Fall Planter Ideas + Simple Container Care and Maintenance

These fall planter ideas will have your home looking festive for autumn. Whether you are a seasoned gardener or a first-time planter, the simple tips and tricks in this post will help your container gardens thrive this season.

As the season starts to change from the hot, long days of summer to the cooler, shorter days of fall, you may be wondering what to do with your container gardens or how to start one.

Containers are the perfect way to garden in a small space like a patio or a deck. But containers also make for great features in large gardens too.

Either way, containers draw the eye. One of the most fun months to enjoy container gardening is in the fall. That being said, they need some care and maintenance to keep them thriving as temperatures begin to drop.

Near the end of the summer, the plants will start to look a bit tired. They’ve worked hard to grow in a confined space, and it’s time for a little care.

Here are some tips for how to refresh your container gardens and transition them for the next season with these fall planter ideas.

potted plants for fall in back of car with dog — Fresh flowers for my fall planters! Ozzie loves a trip to the garden centre too.

First: Fall Maintenance Must-Dos

Whether you’re growing vegetables or flowers in your containers, fall is a great time to clean up the container and prepare it for winter. Here are a few things you can do.

Cut back any of the 4D’s: dead, diseased, damaged, or dying plant material and discard it.
Harvest any vegetables that are ready to be harvested for fresh eating or preserving.
Deadhead any blooms to encourage new blooms and extend flowering time.
Allow flowers and vegetables to go to seed so you can collect and save seed for next year.
Remove any overgrown perennials, shrubs, or trees, and plant them in the garden or a larger pot.

For more fall maintenance ideas, check out this post.

fall container garden filled with succulents, and blooming flowers — Once you’ve cleaned up the existing container, you can refresh it with new plants.

Annual Container Garden Maintenance

When the plants are finished fruiting, flowering, or producing seeds, and you have harvested all that you need, remove all the remaining plant material from the pot. Use a soil knife to loosen up the soil around the roots and remove the plants and root balls from the soil.

If the plant has become root bound and the entire pot comes up in a net of roots, you can toss the whole thing in the compost bin. If the roots do not extend throughout the entire pot, then shake off the soil into a large bucket or a wheelbarrow.

Wash the pot well using soap and water before replanting or storing the pot for winter.

freshly washed terra cotta pots — Terracotta pots can crack in the winter if not stored properly in the fall.

Perennial Container Garden Maintenance

If you live in a cold area, the only containers that should be left out over the winter are those that are cold-hardy and meant to weather the temperature drop in your area. Of course, the same is true of the plants in the containers. But if you’ve chosen the pots and perennials that will successfully overwinter in your climate, fall is a great time for some routine maintenance on all of them.

Prune trees and shrubs according to the four D’s as well as size and shape, as can be seen in these guides:

You can also divide and transplant any perennials that are growing too large for their container. See how to divide perennials here.

Precious or more tender plants may need to be moved into an unheated garage or indoors for the winter. I overwinter all of my hardy winter succulents in unglazed terracotta pots under a deck or under an outdoor bench.

Fall Perennial container with rudbeckia in an orange pot — Rudbeckia flowers are great perennials that last from summer to fall.

Tree and Shrub Container Garden Maintenance

Trees and shrubs in containers are more vulnerable to frost damage than those in the ground because the containers have less soil mass, and the roots are less insulated. For smaller pots or more tender perennials, trees, and shrubs, move the containers to a warmer, more protected spot in the garden under a deck or covered area that keeps snow and frost off of the pot and plants.

Large planters or trees that cannot be moved can be insulated using burlap or chicken wire and straw. The book Container Garden Complete by Jessica Walliser has a great section in chapter 5 on the details of how to overwinter both tender and hardy plants which I refer to often.

Fall container garden outside on a porch — You may need to move your potted trees and shrubs into a more protected part of the garden.

Fall Container Soil Mix Recipe

At the end of the season, it’s a good time to freshen up your soil. If there were no signs of disease or pests on the plants or in the soil, the soil can be reused by mixing it in equal amounts with compost and soil mix.

If you prefer to make your own container garden soil, you can find my DIY container soil recipe here.

Fall Planter Ideas

There are so many fun ways you can plant containers for each season. But, there’s something about fall that seems extra fun! Here are some of my favourite fall planter ideas that will look lovely on any porch.

Colourful Fall Foliage Planter

This pretty fall planter idea showcases all those lovely colours of the season. For many of my fall planters, I go shopping for some fresh annual plant material such as mums and pansies that are more hardy for the fall.

I leave behind (or add new) perennials with vibrant foliage colour like Heuchera, Euonymous, Sedum and Gaultheria. Don’t forget to refresh the soil with 1 part compost and 1 part soil mix.

foliage container with fall plants — Warm oranges and reds are great fall foliage colours.

Planted Pumpkin

It doesn’t get more fall than this! This container garden idea uses a pumpkin as the planter and adds season-appropriate mums to the mix.

Mix 1 part of your existing soil with one part fresh soil and add in fall-themed plants for the holidays. At the end of the holiday season, when the pumpkin starts to decompose, remove any perennials. Then, simply discard the whole planter—soil, pumpkin, and spent plants—into the compost bin.

This guide will show you how to grow and care for hardy mums

Spring Bulbs in Pots

Believe it or not, but getting your spring containers ready starts in the fall. Especially if you have a bulb plant that needs to have a winter’s chill.

Plan for a gorgeous spring display by loading layers of spring bulbs into a container filled with fresh soil. Layer and plant bulbs so that you get a continuous display of gorgeous flowers throughout the spring (see how to do that in this post).

Make a soil mix that is light and airy to keep the bulbs insulated through the colder months.

Hardy bulbs that need a winter’s chill can be planted in a pot. Then, the pot can be moved to an unheated garage, under a deck, or wrapped with insulation to keep the container and bulbs chilled but not freezing. In the spring when the soil warms up, move the container into place. Then enjoy watching how fast you get to see the show.

In areas where winters are mild, the container can be left in place. I like to use a winter arrangement decorating the soil above the bulbs.

You’ll be happy you put in the work when the bulbs emerge in the spring.

Outdoor Holiday Arrangement

Similarly, if you want to have holiday container gardens, fall is the perfect time to start planning for them.

These displays need no special soil as the plants used are cut branches and leaves used. This outdoor botanical arrangement that will be discarded in the spring. No additional soil or fertilizer is needed as the old potting soil can be used to hold the arrangement in place.

Simply add in cut evergreen branches along with decorative cones and seed heads to make a festive display to last until spring.

Create a festive holiday window box with a wood planter and some fresh greenery. You will quickly have a long lasting planter to freshen up the outdoors.

FAQ About Fall Planters

What to put in a planter for fall?

There are many annuals that perform well in the fall and even into the winter in mild areas. These include calendula, pansies, mums, celosia, coleus, nasturtium, ornamental kale, snapdragons, sunflowers, and sweet William.

Some fall perennials include rudbeckia (black-eyed Susan), echinacea (coneflower), stonecrop, Russian sage, rose mallow, Japanese anemone, and aster.

How do you transition to fall planters?

Start off by seeing what you can salvage from your existing containers. Trim back any dead, overgrown, or already flowered/gone to seed plant material. Remove any plants that have finished flowering entirely.

Next, add some fresh plant materials. Head to the garden centre and look for fall annuals and perennials—they should be on display and advertised this time of year. Use them to fill in the gaps, and eventually, they will take over as the focal point for the container as the summer flowers begin to die.

Do I have to change the soil in my planters every year?

Most plants need to be repotted every 12 months, so it’s a good idea to refresh your container’s soil. I toss anything covered in roots into the compost. If there is still loose soil, I mix in compost and new soil the following spring to freshen up the soil for the next round of plants.

fall planter flowers — Coral Bells ‘Peachberry Ice’ and Rudbeckia ‘August Forest’

What do your fall containers look like this year? Let us know in the comments below!