Brick Planter

[crokett]

If I want to make a red brick planter, to allow for drainage will it work just to leave some of the mortar out of a few of the bottom joints?

[bhornberger]

If I want to make a red brick planter, to allow for drainage will it work just to leave some of the mortar out of a few of the bottom joints?

Good question. I have a neighbor that purchased a house with one. It's along the front of his brick house. approx 2' x 5' x 3' tall. I suspect it was built right on top of the concrete walkway. It's not original and he has plenty of basement leaks around it. My guess is that the joint between the house and walkway has expanded.

I tried to convince him to tear it out since it's not original and plagues his basement with water. But he wants to keep it.

My suggestions so far to him. (note: he has not attempted any of this yet, my guess is because of #1 below)

1. take out all the soil (told him i'm not doing that)

2. Caulk / Seal joint

3. Core drill at the end and place a corrugated or pvc tube with holes, cover with rock and fabric.

4. Could line the brick with rubber pond material along with #3

-brent

[Greg in Maryland]

I have seen gaps in the mortar to permit drainage or bricks cut short for drainage and/or PVC pipe sticking through the container for drainage. Depending on how big the planter is, where it will be located, how much water you anticipate would need to be drained, what you intend to plant in it, and a whole host of issues will dictate how big your drainage will need to be. The down side of too much water draining isn't as drastic as too much water accumulating inside.

I would suggest that you line the bottom of your planter with gravel, put perforated PVC pipe (1/2 inch?) in a sloped grid or some other pattern, with drain pipes leading out the side and more gravel on top of the PVC pile. Lastly, I would put some of that landscaping cloth over the gravel before you add dirt. Dirt can clog drainage and the cloth will prevent this. Also, it would keep roots out of the drain system.

If you really want to engineer it for every every eventuality, you could slope the inside of the planter and the drainage grid towards the point where you are going to drain the water and line the planter with a rubber membrane (used for water features) about 1/2 way up.

As Brent pointed out, the water will not drain too well though the bottom of the planter, so you shouldn't use this as your main drainage. Keep in mind that the water in the planter will melt before the frozen ground and if your only drainage is through the ground, you will run the risk of water expanding in the planter as it refreezes.

Greg

[LarryG]

Basically, +1 on everything Greg wrote. A 12" or deeper gravel bed in the bottom, covering a 4" perforated foundation drain pipe that extends to daylight, will give the best drainage. Granted, depending on where the planter is located, this may be difficult to accomplish.

I'd also apply parging or use a membrane liner all the way up on the inside. If you don't, the outside (visible) face of the brick is going to become an algae nursery, especially if the planter is in a shady location.

[crokett]

I am thinking of attaching the planter as part of my driveway pillars. There would not be anything big in the planters - just annuals. The drainage is more for the rainwater that would collect. Using a lot of gravel might be a problem - the planter would be sitting on a concrete footing. However I will look into the gravel/pvc.