If you’ve got a fenced in yard, you’ve got a perfect opportunity to expand your garden in a truly unique, attractive way. Whether your backyard is compact or expansive, there’s always room to add more beautiful plant life with fence planters!
Fence planters are one of the best ways to efficiently take advantage of your outdoor area, covering normally unused vertical space with the plants and flowers that you love. Instead of a boring fence wrapping your property, you can use planter boxes to add a splash of color and style.
This can be done in a variety of ways, from store-bought planters designed for this purpose to homemade solutions such as up-cycling pallet wood or crates. The possibilities are endless when you get going.
Below we’ve shared some of our very favorite creative fence planters from around the world, including the wildest DIY projects we’ve ever seen. Whether you’re looking for something simple or aiming to put put your personal stamp on your fence, we’ve got you covered.
We hope you find as much inspiration here as we did. Some of these projects are easier to complete than others, but they are all as unique as can be. There’s no more stylish way to expand your garden and save space at the same time!
1. Mixed Hanging Pot Row
A plain fence disappears fast under a row of mismatched hanging pots. Mix white, terracotta, and green planters for an eclectic, cottage-garden feel, then fill them with trailing petunias and geraniums in varying pinks, purples, and reds for a lush, layered look that hides every inch of boring wood.
2. Woven Rope Basket Planters
Give a bare wire fence panel real personality by covering it in colorful woven baskets made from scrap fabric and rope. Nestle glass jars or small pots inside alongside slices of wood for a rustic, handmade display that turns a purely functional fence into a piece of art.
3. Railing-Mounted Planter Boxes
Clip-on rectangular planter boxes are an easy, no-drill way to dress up a boring deck or fence railing. Line them up in a row and fill with geraniums and marigolds for continuous color that follows the line of your fence or balustrade all the way down.
4. Single Statement Calibrachoa Basket
Sometimes one show-stopping planter is all a boring fence needs. Hang a single black basket packed with hot pink calibrachoa on a picket fence for a bold pop of color that instantly draws the eye without overwhelming the space. Perfect for a small yard or narrow side gate.
Here is a great product that you can use to decorate your fence. These are constructed with sturdy steel that will last for years, and the color will enhance your plants. You can get these on Amazon here.
5. Wildflower Window Boxes
Skip the tidy blooms and go wild – literally. Fill white wooden boxes with cosmos, verbena, and trailing vines for a loose, meadow-inspired look mounted right on the fence. The airy, unstructured growth softens hard, straight fence lines and makes the whole panel feel alive
6. Pallet Wall Pot Display
A blank fence panel makes the perfect backdrop for a repurposed wooden pallet turned vertical gallery wall. Screw on simple hooks or brackets at varying heights and hang terracotta and colored pots filled with cyclamen and begonias for a garden-center-worthy display that hides the fence completely.
7. Hanging Baskets
Source: Tootsie Time
Hanging baskets aren’t just for your front porch anymore. Install hangers at the top of your fence and hang a row of colorful hanging baskets to brighten up the space. Be sure to pick hanging baskets that will do well in the sun if there’s not much shade by your fence, so your pretty display doesn’t burn up in the summer heat!
Here is a super easy idea for your fence. These metal flower pot containers can be easily hung from any fence. And the come in different colors.
8. Cascading Yellow Blooms on a Trellis
A single planter box overflowing with sunny yellow petunias makes a plain trellis or fence rail feel like a secret garden entrance. The cascading blooms soften the straight lines of the fence and add instant curb appeal to what used to be a bare stretch of wood.
9. Colorful Metal Bucket Wall
Mismatched metal buckets in pink, blue, orange, and green bring playful color to a slatted wood fence that would otherwise blend into the background. Hang them from simple hooks at staggered heights and fill with faux or fresh florals for a display that reads more like art than landscaping.
10. Upcycled Bucket & Pot Grid
Give old paint buckets and terracotta pots new life on a weathered, bare wood-plank fence. Arrange them in a loose grid and fill with petunias in reds, pinks, and purples for a budget-friendly way to add serious color to a wall that used to be nothing but boards
11. Pastel Bucket Bloom Line
Line up pastel-painted metal pails — pink, blue, orange, and green — in a neat row along a slatted fence to turn a plain wall into an Instagram-ready display. Add trailing ivy alongside for extra greenery, and mix in colorful faux flowers if you want blooms that never fade.
12. Coconut Coir Hanging Nests
For a truly unique way to dress up a plain fence or rail, wrap wire frames in coconut coir or dried grass to create nest-like planters. Mount them along the top and tuck in branches of yellow orchids for an organic, textural display unlike any ordinary planter box.
13. Layered Fence Panel Garden
You can create a simple planting bed for shallow-rooted plants by attaching a longboard to your fence to create a V-shaped planting bed. This is an excellent way to dress up a plain fence, without breaking your budget or setting into motion an enormous project.
14. Full Vertical Succulent Wall
For a truly dramatic before-and-after, go big and cover an entire boring fence section in a grid of small pots. Fill them with low-maintenance succulents, snake plants, and aloe for a striking living wall that needs far less watering than a flower-filled version — ideal for sunny, dry spots.
15. Wire Basket Pansy Planters
White wire baskets cradle black pots of purple and yellow pansies for a fence display that feels polished but still DIY-friendly. Pair with a matching rectangular planter and string lights underneath to turn a plain patio fence into a cozy focal point that works day or night.
16. Rustic Pipe-Mounted Planters
An old rusty pipe bolted to a weathered, boring fence makes a surprisingly charming planter rail. Hang terracotta boxes overflowing with hot pink petunias for a display that pairs perfectly with a cottage or farmhouse garden aesthetic – no fancy hardware or expensive materials required.
17. Rail Planter for a Porch
Versatility is great in a window planter because you never know what kinds of rails you’ll be placing the planter on. This planter has a design that will fit on different rails so that you’ll always have a nice fit. It also has a resin construction that’s designed to be very durable. This sand-colored planter has a longer design for more planting space.
