Planter Bulk Filler.

I’ve picked up this old Galvanised and Riveted water tank as a Planter for our patio.
And before you ask, yes Lady Nasher is over the moon with it’s lovely Patina and look.
We’ve been after one at a reasonable price for ages and I found this one on the scrap pile at the yard where I keep my boat.





It’s a little bigger than we really wanted at @4’ x 2’ x 2’, but we are going with it anyway.

It’s in remarkably good condition, which means I’m going to have to drill a load of holes in the bottom for drainage, which is a little unfortunate really, but I will protect the hole edges with some spray on Galvanising paint.

However, to the point of this thread, as it’s so large we don’t want to completely fill it with soil and make it stupidly heavy, so need to fill it 1/2 to 2/3s full with something light and bulky then soil on top to plant in.

My initial thought is polystyrene sheets or packing materials, but it would be nice to find something more natural that won’t decompose over time.

Can anyone think of any materials suitable?

 

Thanks Jez.
I agree that to my eye it would look a bit better if not so tall.
But because of the structure and manufacturing method I think cutting it down without spoiling the Patina would be almost impossible.

Plus Lady Nasher has decided she likes it the way it is, and wants to take advantage of the height and plant some quite large trailing plants to hang down over the front.
In fact I've had strict instructions for a 6" plinth to make it taller still, but set back under it as much as possible to make it look like it's floating above the surface.

Thanks, if I do go with Polystyrene it will be a raid of all the boxes in my loft to get all the pits you get when you buy a new telly or similar.
And if I don't have enough I'll ask the neighbours.

Another option is a false floor with a reservoir underneath, perhaps I could use that for a water feature!
I need to see if I could free off that tap on the end.

 

Sorry Jez you misunderstand, I was thinking of using the tap, getting it working to release water.
There is no way it's going anywhere as it really adds to the charm of the tank.

Don't worry, if it was going I have an arsenal of weaponry to be rid of it in a jiffy.

 

Thanks all

We always appear to have plenty of Frost damaged clay pots to break up and use as Crocks in the bottom of new pots, it’s all part of the circle of life in the garden.
But this thing is 4’ x 2’ x 2’, even 3” of crocks for the bottom would need 2 sq ft of them, and to1/2 fill it would need 8 sq ft.

Most of the point of this is to at least ½ fill it with something light, so it can be moved a little easier if required.
Perhaps using any bits of Polystyrene packing pieces I can find in the loft is a better use for them than they eventually going to the dump and ending up in landfill.

Although the other ideas running around in my head at the moment, partly generated by this thread, could involve using it as water storage with plants on top.
I think that will depend on how I get on freeing off the tap at the weekend.

Lady Nasher has decided it needs to go by a section of fence that is on my list of jobs to replace this year, and that job is waiting for our neighbour's to be away for the weekend as their dog and ours don’t get on.

@Jez900ie our Veg patch is a large raised bed which a lot of preparation went into setting up.
Every couple of years we take the top 3” of soil off the top to use elsewhere in the garden and dig in as much of our homemade Compost as we can to regenerate it.
If you are at all interested in Soil health, regeneration, and management, you really should look at the talks available at FarmEd - https://www.farm-ed.co.uk
Although we have a close personal connection with the place, it’s not financial, we can’t recommend their courses, talks, and ethos enough.
It’s basically almost next door to Diddly Squat farm, and their Café is far better than Clarkson’s.

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