×
  • Home
  • Daily
    • Composting
    • Container Gardening
    • Easy Healthy Recipes
    • Food Preservation
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Tools
    • Growing Fruits & Berries
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Pests & Diseases
    • Seeds & Seedlings
    • Soil & Fertilizer
    • Spice & Herb Gardening
    • Vegetable Gardening
    • Watering & Irrigation
  • Freebies
  • Videos
  • Magazines
    • Food Gardening Magazine
    • RecipeLion Magazine
  • Guides
  • Cookbooks
    • Beverages
    • Bakery
    • Breakfast
    • Appetizers
    • Salads & Dressings
    • Soups
    • Entrées
    • Side Dishes & Sauces
    • Desserts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Affiliate Program
  • Sponsor Program
  • Give a Gift
  • Privacy Policy & Terms of Use
  • Manage Account
  • Authors
  • Keyword Index
  • Join

Food Gardening Network

Growing Good Food at Home

Join
Mequoda Publishing Network
  • Daily
    • Composting
    • Container Gardening
    • Easy Healthy Recipes
    • Food Preservation
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Tools
    • Growing Fruits & Berries
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Pests & Diseases
    • Seeds & Seedlings
    • Soil & Fertilizer
    • Spice & Herb Gardening
    • Vegetable Gardening
    • Watering & Irrigation
  • Freebies
  • Videos
  • Magazines
    • Food Gardening Magazine
    • RecipeLion Magazine
  • Guides
  • Cookbooks
    • Beverages
    • Bakery
    • Breakfast
    • Appetizers
    • Salads & Dressings
    • Soups
    • Entrées
    • Side Dishes & Sauces
    • Desserts
  • Sign In
  • Search

What Can You Grow in Deck Rail Planters?

Gardening Guide: Sweet! The All-Strawberry Guide

arrow-left Previous
Next arrow-right

What Can You Grow in Deck Rail Planters?

Deck rail planters are great for decorative flowers and adding visual appeal to your home, but you can grow vegetables in them, too.

By Amanda MacArthur

deck rail planters

I’ve always loved deck rail planters and window boxes. They’re kind of quaint, and they can bring some natural beauty to a space that’s usually ignored. It’s always nice to walk by a house and see lots of colorful flowers hanging over the railings of a front porch or balcony.

Don’t get me wrong; I really do love seeing all the flowers. But I also see those deck rail planters and think about all the vegetables and herbs that would fit perfectly in them. And we all know that a healthy rosemary plant is every bit as pretty as any daisy, right?

Growing vegetables in deck rail planters and window boxes

Deck rail planters are great for herbs. Most herbs don’t need deep soil to thrive, so they’re ideally suited for these set ups. But not all deck rail planters are shallow. You can get them in a variety of sizes. In fact, there is a wide range of colors, materials, styles, and sizes available. Some are recessed in the bottom to fit over your rail, while others have hooks so they can hang from the rail. There are single pots and rectangular boxes and all sorts of possibilities.

Here are a few examples:




It’s easy to look just at the style and color and pick a planter, but it’s important to think about these other factors, as well. For instance, a black plastic planter will keep the soil warmer, which could be beneficial or not, depending on where you are. A wicker basket could offer plenty of drainage, which might be perfect for something like the aforementioned rosemary. The point is to match your plant with your planter. Which brings us to the original question: What vegetables can you grow in deck rail planters?

As it turns out, there are a lot of vegetables to choose from.

  1. Leafy salad greens grow quickly and they’re easy to care for.
  2. Radishes are perfect for deck rail planters. They grow quickly, don’t need a ton of space, and you can eat the greens as well as the root.
  3. Strawberries can thrive in containers as long as they have a good sunny spot.
  4. Hot peppers are easy to grow in containers and they’re such pretty vegetables that they can add some nice color and texture to your environment.
  5. Sweet peppers, too, can grow well in containers. Just make sure to leave enough space for them to spread out a bit.
  6. Spinach, like salad greens, can grow well in a planter, just be sure it doesn’t get overheated.
  7. Green onions don’t need a lot of depth to grow, so as long as you don’t overplant them, these work very well in deck rail planters.
  8. Cherry tomatoes can be prolific producers, they come in gorgeous yellow and red varieties, and they can be relatively low maintenance.
  9. Garlic is a set-it-and-forget-it plant if ever there was one. And since you plant them in the late fall or early winter, you won’t be growing much of anything else in your planters at that time.
  10. Swiss chard is colorful, nutritious, and easy to grow even in deck rail planters.

And if you’d still like more options, there are hybrid varieties of a number of different vegetables that are specially bred for containers. So while your options aren’t exactly limitless, you can go pretty darn far before you reach that limit.

Have you planted vegetables in deck rail planters? What would you recommend growing?

arrow-left Previous
Next arrow-right

Tags

deck rail planters, garlic, green onions, growing vegetables, healthy rosemary plant, onions, peppers, rail planters, rosemary, salad greens, strawberries, swiss chard, tomatoes, vegetables and herbs

Comments
  • Em M. April 21, 2022

    Swiss chard and spinach have done very well for me over the years, in addition to lettuce mixes and herbs. I also throw in a few flowers like marigolds and nasturtiums for color and to be added to salads.

    Reply
  • Barbara H. July 15, 2021

    Bunching onions, we usually have them year round.

    Reply

Click here to cancel reply.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • Curator’s Corner
  • Introduction
  • Feature Articles

  • Types of Strawberries
  • Growing Strawberries from Seeds or Seedlings
  • Planting Strawberries in the Ground, Raised Beds or Containers
  • Soil and Sun Requirements for Growing Strawberries
  • Watering, Weeding and Fertilizing your Strawberry Plants
  • Harvesting your Strawberries
  • Winterizing your Strawberry Plants
  • Dealing with Strawberry Diseases
  • Dealing with Strawberry Pests
  • Essential Tools and Equipment for Growing and Enjoying Strawberries
  • Plant Profiles

  • Shuksan Strawberries
  • Honeoye Strawberries
  • Earliglow Strawberries
  • Delizz Strawberries
  • Charlotte Strawberries
  • Chandler Strawberries
  • AC Wendy Strawberries
  • Recipes

  • Strawberry Limeade
  • Strawberry Smoothie
  • Strawberry Jam
  • Buttermilk Strawberry Shortcake
  • Strawberry Spinach Salad
  • Chocolate-Covered Strawberries
  • Additional Articles

  • Nutrition Facts about Strawberries
  • Health Benefits and Home Remedies of Strawberries
  • Resources about Strawberries
  • Strawberry Glossary
  • Related Articles

  • What Can You Grow in Deck Rail Planters?
  • How to Make Fresh Homemade Strawberry Soda
  • Homemade Strawberry Chocolate Chip Sorbet
  • How to Treat Anthracnose Fungus in Strawberries
  • All-Natural Homemade Rainbow Popsicle Recipe
  • Everbearing Strawberry Plants vs. June-Bearing Strawberries
  • How to Grow Strawberries from Seed or Bare Roots

Enter Your Log In Credentials

This setting should only be used on your home or work computer.

  • Lost your password? Create New Password
  • No account? Sign up

Need Assistance?

Call Food Gardening Network Customer Service at
(800) 777-2658

Food Gardening Network is an active member of the following industry associations:

  • American Horticultural Society
  • GardenComm Logo
  • MCMA logo
  • Renewd logo
  • Manage Account
  • Join
  • About Food Gardening Network
  • Contact Us
  • Affiliate Program
  • Sponsor Program
  • Give a Gift
  • Privacy Policy & Terms of Use

Food Gardening Network
99 Derby Street, Suite 200
Hingham, MA 02043
support@foodgardening.mequoda.com

FREE E-Newsletter for You!

Discover how to grow, harvest, and eat good food from your own garden—with our FREE e-newsletter, delivered directly to your email inbox.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Powered by
Mequoda Publishing Network
copyright © 2023 Mequoda Systems, LLC

Food Gardening Network® and Food Gardening Magazine® are registered trademarks of Mequoda Systems, LLC.

Go to mobile version