Customizing a Coco Liner to Fit a Half Circle Planter Basket

Half circle or half moon planters can be an attractive way to hang plants on a wall or fence. I have a metal framed planter in this shape hanging outside my front door and I like it very much. However, it’s always been challenging to find replacement coir/coco liners to fit it. Prefabricated coco liners are sometimes available online* and in some better garden centres for common sizes of half circle liners, but not for my size of planter.

I’ve tried a few solutions, including buying loose moss and packing it in (which kind of worked) but the best solution for my half moon planter has been to buy a slightly larger coconut fibre liner for a regular hanging basket and then modify it to fit.

 

These standard round liners* are usually easy to find at big box stores, garden centres, and online.

 

 

Customizing the liner

First, make sure the liner is slightly larger than your planter. You can always cut it down to size, but you can’t stretch it bigger!

Next, make a slice into the liner, from the edge to the centre, like you’re cutting into a cake. It will now lie flat.

 

(I know it doesn’t look like a straight cut, but that’s how a curved shape looks once it’s laid flat. I think it looks like a laughing Pac Man)

 

The next step will likely require some trial and error. So the rule is, remember that it’s easier to trim something a few times rather than trim off too much the first time and regret it.

The goal is to trim out just enough so that you can pull the two cut edges together, and then overlap them so that they eventually fit into the planter like this (overhead view):

 

 

But you don’t want to cut out so much that you end up with a gap in the liner that will let soil seep out.

So, pick up the liner and make another cut, like you’re making the second cut to slice and remove a piece of cake (said another way: look at where you made your first cut, and then take out another pie-shaped slice).

Test fit the liner into the planter in the manner that I’ll show you below, then keep taking it out and trimming off another piece of cake until it fits nicely. By the time I had my liner trimmed so that it fit my particular planter, it looked like this:

 

 

Fitting the liner in the planter basket

This is what the liner looked like as I laid it on top of the planter (notice that the cut/sliced side is at the top):

 

There aren’t pictures of this next step because I couldn’t perform the action and photograph it at the same time, but here are the written instructions:

  • Grab the top left corner of the liner with your left hand and the top right corner with your right hand.
  • While still holding the liner, move your hands towards each other until they meet, and then keep moving your right hand so that it slides over your left (said another way: bring the two ends together until they overlap).
  • Then, hold the two edges together and push the bottom of the liner into the planter.

And here is the result if you follow those instructions:

 

The overlapping edges are at the back of the planter, against the wall.

 

You may have to take the liner out a couple times and trim another slice of cake off to get this right. And you may need to do it more than once.  Don’t worry if the liner is too tall and is spilling out over the top of that planter–at this stage that’s a good thing as it means the liner is not too small!

 

Use your hands to push the bottom of the liner to the bottom of the planter, and smooth out any bunched up liner. The goal is to make as big of a cavity as possible for soil. Once you fill the liner with soil and water it well, the weight of the soil and water will push the liner down quite a bit. If you don’t smooth it out before doing that, you could end up with some unintended voids.

 

 

Once you have the liner all smoothed out and are satisfied that it will not get pushed down any further once you add in soil, you could trim off the top edge.  However, if you want to be really sure it fits, wait, and don’t trim the top edge until you’ve filled the planter with soil and soaked it thoroughly. (I highly recommend waiting)

 

 

And that’s how you make a round liner fit a half circle planter basket!

 

*Disclosure: some of the links on this page are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

2 Comments

  1. Linda Ligman on February 28, 2022 at 2:37 am

    Hi Jennifer,
    My name is Linda
    I live in Ohio, US, on a 50 acer farm called the Magic Flower Farm.

    I was seriously thinking of heading to Arizona this spring if my little Magic Flower seeds that I finally found do not germinate. I know from studying the Magic Flowers and growing them by the acer back when my children were young, that they grow wild in Arizona. You should have seen those farm fields turn yellow in 60 seconds back then! It was really fun.
    You have probably guessed, I am speaking of your post on the Oenothera Flava ssp taraxacoides that it appears you are growing. Its a yellow flower that opens rapidly. The seeds are at the base of the stem. You did a special post on how to gather the seeds.

    .Seven years ago, I misplaced the seeds I grew every year, just before I had an accident. I could not walk for 5 years. Then, started walking two years ago. I am really excited to be walking well enough to run my greenhouse again this spring! And I found my seeds, but, I am so scared they will not germinate after all this time.
    I am excited about walking enough to work again, but I was REALLY excited when I stumbled across your site after looking for months for the seeds.
    My farm is called the Magic Flower Farm, because this flower is it’s namesake.
    I use to bring school children up to watch it bloom in the evening. (There is a long story, and I could go on)

    I am writing to see if you would be willing to share some of the seeds if I can not get mine to germinate?
    I would be willing to drive to Toronto for a plant I am so excited….. well…. if we could get away with meeting at the border. Who knows these days. the world has gone nuts, it seems.

    I would love to meet you, but if we cant at this time, do you think it would be possible to send a seed pod or two in the mail if you have one or two? I would be grateful.
    If it would be possible to get seeds from you this spring, somehow, let me know.
    Maybe we could trade seeds in the future, as I love to collect interesting plants.
    (Don’t we all)
    This flower takes the cake with the kids though, does it not?

    Anyway,
    Looking foreword to hearing from you.
    Ill keep an eye out on the board here.
    Linda

    • Jennifer on March 19, 2022 at 6:11 pm

      Hi Linda, what a wonderful story! And to have a farm named after the night blooming primrose is so fun! Thank you for sharing. Unfortunately, it’s not legal to mail seeds from Canada to the U.S. without a phytosanitary certificate (and the same with bringing plants across the border), so I’m afraid I can’t send you any. However, I have seen gardeners from the U.S. posting in the comments on the post about these plants that they’d be willing to share, so would suggest you leave a comment there. Go to https://thefabulousgarden.com/blog/2018/01/18/night-blooming-primrose-oenothera/ and scroll to the bottom of the page where the comments are. If I ever find a commercial U.S. seed company that sells these seeds (or plants) I will update the post on that page with their information, as many Americans have written in, saying that they have difficulty finding the seeds and really want them. I wish you all the best in finding some fresh seeds so that Magic Flower Farm can have its magic flowers again! 🙂

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