Photo courtesy of Proven Winners.

There are two reasons why I love this cool hanging frame planter and neither has anything to do with the facts that you can make it look traditional or modern or anything in between (ie make it totally your own look) and that when it’s finished, it can look like a 3D painting. First, it’s a great space saver. You get a lovely planter that’s not taking up any floor or patio space. And you can get lots of lushness even though the planter is only 6 inches deep (before you attach your frame). Second, it’s completely fence friendly. You don’t have to drill holes in your fence to install it. As you can see in the video below, you can hang it just like you would a big painting–from wire or chains with attached hooks. You just place the hooks onto the top of your fence and you’re done. This also allows you to move the planter whenever you want.

These three plants, used in the sample garden planter shown here, are best for a spot that gets part shade:

1. Pegasus® Begonia (find more gardening ideas using this gorgeous shade plant in my post “A begonia serves up ice and wine in the shadows“)

2. Purple Chablis® Lamium maculatum

3. Yerba Buena (Satureja douglasii) commonly called Indian Mint

Have fun with your own choice of plants but try sticking to the old Thriller + Filler + Spiller container recipe in order to fill up the interior vertical space (thrillers), add loads of 3D texture (fillers), and maximize the exploding-painting effect (spillers). And if you want your framed planter to multi-task, try an all-edible plant combo using herbs or a combination of herbs and fruit or veggies. Trailing strawberries, cherry tomatoes or edible nasturtiums would make sensational spillers, for instance.

Here’s the link for all instructions and a handy slideshow for building your own Hanging Frame Planter.