plant week

The Best Plant Pots, According to People With Excellent Taste

Photo: retailer

Whether you’re a full-blown plant dad or you take a more minimalist approach to your greenery, a houseplant isn’t truly complete without the appropriate pot. Many popular plant shops (such as Patch, Crocus, and BloomBox) stock their own inexpensive pots, making it easy to just add an attractive planter to your cart before you check out, but we wanted to find some more specific recommendations from people with impeccable taste. We asked a handful of cool people, including a fashion designer, a music journalist, and a candle-shop owner, to tell us where they source their plant pots from — and we went through the Strategist archives to find some tasteful recommendations for those looking to improve their home space or considering gifting to a green-fingered friend.

Best small plant pots

Photo: retailer

“I saw these pots by Ruut Home on my Instagram about a year ago and have been following them ever since,” says Aliyah Allen, founder of candle brand Allen at Home. “I like how each pot represents different landscapes around the world — the one I’ve wanted for weeks, Ullswater, was sold out for weeks.” Allen explains that Ruut Home uses ecofriendly materials, like jesmonite: “It’s so much better for the environment as it’s water based.” Each pot comes with a matching saucer to ensure that the pot fully drains after you water the plant.

Milena Mackowiak, florist and founder of Stems Wilder in Brixton Village, told us about Conservatory Archives, which she called “the best plant shop in London.” There are two locations, one in Hackney and one in Clapton, and Mackowiak loves “their selection of terracotta planters, often in unusual shapes.” She says her plants at home all have terracotta pots — “they’re very breathable, which the plants love.” This cinnabar planter is one that Mackowiak owns.

We also like this pot from Conservatory Archives, which rests on a saucer with three stalagmite-like protrusions for optimum drainage.

Photo: retailer

Music journalist El Hunt says she first heard of this Forest Hill–based studio when she ordered one of its at-home terrazzo plant-pot kits during lockdown. “I was looking for workshops that me and my sister could do over Zoom and came across these kits,” she explains. “I keep the pot I made in my home office, and since then, my girlfriend has bought me another one for my birthday — one that I didn’t have to make myself”. [Editor’s note: This product is out of stock but you can sign up to be notified when it comes back in stock.]

Photo: retailer

We also like these ceramic planters from Copper Dust. Founder Vanessa Agyemang launched the company after noticing a gap in the interior-design market for handmade, luxury African home décor. This would suit something small, such as a micro-succulent, or perhaps a money-plant cutting.

Nick Jackson, founder of Plantsmith, a company specialising in houseplant feeders, says he likes the pots and planters from Husk. “All their products are made from agricultural waste products, so they have a great sustainability message,” he says. The geometric ‘Roman’ planter, for example, is made from bamboo powder.

Husk’s pots will naturally break down after about seven years and, thanks to their composition, can be crushed and buried underground (the company also recommends recycling them professionally via firms such as TerraCycle). Husk also advises keeping them indoors, rather than using them for plants on your patio and balcony, to prolong the product’s lifespan.

This M&S planter was first brought to our attention by Strategist contributor Sandy Yu, who had searched high and low for a sturdy planter to deter her cat, Curare, from knocking over her plants. “The surprising weightiness of the legs and the low centre of gravity kept it still through even the most stubborn of pushes,” she wrote. Curare would often brush past Yu’s desk, but thankfully this pot “didn’t move at all.”

Best medium plant pots

Yu says she also has her eye on a second, taller plant pot from M&S as she has recently added a second cat to her family. This pot is slightly wider but has a reinforced base instead of four separate legs.

Ngoni Chikwenengere, founder of the made-to-order fashion brand We Are Kin, swears by the pots at Homesense. “I can’t remember when I first stumbled in there, but I’ve been obsessed with them ever since,” she says. “All my black and gold pots are from there. A lot of them come with legs, so they can make my plants look taller and add drama or texture and dimension to a space.” Homesense doesn’t have an online shop, but we found a pair of similar gold pots on Amazon that come with legs.

We also like this glazed Hübsch planter from Alkemi, an ESEA-owned business we’ve written about before.

The Strategist UK is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Read about who we are and what we do here. Our editors update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.

The Best Plant Pots According to People With Excellent Taste