What you can and can't put on a deck (pot plants)

Hi all,

I just have a question about what you shouldn't put on deck to avoid stains. I have a couple of pots that I wish to use. The first set has those little feet, which I presume are good. The second set of posts are quite large (about 60 cm high ) and come with large drip tray/saucers - are these ok to use?

I have never had a deck and I want to avoid stains - anyone have experience with pot plans on there deck.

Thanks

I saw something on better homes & gardens a while ago when they were doing a balcony make over. when potting their plants, they put in those little coffee filter pad things inside the pot, over every hole. this allowed the water to still flow out when you water the plants, but stopped all of those dreadful stains/marks, as it stripped all the nasties out of the water before it left the pot.

Just a thought... :)

My preference is to minimise the actual footprint of anything touching the deck - this is to stop creating areas where water can be prevented from quickly evaporating and possibly do more damage than just stain. Drip trays are fine and will help keep dirt leaching from the pot onto your deck, just make sure there are a couple of discrete blocks under the corners to keep it off the deck surface.

Anything metalic in direct contact with the hardwood decking is highly likely to leave a purple - black carbon looking stain which is near impossible to remove when the decks coating wears to a point where it will absorb water...
Pots should be elevated on feet to allow air ventilation between the decking and the pot which is a constant water source.. Pots should have trays .. if dirt runs out of the pot this is likely to leave the deck looking dirty..

cheers utemad

I realise that this sounds pedantically anal but I glue exterior boating carpet like you find sold at Bunnings or BCF onto the bottom of the little feet. You can use a Sikaflex glue or even a basic wet area silicone to act as a glue. I have this on the bottom of all of my heavy wooden deck furniture and the feet of my pot plants. I always avoid any metal especially the gas cyclinder of the BBQ. I store my cylinder on a special shelf that I added to the frame but you could also just hang it off the frame. As I see these issues on a daily basis they really are so simple and cost next to nothing to do but will help preserve all of the hard work and effort that went into the deck from the beginning.

good luck

jimj www.restore-a-deck.com.au