Gardening Pots

How to Convert a Wicker Basket into a Planter

By Larry Hodgson

Wicker baskets look great anytime and make great containers for growing plants … when you know how to prepare them. But the sad fact is that, in contact with moist soil, inevitable when you grow plants, the wicker won’t last very long. It tends to weaken and rot away after just a few uses. 

In addition, the numerous openings in container’s sides and bottom mean the roots of the plants you grow in them dry out too quickly, forcing you to water far too often. 

Luckily, you can fix this quite easily. Here’s how:

Preparing a Wicker Planter for Planting, Step by Step

Applying varnish to a wicker basket.
Varnish the basket.
  1. To waterproof the wicker and seriously extend its useful life, varnish the inside and outside of the basket with three coats of wood preservative or water-repellent varnish, then let dry.
  2. Find a sheet of thick, transparent plastic to use as a liner (clear plastic being easier to hide than colored plastic). 
  3. Cut a circle of plastic about twice the diameter of the basket. If the basket is very deep, increase the diameter of the circle you cut. 
Hands placing a sheet of plastic in a wicker basket.
Line the inside with a sheet of plastic.
  1. Line the inside of the container with the plastic.
  2. Punch a few holes in the bottom of the plastic lining to ensure adequate drainage.
Scissors that cut the plastic protruding from the basket.
Cut away the excess plastic liner.
  1. Cut away the excess plastic liner. 
  2. Fill the container with moist potting soil
  3. Plant it with your favorite plants.

All that’s left to do is to enjoy your beautiful wicker container for many seasons to come.

Illustrations: Claire Tourigny

Garden writer and blogger, author of 65 gardening books, lecturer and communicator, the Laidback Gardener, Larry Hodgson, passed away in October 2022. Known for his great generosity, his thoroughness and his sense of humor, he reached several generations of amateur and professional gardeners over his 40-year career. Thanks to his son, Mathieu Hodgson, and a team of contributors, laidbackgardener.blog will continue its mission of demystifying gardening and making it more accessible to all.

1 comment on “How to Convert a Wicker Basket into a Planter

  1. One of the baskets that I used for houseplants rotted out on the bottom (which was a pretty nasty indication of overwatering if you thing about it (so don’t), but fortunately (and miraculously) did not damage the floor too). It did not matter though, because it still fit neatly around a #5 (5 gallon) can.

Leave a Reply

Sign up for the Laidback Gardener blog and receive articles in your inbox every morning!