Planter boxes come in a variety of shapes, sizes, styles, and materials, you will find planters from the simple to the eclectic, from rustic to industrial.
Depending on the aesthetic of your residential or commercial garden, whether it’s indoors or outdoors, it can be exciting yet challenging to choose the best container for your needs.
Sometimes it’s better to think inside the box! This guide is an advocate for the rectangular-style box planter. A universal and versatile style, it is a suitable planter shape for any house, lawn, yard, porch, or workspace.
Who Benefits From This Guide?
This guide is especially useful for landscape architects and designers who want to add VALUE to their client’s properties. With a few planter box ideas in your toolbelt, why not build your reputation as THE expert in planter arrangement and management?
For those that are homeowners or professionals designing your own space, this guide is an insight into how the pros do it. Plus we included the best plants for rectangular planters to give you all the support to satisfy your green thumb!
Here are 8 great ideas on how to use the rectangular planter box for the best effect, boosting the beauty of your indoor or outdoor space!
Why Use Rectangular Planters?
Rectangular planters make your garden management easier. A large number of smaller planter boxes means more watering and more cleaning. When it comes to having bigger rectangular planters, it is one place to water instead of multiple, and the cleaning benefits are the same.
This is especially useful when in a business setting, where the opening and closing of a store is already a process. To make it all easier, use rectangular planters!
Top tip: To keep outdoor plants as healthy as possible, opt for planter boxes with drainage holes. This will allow excess water to drain especially in outdoor gardens that face heavy rainy seasons.
8 Great Rectangular Planter Ideas
Rectangle pots for plants and square planters are the straightforward design choice for many residential and commercial spaces. They are versatile and look great in linear formations.
Here are the 8 best rectangular planter box ideas to add order and beauty to your space!
1. Frame Your Property
Framing is a key part of any design, and rectangular planters can be perfect to highlight these different areas of a home or business.
Lining a walkway or doorway with attractive planters, for example, can be a great way to draw people into a business! You may also use planters around your deck, patio, porch, yard, or roof, creating a DIY wall or fence that acts both as decor and a property line marker.
To achieve a more traditional planter box look for framing, you can use square containers rather than oblong planters. Rectangular planters are the best shape to achieve this effect, they butt up nicely with each other, and create a continuous line that is clear and beautiful to look at.
2. Achieve Privacy
Rectangular planters are the perfect choice for privacy since the straight edges allow you to touch planters together with no space between them.
Grow a dense shrub or a leafy plant to achieve the best privacy effect. Fill up the rectangular container with suitable and lovely plants. Then line them up near your door, around your restaurant patios, put them around pools or use them to separate areas in a waiting room.
Rectangular box planters give a private feel to your space while remaining classy and comfortable!
It doesn’t get much more private than that! Loving this install by @jaguar_garden_designs using our Granada and Tolga Planters
3. Go for a minimalistic look
Minimalism is an extremely versatile and popular trend. With so many businesses and homes being geared towards these minimalistic ideas, rectangular planters are the perfect option to add to your decor.
Clean lines are coveted in minimalism, and with the idea that ‘less is more’, rectangular planters fulfill that niche of style and function.
Putting multiple plants in one planter box decreases the number of planters within the space, leaving clean lines and more open space to add to the overall minimalistic feeling.
Even if a design scheme is slightly busier than minimalistic, rectangular planters in place of other shapes can be good to cut back on the busy feeling and provide a bit of calm within the design.
Specialize in interior design? We gathered experts in the field to discuss the latest design trends.
4. Build a Vertical Shelf Garden
A vertical garden is a wonderful way to add a huge wow factor to any residential or commercial space. It can be ideal for a place that is short on space, to bring greenery indoors, or to vastly improve an often-overlooked space like your back porch.
However, the idea of building a vertical wall garden is daunting for many. A professional landscaper may be an option, or you can try your hand at DIY.
Rectangular planters are the best shape to use to build a vertical plant wall. Anyone can do it. Simply place the planter against a wall and plant tall-growing plants. Make sure to give the plants plenty of support on the wall with a lattice board or wooden stakes.
To see our rectangular planters in action, check out one of our projects here
Penthouse Pool Club Washington
As the highest point in a building, the pool area of a penthouse is more susceptible to high winds and extreme weather conditions. It was also typically surrounded by hard surfaces like concrete, which made it feel more uninviting and unwelcoming.
View Project5. Decorate with Square Planters in Corners of Rooms
Corners of rooms can often look empty or unused. A square planter box can fill up that open space to elevate the style of the room or porch.
Make a statement with an indoor ornamental flowering tree for your corner. Or use shorter, raised planters for a more dynamic contemporary design. Put longer leaves on higher levels for a smooth ombre effect. A raised planter box set is perfect to add more visual interest.
Top tip: Boxes that are painted white go well with most interiors.
Learn more about the best colors for planters.
6. Divide Spaces with Slim Rectangular Planters
Plant pots are not just containers, they are works of art! Use them to create a green and more functional area in your outdoor garden, patio, or even indoors.
A rectangular planter box can divide space in an unobtrusive manner, adding more vibrancy to the space. For example, a slim rectangular planter can separate dining areas in a restaurant, line car parking lots, or be hung on the railings of rooftops.
Related article: How To Use Planters In Restaurant Patios To Boost Profit!
7. Design a Flexible and Manageable Garden
Using containers for your garden already means you have an inherently more flexible and manageable garden. It is easier to keep the plants organized and to move the planters as you see fit based on aesthetics or seasonal reasons.
A rectangular planter garden is even more functional. The different planters will always go with each other and are suitable for all kinds of spaces.
For even more flexibility, consider adding wheels to your large rectangular planters. This increases the portability of the giant containers. Saving you time and effort in the future.
8. Tabletop and Railing Rectangular Planter boxes
Not having a porch or big yard for a garden is very common in modern living or in multiple-use commercial spaces. Limited space in your house or workspace should not stop you from having a nice indoor garden.
A tabletop rectangular planter box is ideal for a smaller space. This allows you to have indoor greenery without using too much space. For even tighter spaces, railing planters are perfect. Flowers, small plants, and succulents were made for this planter box idea.
Plants For A Rectangular Planter Box
You can plant a lot of different plants in a rectangular planter pot, you can plant annuals, perennials, bulbs, vines, vegetables, and herbs. When choosing your plants make sure that they share similar light, water, and soil requirements. For partial shade light, try sweet alyssum, verbena, wave petunias, celosia, anchusa, and trailing ivy geraniums.
For how to plant in a rectangular planter box – planting basics prevail! Choose the right size planter for your plant and make sure it has enough space to grow over time. Use the right kind of soil and fertilizer to enhance its growth.
Of course, also choose an adequate spot for it to receive sunlight.
Here are some plants to consider:
1. Flowering Bulbs
Flowering bulbs such as miniature Daffodils, Hyacinths, Lilies, and Snowdrops will be perfect for a smaller rectangular planter box, or as an addition to bigger boxes to create layers in your patio or yard. If you are looking for something more low maintenance, planting a flowering trellis is for you, allow it to overflow elegantly out of the box.
Place them along railings in a raised planter box or use them in low-lying divider planter boxes. Such flowers will be pleasant, eye-catching, and bring color into the space.
2. Vegetables and Herbs
Vegetables and herbs are great plants for rectangular planters. You can plant many of them in a row with little effort and with a delightful design.
Planting crops are a good project for a backyard or for a restaurant, it will an inexpensive and interesting decor choice.
Be careful about choosing the right soil and having the right drainage holes in your planter box, some vegetables and herbs are more sensitive to their environment.
Go for easy-to-grow herbs like Sage, Chives, Thyme, and Mint. For vegetables, choose Cherry Tomatoes, Lettuce, and Kale mixed with Marigolds will add up to the style in a window box, too. They will need water every couple of days and fertilizer every two weeks like flowers.
Related article: The Best Plants For Restaurants
3. Indoor Trees
A tree is always a great statement piece for indoors or outdoors. Particularly for indoor trees, it is important to follow the instructions given by the nursery to ensure healthy growth.
Options for a great indoor tree are the Fiddle Leaf Fig, a Weeping Fig, Rubber Tree, or the Guiana Chestnut.
These are decorative trees that make for easy planting. Make sure you choose a sturdy rectangular planter designed specifically to house trees.
Need to plant trees? You need our guide to growing trees in planter boxes
4. Outdoor Privacy Plants
If you are looking to achieve privacy with rectangular planters, trees or shrubs are a great choice!
In fact, creating privacy demands the use of rectangular planter boxes to create perfect botanical barriers in a linear formation.
For example, the Taxus Baccata (Yew tree) is ideal for growing a long hedge. This tree is known for being one of the fastest growers among evergreen trees. It has bluish-green needles and grows at an average rate of 1 foot per year. A commercial-grade planter is perfect for this kind of tree as it requires a sturdy, yet durable container for years of continued use.
Another good option is the Indian Hawthorn. Native to China, it sprouts green foliage throughout the year. It boasts lovely pink flowers that look like cherry blossoms in late spring which makes it a perfect decoration for your backyard. It is tolerant of full sun, and partial shade and can survive drought conditions. It grows 5-7 feet high with an equal spread.
Elevate Your Space With Jay Scotts Rectangular Planter Boxes
Durable, sturdy, and weather-resistant, fiberglass planters are the go-to material for indoor and outdoor landscaping professionals. While there is a wide selection of materials, from wood, plastic, clay, to stone, fiberglass is the prime planter material that will withstand the test of time and weather.
The great thing about fiberglass box planters is that you can choose from a wide variety of colors and finishes. They can even be painted to mimic a natural finish.
Decorating with a wooden planter box or cedar planter box are currently popular design ideas. However, even treated wooden planters will not be able to bear the brunt of frost and winter and will rot with prolonged exposure to moisture. If you like the wooden planter box look, it is better to paint or add color to a fiberglass container to achieve the same design effect.
Learn more about why experts favor fiberglass planters for their projects.
5 Perfect Jay Scotts Rectangular Planters
Here are 5 wonderful Jay Scotts rectangular planters perfect for your space.
1. Selenge Extra Wide Large Rectangle Planter Box
The Selenge is one of the largest planter boxes in our expansive collection of wholesale planters. Measuring 84” long, 36” wide, and 18” tall, this is an impressive box that is sure to make a statement whether you use it indoors or outdoors, without the need to worry about upkeep. It can house a number of different plants at the same time, creating a layered foliage look.
This extra-large planter is a popular choice to create privacy around balconies, patios, and walkways or to separate sections of an outdoor garden, terrace, deck, or courtyard. A single rectangle planter box will work well for small spaces, such as apartment patios and break areas, while you may need to arrange multiple planter boxes to border areas that are larger and more open.
2. Antwerp Wide Rectangular Planter Box
Measuring 24″ deep and 12″ high, the Antwerp fiberglass planter box is the perfect size to be used as an organic herb garden planter box, window planter box, or flower planter box.
This is a good size for commercial spaces, use multiple boxes to create your desired look. Coming in 18 different colors, it can be adapted to many different interior designs. Place them in the lobby or reception areas to welcome guests.
3. Wheeling Narrow Rectangular Box
The Wheeling, a classic contemporary modern rectangular fiberglass container measuring 43” in length can be displayed on the table, consoles, countertops, or ottomans. This planter is easily used in restaurants to divide long tables, or simply as a decorative item on any counter.
It can comfortably accommodate seven 6” inch grow pots, making it a convenient way to display your plants.
4. Cuba Low Corner Planter Box
The Cuba planter is one of our new favorites. The square planter is minimalistic and adds a modern, subtle touch to any space. Durable and sturdy, there is much to love.
Available in a wide variety of sizes, these tall square planter boxes make great solo statement pieces, work well together in a staggered or tiered arrangement, and even serve as corner pieces for our expansive selection of rectangular planters.
5. Amesbury Narrow Rectangular Planter Box
Turn to the Amesbury planter box when you want to decorate an area and show off your favorite plants but don’t necessarily have the room for those space-consuming round pots.
Designers love their elegant look and modern feel. Moreover, it is a neat solution to tight spaces. Place them on narrow balconies, smaller decks, or even corridors.
Plant succulents or shrubs in them for great effect!
See Jay Scotts Planters In Action!
Take a look and see how Jay Scotts rectangular planters were perfect for this outdoor patio space!
Pura Vida Las Olas, Miami
Creating a commercial space like this is challenging for clients as their customers often want privacy from the street while also having both an open and refreshing experience once inside. Our planters were the perfect solution!
View ProjectContact Jay Scotts To Supply The Best Planters On The Market
No matter what color scheme or layout you choose for your office environment, or commercial project in 2022, our fiberglass planters are sure to add life to your space.
To underscore Jay Scott’s value and commitment, all our planters come with an industry-leading warranty.
Call us today to order from our huge range of custom and standard fiberglass planters that will transform your space! Alternatively, send us a quote request!