhibition was Mexican Modernism-themed. So you can imagine that the greenhouses were awash in bold hits of color, thanks to the influence of architect Luis Barragán and tropical blooms galore.

Yes, the flowers themselves took center stage, as orchids are quite a showy variety. But I’m always trying to pay attention to little exhibition details as well, from the flow of the path through the greenhouses to the way that the theme is expanded upon through plant selection and even propping.

Potted trees with reed screens around their pots

Credit: Danielle Blundell

One of the NYBG’s styling ideas stuck out to me as an easy upgrade that anyone who container-gardens could pull off. Instead of leaving plastic liner pots or simple planters bare, the curators actually wrapped them in reed fencing, which made them look more expensive and polished.

Vigoro 4 ft. H x 8 ft. W Natural Peeled and Polished Reed Fencing

Home Depot

$22

Buy Now

This is a brilliant idea because you can get a sizable piece of reed fencing for about $20 at The Home Depot and use it to wrap a handful of planters. Do I think I’ll run around my yard and wrap every planter in reed fencing? No. Terracotta pots can be pricey, so when I go for decorative planters, they tend to be on the smaller size. My larger planters are definitely the ones that need more design love, so I’d start there.

While I haven’t tried this yet, the process seems fairly easy. Cut a piece of reed (or bamboo) fencing to size in terms of height and width (a circular saw would make quick work of this step), wrap it around the planter (trimming, again if needed, to fit), and secure the wrap with two zip-ties.

I found a YouTube video that depicts a similar DIY, although the creator uses garden fencing inside the bamboo wrap to provide the structure to elevate her planters, literally, and give them an even grander appearance. I’d personally probably just stick to wrapping plain liner pots or old large planters.

Buy: Vigoro 4 ft. H x 8 ft. W Natural Peeled and Polished Reed Fencing, $21.97

This article originally published on Apartment Therapy. See it there: This $22 Hack from The Home Depot Is the Best Gardening Idea I’ve Seen in Forever