Last summer, I was on a mission to fill my backyard with planters and fill those planters with herbs. I had a dream of basil, rosemary, thyme, and lavender scattered throughout the garden, like a Tuscan chef’s garden, but in Brooklyn. It was my first time having my own backyard as an adult and I was excited, but also fearful of growing edible plants in my backyard’s lead-filled soil.
Then I got a reality check: Planters, especially big ones that look good, are really expensive. And my vision to have clusters of overflowing planters adding greenery throughout our mostly paved backyard seemed like it was going to be more expensive than my patio furniture. That’s when I started my hunt. A lot of the less expensive options were really ornate and dated, or clearly made of plastic (or worse: both). I loved a simple concrete look, but we already had a lot of other projects going on and I didn’t have time to DIY them. Also, concrete is really heavy. I had inherited a large bird of paradise in a concrete planter from a friend and knew it takes two adults to move.
After a lot of scrolling, I found this one from the Better Home & Gardens collection for Walmart. (Yes, the magazine apparently makes home goods, too.) It’s made out of resin, not concrete, which is both why it’s less expensive and also why it’s lightweight enough to move around easily. I have been very committed to using natural materials in my backyard — we chose cedar decking over composite and natural bluestone over an engineered material, for example — but the planters broke me. They are a soft, natural-looking shade of gray, and honestly, you can’t tell that they aren’t made out of concrete until you get close enough to pick them up. And then you’re just grateful that they aren’t concrete.
These planters are 14 inches in diameter, so they are a great size for medium-to-large plants, and they have a plug in the bottom, so they can drain when outside. When I brought some of the planters inside for the winter, I just put the plug back in so they wouldn’t leak all over the floors.
Most importantly: They cost under $14. I bought four of them, and when they arrived I immediately bought four more. Then, they sold out. The 18-inch planters, in both black and tan, also sold out. In fact, all of the large planters in the Better Home & Gardens collection sold out. It was only June. I couldn’t be the only one who was a little late getting my garden started.
I added all the large planters from the collection to my wishlist, hoping for an alert that they were back in stock. I reached out to Walmart, who did not respond, and then the team at Better Home & Gardens, who did. They shared that, unfortunately, I wasn’t alone in my love for this specific planter. It had sold really well in the beginning of the season, and the manufacturer wasn’t able to restock in time for summer.
Fortunately, the 14-inch and 18-inch planters are back this spring. They have increased the price (now $17), but they are still a great value. (If you buy eight like I did, it’s about the same price as buying one equal-size planter from Pottery Barn.) I’d suggest stocking up now, in bulk, before they sell out again — and I have to say, I told you so.
[Editor’s note: Prices vary depending on location, but the most expensive we could find was $24 — still a good deal.]
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