Fall Planter Box Easy and Unique DIY Decor

Create a beautiful fall planter box for your front porch using autumnal flowers, ornamentals and natural elements gathered on family walks, and from around the farmhouse. This is a fun way to celebrate the new season. Every time I step out onto the porch this sweet little planter brings me joy with all its color and creativity

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We’ve had some chilly mornings over the last few weeks. The summer flowers in my porch planter boxes had decided to grow leggy and lack luster. Or, maybe I was just over them, and ready to rest my eyes on something new. As the temperatures dip I find myself craving knit blankets and extra pillows on the rockers. Max has fired up the woodstove in his workshop a few times. We have all put on hats and jackets for our morning chores. And, if the cats will let them, the squirrels are feverishly collecting black walnuts around our property

Why it matters to decorate for fall

What was there before cell phones and television? Oh, I know! There were porches. Big porches, little porches. Rows of porches, story’s of porches, and wrap around porches. With stoops, and stairs and rocking chairs. My porch is my favorite way to entertain myself, to kick-back and watch the world go by. There’s never a dull moment on good porch. It’s an extension of the home with an informal invitation to gather. A neighborly gesture; without calling or texting, that you’re free for a chat or a drink or a gossip. And for this reason, the porch deserves to be decorated in beauty.

The boys marvel over new decorations at the turn of any season. It’s so stinking precious. For the little one’s, it’s a reminder of all the fun to be had. You can watch the gears shift in their heads. Like, “Mama may have tucked away the swim suits and pool towels, but there’s new things to get jazzed about!” I put little crocheted pumpkins on the shelves in the kitchen and they squealed with excitement. SQUEALED. When’s the last time you squealed about something?

They all helped me with this planter in there own little helping ways. Although, it’s always messier and takes longer than it should, I can’t think of anything sweeter. It’s a joy to watch the pride they take in our projects around the farmhouse. How long do I have until they don’t see the magic in the Fall planters? Not long enough. So, for now, I will embrace my little helpers who still think Pumpkins and Mama are fun and beautiful.

Where to find things to put in your fall planter box?

We stopped at a farm stand and I let them pick out pumpkins and gourds. My stipulation was they could only get the tiny ones. I assured them we would go back soon for big carving pumpkins.

After we dropped Otto off at homeschool group, the little boys and I hit the local nursery. They had little 4 inch pots of mums. Ry spent time picking out the perfect ones. We were walking back to the counter and we saw the most beautiful little pot of ornamental peppers. We grabbed ones of those, too. I love to let the boys makes decisions when I can. Ry’s much less indecisive then I am. Especially at the garden center; I have a hard time stopping myself. I have no self control. I really shouldn’t even be allowed in there. And neither should Mylo. For the .002 seconds I had my back turned, he climbed into a little fountain. He was soaking wet, but oh so happy splashing about. And, this concluded our trip to the nursery.

After naptime we went for a walk in the sunshine. It had just rained the day before so there were mushrooms galore! The boys picked and filled a basket to their hearts content. I found turkey tails and artist conchs. As soon as I saw them I knew I wanted to add them to my planter box!

What to use as a planter box?

Typically I will use big planter pots. However, last year when we moved in I found a primitive wooden planter box in our sugar shack. I pulled it out and hosed off the cobbs webs and mouse poop. I just knew it would make a darling little vessel. Because we just moved to this farmhouse last year, we don’t have our gardens and deer fencing set up yet. For this reason, I haven’t wanted to invest too much time and money into planting, just to have the deer gorge themselves on my precious plants. However, if you know me, you know I’ll always find a way to bring my love for gardening to our home. Since I found this trough, I have spotted them at antique stores and other places, so I know you can find one too! But, if you’re feeling more thrifty than that, look around your house I’m sure you will find something that works!

What else could I use for a planter box?

• A Big Planter Pot!
• Antique Tree Tapping Buckets– We also were lucky enough to find stacks of these buckets. We have used them the whole summer season as planters for our tomatoes and peppers and other herbs. If you decided to use these for planting, be sure to drill 3-5 holes in the bottom for proper drainage.
• Any container that can hold soil and also drain water will be suitable. This is a fun opportunity to get creative!
• Whiskey Barrels– You could use a few of them for a different look!

How to create your fall planter box:

1. I first started by taking out my summer plants. I used this planter box to hold all my kitchen herbs. I like my herbs to be close to the house. This wooden box was the perfect vessel set right outside my kitchen door all summer long. It always hurts my heart to rip things out, but then again, out with the old, in with the new!
2. Add more soil if need be.
3. Gather a variety of flowers, pumpkins, gourds, mushrooms, and other ornamentals.
4. I started by playing around with the little pots of mums. Without planting them yet, I placed the pots in the planter box. I set the mums out on either side of my box as the base for which I placed everything else around.
5. Once you have the mums in the right place, plant them!
6. After the mums were planted, I put the peppers directly in the middle of the planter.
7. Next, I laid handfuls of straw around the mums and over the soil! The straw really made this project come together!
8. I placed the mushroom’s and pumpkins and gourds around the mums and peppers and played with the colors , textures and sizes. Next, I like to stand back and see how it all looks and then I keep playing with it until I’m happy. However, I never let myself get too carried away because two year old Mylo always has his own plans for how things should be arranged.

Other things you can add to your fall planter box

• You can add ornamental cabbages and kales
• The dried multi-colored ears of corn- Indian Corn
• Little logs, or pretty branches with dried leaves or mushrooms on them
• Acorns
• Mini Pumpkins on a stick
• twinkle lights
• A walk in the woods can take your project in a million directions and make your Fall planter completely unique. Mother Earth always gives the best gifts!

I love how this project turned out. It adds charm to our porch with minimal effort and a whole lot of fun. Are you going to try this planter box? Let me know in the comments below, and please share pictures of your fall decor!

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