The Easiest Front Porch Planters Ever
How to put together the easiest front porch planters ever. A super simple idea to dress up your front door area. These fern planters will transform your porch from drab to amazing!
(Originally published in 2017, this post has been continually updated with new ideas and inspiration, and more tips.)
Today I’m sharing how to make show-stopping, impressive planters in just a few minutes. These are truly the easiest front porch planters ever. Adding greenery and live plants to your front porch entryway is a welcoming way to greet your guests, and you will make a great first impression!
Over the years, I have featured many different planters on our Sutton Place front porch. From olive buckets, to galvanized washtubs, to classic tall planters, there have been many different looks. In the image below you can see how I took basic 16 inch square black planters to the next level by simply adding ferns.
What Can I Put In My Front Porch Planter?
Although you can put perennials in planters, the most common plants to use are annuals. Make sure to consider if your space gets full sun, part sun, or full shade, and then choose accordingly. Good suggestions for colorful annuals are:
- Geraniums
- Pansies
- Sweet potato vine
- Coleus
- Marigolds
- Petunias
- Impatiens
- Ivy
When I first got these square planters, I had visions of filling them with colorful blooms. Instead, I decided to fill them with healthy and beautiful ferns. The process is so simple and fast that literally anyone can do this.
Where to Get Outdoor Planters + Garden Containers
Lowe’s had rows and rows of healthy ferns for a reasonable price, and a great selection of pots and planters in all sizes. Pots and planters are also readily available at places like Walmart, Home Depot, Michaels, other craft stores, and big box stores. Another fast and efficient way to find planters is to shop online.
An Easy Front Porch Planter Idea
One trick for repurposing flower pots you already have is to give them a makeover by applying a fresh coat of spray paint. No matter what you started out with, painting mismatched pots a uniform color will give you the look of a carefully curated collection of planters!
How to Assemble the Fern Planters
What makes this porch planter idea so easy is the fact that the ferns can be left in their original containers. There is no need to remove them from their containers, and repot them in your planters. With this method you don’t need potting soil, which saves time and money.
Depending on how tall your planters are, the ferns may set inside at the correct height. However, the chances of this happening are very slim. If you need to raise the ferns up so they are the perfect height, simply put packing material in the bottom of your planters. The list below details the different materials you can use to raise the fern containers.
- Packing peanuts (put the packing peanuts in a mesh bag, the kind that oranges or potatoes come in, before adding dirt.)
- Packing pillows.
- Plastic grocery sacks.
- Plastic water bottles, soda bottles, or milk jugs.
- A plastic container or empty pot turned upside down.
- A pool noodle from the Dollar Store (easily cut with scissors to your desired size.)
Not including the time it took to shop for the ferns, these planters took less than ten minutes to assemble. You can use this method with any sort of front porch planter, even large, inexpensive terra cotta pots. The trick is making sure that the original container (the one the plant came in) fits inside your decorative planter.
Symmetrical Home Decor: Flanking Your Entrance With Ferns
As a lover of symmetry, I always use matching planters that flank our front door. But if you like to mix things up a bit, grouping smaller pots together is a wonderful way to add interest. It’s also fun to add an outdoor lantern or garden statue.
Fun Facts About Ferns
Ferns are very forgiving and super easy to maintain. They can be neglected for days, but once watered, their foliage bounces right back. Of course, regular watering is best! It’s also helpful to use a water-soluble fertilizer once a month. A few readers mentioned in the comment section that it’s a good idea to spritz the fern fronds with cool water one or two times a week.
A covered porch is the perfect home for ferns, as they thrive in shade. The most popular fern for porches is the beautiful and cascading Boston fern. Ferns are also the perfect thing to use in a hanging planter. The fronds fall over the sides of the plant pots, and they look so lovely blowing softly in the wind. Ferns also look beautiful in tall planters. They have just the right amount of height and visual weight, yet they don’t make a tall planter look top-heavy.
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Where to get the front porch planters
The black square planters in the images above are made by Mayne, and they sell out very quickly. There are different styles and colors, but they will all give your home a timeless and classic look. Mayne planters are great for a gardener with a busy lifestyle, because they are also self-watering. The square planters featured in this post are called Cape Cod planters. They are available on many retail sites, so shop around for the best price. Here are a few helpful links:
- 16 inch Black Mayne Cape Cod Planter at Amazon.com
- 16 inch Black Nantucket Planter at Amazon.com
- 16 inch Black Lakeland Planter at Amazon.com
Other shopping sources:
- The doormat is no longer available. See more choices {HERE.}
- More front porch sources can be found in my Amazon Shop.
- Get all the information on our Front Door Color.
How Do I Choose A Planter For My Front Door?
The simplest way to choose planters is to follow your heart, and buy what you love. If you choose to purchase more expensive planters, and want to keep them around for a while, you can change the look and feel of your space by varying the plants.
I like to change my porch planters, and I move them from the front to the back, and vice versa. As I said at the beginning, this post was originally published in 2017. Two years later, in 2019, I recreated the same fern planters, but used white metal pots instead of the black planters.
After that, in 2020, I purchased yet another set of porch planters, so I could change the look and feel of our front porch. These planters (pictured above) are very lightweight, and look like galvanized metal. I planted sweet potato vine, impatiens, and ivy, and by late summer, they were overflowing and beautiful.
When spring of 2021 rolled around, I decided to move the faux galvanized planters to our back patio so I could use them for herbs. I had a difficult time deciding on what to put on the front porch, and in the end, I painted two ugly pots to match our front door. Once again, I used ferns, and as you can see in the image below, the green popped right off the blue pots.
The summer I painted the navy blue pots turned out to be our last summer at the Sutton Place house. When we moved to our current home, I placed white Polywood planters on our new front porch. (They were used on our back patio on Sutton Place.) I wanted to add charm and curb appeal to our plain porch, so I chose to fill the white planters with ferns. It instantly made me feel like I was home!
I will continue to update this post as new inspiration becomes available. Thank you so much for stopping by!
