Planters with trees
Best trees to grow in pots: 15 beautiful compact varieties
(Image credit: Leigh Clapp)
The best trees to grow in pots can add much needed interest to patios, courtyards and other areas of your back yard.
With both deciduous and evergreen options, offering various leaf color, fruit and flowers through the seasons, potted trees are versatile container gardening ideas.
Growing pots in trees is a way to zone a secluded seating or dining area as a patio idea, flowering trees can add color and scent, while citrus or olive trees are ideal if you want to create a Mediterranean-style garden.
One of the big advantages is that you can grow tree species that wouldn't usually suit the growing conditions in your hardiness zone as the best trees to grow in pots can be moved indoors in colder months.
The best trees to grow in pots
Many different trees can thrive in pots, so look beyond the local garden center for inspiration. You could choose one of the best indoor trees that you move outdoors in warmer months to surround yourself with nature year round.
'There are many types of trees you can grow in pots and containers,' says small space gardening expert Emilly Barbosa Fernandes of Housegrail . 'They instantly brighten up any garden, and can become the main focal point.'
If you want a low-maintenance planting scheme, then the best trees to grow in pots must be compatible with your local climate, and require minimal pruning. An advantage of planting trees in pots is that you can control their soil type – perhaps growing an acid-loving tree in a chalky soil, or creating free-draining conditions in a garden with heavy clay soil.
Consider where you want the tree to be positioned in your garden, as whether it will sit in full sun or receive some shade will be a factor in which varieties will be suitable.
It's important to look at the maximum size of a tree species, and how many years it will take to reach maturity. Some trees are suited to pots for their whole life, while other slow-growing varieties can have a long pot life before needing to be eventually planted in the ground as part of your flower bed ideas.
Trees have hungry, thirsty roots, so container size is also key. Ensure you invest in a pot that's big enough for your chosen tree to flourish.
Remember that a tree planted in a pot will dry out more quickly than in the ground, and the smaller the pot size, the more often you will have to water it.
1. Peach tree
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Enjoy a delicious home harvest of fruit by growing a peach tree in a container. These are among the best fruit trees to grow, and ideal for trees to grow in pots, particularly as you can move the container to the sunniest and warmest positions throughout the year.
You will need a fairly large container for growing a peach tree – although not so large that you can not easily move it when required. Good drainage is important, so either add some crocs or stones to the bottom of a container, or raise it up on pot feet to aid drainage.
'You will need to water peach trees grown in pots almost every day in the growing season, and repot them every few years' explains Guy Barter, chief horticulturist at the RHS .
2. Crab apple tree
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Producing lovely pink blossom in spring, followed by their ornamental fruits in fall, crab apples are among the best trees to grow in pots.
When planting crab apples in containers, use a pot that is approximately 12-15in. (30-40cm), in a good quality and free draining loam based compost, explain the experts at Pomona Fruits .
Keep them well watered in the first growing season, watering them daily in warmer weather. They are also among the best trees for autumn color.
3. Amelanchier
(Image credit: Leigh Clapp)
A small, compact deciduous tree, amelanchier – known by a number of other names including juneberry, shadbush and sarvisberry – offers interest through the seasons. It produces lovely starry white flowers in spring, red and purple berries in summer through to fall, and its bronze tinged young leaves turn through green to the fiery colors of orange and red, making this undoubtedly one of the best trees to grow in pots .
Amelanchier prefers a spot in full sun, so move the container to the best spot throughout the year. Plant bare root trees for the most economical option, in ericaceous compost in a large pot.
4. Japanese maple tree
(Image credit: Ian West / Alamy Stock Photo)
Japanese maples trees – or acer palmatum – are ideal for smaller gardens, as they are slow growing and require minimal pruning or training. They also offer lovely fall color.
‘With a variety of showy cascades in foliage and colors ranging from vibrant greens to deep blood reds, this is a showcase tree for container growing,’ says Tammy Sons, owner of Tennessee Nursery .
‘Japanese maple trees do not grow to extreme heights, seldom reaching over 15 feet. My favorite varieties are 'Crimson Queen' and 'Bloodgood', with their added attribute of spectacular fall foliage.’
Meanwhile, Lisa Tadewaldt, arborist and owner of Urban Forest Pro , particularly favors the dwarf maple 'Sharp's Pygmy'.
‘They can live in a pot for hundreds of years,' she says. 'You can ignore them or pamper them – either way they always look great. This is a favorite of serious bonsai artists, and what I personally have on my deck in pots.’
Position Japanese maples in a cool spot that receives some shade during the hottest part of the day, and water regularly in the summer. They are perfect to include for Japanese garden ideas.
5. Lemon tree
(Image credit: Future / Mark Bolton)
‘I always think there is something very romantic about a lemon tree growing in a pot,’ says Aaron Bertelsen, author of Grow Fruit & Vegetables in Pots . ‘Perhaps it is the way the scent of the blossom fills a room, or the knowledge that rich people in the past would build dedicated lemon houses to shelter their highly prized trees.’
While lemon trees make fantastic house plants during the winter, they can grow happily outdoors during the spring and summer. This is why planting them in pots is the best solution, so you can bring them indoors in frosty weather.
You can even learn how to grow lemon from seed, to surround yourself with these uplifting trees.
‘Lemons are hungry plants, so make sure you use a good, soil-based compost, adding some grit or sharp sand to improve drainage,’ adds Bertelsen, who recommends the Meyer variety as it flowers throughout the year.
Make sure you understand how to prune lemon trees to get the best out of them, and let them dry out between waterings.
6. Dwarf conifers
(Image credit: Leigh Clapp)
Larger conifers are some of the best trees for privacy and screening in a backyard, but there are a number of smaller species that are perfect for pots.
Some recommended conifers to consider are dwarf varieties of cypress trees, yew trees, mountain pines, and Chinese juniper.
‘They are not top-heavy and have an equal branch structure from the central leader to the top,’ says Sons.
‘Evergreen conifers also offer year-round beauty and they can successfully be trimmed back in order for them to not overwhelm the container.
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7. Crepe Myrtle
(Image credit: Biosphoto / Alamy Stock Photo)
Crepe myrtle – or crape myrtle – is a striking tree that offers year-round interest, and grows very well in pots.
‘This beautiful tree has large trumpet-shaped flowers that often have an orange tint to them,’ says Lindsey Hyland, founder of Urban Organic Yield . 'Crape myrtles also have good fall color, with attractive peeling bark. I love how the branches are always thick enough to handle being in pots.’
Choose from flowers of white, pink or purple, which bloom from late spring through summer. Some varieties flower until the first frost in fall.
Crepe myrtle trees need full sun to thrive, and in frost-prone areas will need to be overwintered in a greenhouse or conservatory. Learn how to prune crepe myrtle to keep your trees looking their best.
8. Bay tree
(Image credit: Brent Darby)
As well as creating a sculptural feature, bay trees are aromatic herbs that have wonderfully scented leaves that can be used in cooking fresh or dried.
Bay trees look particularly stunning in pairs flanking a doorway, or can be positioned next to seating areas on the patio for outdoor dining ideas. They thrive in containers and can be clipped into attractive ball or pyramid topiary shapes.
‘A bay tree is very easy to look after, provided you give it a good sunny spot and feed it regularly,’ says Bertelsen. ‘Prune every spring, both to keep it at the size you want it and to reduce any congestion.’
It’s a good idea to repot bay trees every few years to keep them healthy and encourage fresh growth. Bay trees are an excellent choice for planter box ideas.
9. Banana tree
(Image credit: Oleksandr Sokolenko / Alamy Stock Photo)
Banana trees are some of the best trees to grow in pots if you want to add a tropical garden idea to your patio. But bear in mind if you are growing a banana tree in the garden this will generally be for their ornamental leaves, rather than for fruit, unless you live in a climate of at least 60ºF (15°C) for most of the year.
‘If you live in a cooler climate, then a banana tree still brings a taste of tropics to your landscaping,’ says Tadewaldt. ‘The growth of these trees is usually stunted by the colder weather enough that they can live in the pot for an extended period of time.'
Smaller varieties of banana tree are particularly well suited to climates with colder winters, as they can be brought inside and enjoyed as a houseplant.
10. Rhododendron
(Image credit: Gina Kelly / Alamy Stock Photo)
As well as the popular shrubs, rhododendrons are also available in tree form – R. arboreum. Although after several decades they can eventually reach great heights of over 40 feet, they are slow-growing trees that will live happily for years in a pot, so it is worth learning how to grow rhododendrons.
‘I really like rhododendron – it is such a pretty flowering tree with red and white flowers in the summer,’ says Hyland. As an evergreen tree, it possesses attractive dark green leaves year round.
‘My favorite thing about it is its ability to thrive in stunted, acidic, or shallow soil conditions.’
Be sure you know how to prune rhododendron to keep your potted specimens under control.
11. Olive tree
(Image credit: Darren Chung)
If you want to create a Mediterranean garden, olive trees are ideal and perfectly suited to growing in containers, as they can be moved to safety during excessively cold winters.
‘Olive trees are not fond of winter, so make sure to cover them if you know a frost is coming,’ says Barbosa Fernandes.
‘They love warmth and sun, and they also do well in dry areas. However, they do need the right conditions to produce olives.’
In order for the trees to fruit, they will need two months with temperatures below 50°F (10°C), but above 14°F (-10°C), as well as fluctuation between day and night temperatures. Although self-fertile, olive trees benefit from cross pollination.
‘If you don’t have the right conditions to grow olives, don’t be too disappointed, as they’re such elegant evergreen trees,’ says Barbosa Fernandes.
‘Fertilize them in the spring for the best results.’
You also need to know how to prune olive trees to improve their shape and increase the chances of fruit production.
12. Wedding Cake Tree
(Image credit: Steffen Hauser / Botanikfoto / Alamy Stock Photo)
Also known as Cornus controversa 'Variegata', the wedding cake tree is a variegated dogwood tree.
‘The white in the leaves adds interest and it naturally grows in layers – like the layers of a cake, hence its name – and pruning will help to emphasize this form,’ says Tadewaldt.
However, regular pruning isn’t essential, and as the tree is slow-growing, it will live happily in its pot for a long time, as long as the soil is fertile.
‘Eventually, however, this tree will outgrow the pot and need to be transplanted,’ adds Tadewaldt.
13. Apple tree
(Image credit: Unsplash)
Smaller varieties of apple tree are perfect for growing in pots on the patio.
Not only are varieties grown on dwarf rootstock usually quicker to fruit, but they are often better quality than larger trees.
When choosing a variety of apple tree, you need to consider pollination. ‘Self-fertile cultivars are available, although it’s generally recommended to have at least two different partner trees nearby for cross-pollination,' explains Period Living’s gardening expert Leigh Clapp.
When planting apple trees in pairs, 'opt for different varieties of apple tree that flower at the same time.'
If you only have room for one apple tree, Red Falstaff is a great choice as it is heavy cropping and very hardy. Apples trees are among the best fast growing fruit trees so you will enjoy a well sized tree before you know it.
14. Starry magnolia
(Image credit: Getty Images)
While most types of magnolia will grow too large to plant in pots, starry magnolia is a more compact, bushy tree that produces the most beautiful white, star-shaped flowers.
The tree flowers in the spring and exudes a delicate fragrance, adding a romantic air to a patio seating area.
Position starry magnolia in a sheltered spot, and plant in neutral to acid soil that is well drained.
When established, they are low maintenance, and require only mulching in spring, and learn how to prune a magnolia tree lightly in the summer.
15. Kumquat
(Image credit: Francesco Maltinti / Alamy Stock Photo)
Citrus trees make for some of the best indoor trees, but you can grow them outside in the right climates.
‘If you’ve never tried kumquat, then you most definitely should – you can eat the entire thing, skin and all,’ says Barbosa Fernandes.
Producing small orange fruits and flowers that bloom in the summer, these compact trees can be easily grown in pots, and are one of the hardiest citrus fruits.
‘Position them in full sun, and plant in moist, well-draining soil. However, you don’t need to worry about cross-pollination or cold weather killing it down to 18°F (-8°C),’ adds Barbosa Fernandes.
What trees can remain in pots?
Trees can remain in pots indefinitely if you can find a container large enough to accommodate their maximum mature size. Otherwise, you will need to plant them in the ground when they grow too large.
Opt for dwarf varieties of container-friendly trees, such as Japanese maples and small conifers. Bay trees, small citrus trees and olive trees are also good options.
Bear in mind that most trees will need potting on to a larger container every few years, when they have outgrown their pot.
(Image credit: Darren Chung)
Can trees survive in pots over winter?
Some trees can survive in pots over winter, but this will largely depend on your local climate.
In warmer regions, for example, citrus trees can stay outside year round, but in regions that experience cold winter nights of below 50°F (10°C), they will need to be brought inside.
Japanese maple trees are excellent choices for pots in most climates, and can survive very cold winters where temperatures reach as low as -20°F (-28°C).
What are the best evergreen trees for pots?
There are a number of best evergreen trees for pots. These include Rhododendron arboreum, bay trees, conifers, Japanese holly and Italian cypress – to name but a few. There are many other options you can find to suit the conditions in your garden and area where you live.
As editor of Period Living, Britain's best-selling period homes magazine, Melanie loves the charm of older properties. I live in a rural village just outside the Cotswolds in England, so am lucky to be surrounded by beautiful homes and countryside, where I enjoy exploring. Having worked in the industry for almost two decades, Melanie is interested in all aspects of homes and gardens. Her previous roles include working on Real Homes and Homebuilding & Renovating, and she has also contributed to Gardening Etc. She has an English degree and has also studied interior design. Melanie frequently writes for Homes & Gardens about property restoration and gardening.
Large Planters for Trees
DeepStream Designs’ commercial 36″ square Large Planters for Trees, crafted from 100% recycled plastic lumber, were selected for a curated exhibition at world-famous Long House Reserve, the Hamptons’ tranquil design oasis of art, architecture, and landscaping. DeepStream planters are engineered with our proprietary trademark anodized aluminum legs supporting a hidden structural aluminum frame, and planter liners with advanced drainage inside.Don’t confuse these Large Planters for Trees with carpenter-built planters that will fall apart in 3-5 years, or concrete and fiberglass planters that will crack. These planters provide the ideal Landscaping environment and last for decades. With our proprietary structural aluminum frame system we can build planters to
ANY SIZE.Architect-specified Large Planters for Trees, crafted with maintenance-free, environmentally friendly, money saving, UV-Stabilized 100% recycled HDPE food-safe plastic lumber with a 50-year warranty by its manufacturer, provide labor-saving, protective parapet walls between terraces.
These are the Large Planters for Trees you are looking for. They will stand the test of time for decades, providing both you and the environment the lowest cost of ownership over time. DeepStream builds custom marine alloy aluminum planters and wood planters with structural aluminum frames in any size you need.
A fresh creative approach to urban landscaping. Modern rectangular and square Large Wood Planters for Trees make an attractive natural safety barrier rugged enough for urban streets.Our Large Wood Planters for Trees are engineered and constructed with our trademark structural anodized aluminum legs and sturdy hidden aluminum frame which holds a separate rugged plastic planter liner. Since we anodize our leg extrusions, there is no paint or powder coating to fail. If you choose planter boxes made with planks of environmentally friendly 100% recycled plastic lumber they are UV-resistant, with a 50-year warranty by the manufacturer, and they may be pressure cleaned.
Our Large Wood Planters for Trees are engineered and constructed with our trademark structural anodized aluminum legs and sturdy hidden aluminum frame, which holds a separate rugged plastic planter liner with advanced drainage.
Since we anodize our leg extrusions, there is no paint or powder coating to fail.Cost-effective modular installations of Large Wood Planters for Trees are made possible by the hidden 6061-T6 aircraft aluminum structural frame, attached to DeepStream’s trademark marine-anodized extruded T-leg to construct planters of any size rectilinear shape. The planks of the planter box are contained by the aluminum channels in the legs, not held by fasteners, allowing it to expand and contract without tearing itself apart.Whether you choose recycled plastic lumber or tropical hardwood, all of our wood planters they are backed by a Lifetime Structural Warranty and our unique Core Replacement Program which allows you to replace any damaged parts at direct manufacturer’s cost.
DeepStream Designs manufactures our Large Commercial Wood Planters for Trees to meet the demanding requirements of Landscape Architects, hotels, condominiums, public buildings, businesses, and urban dwellers who cannot afford the time, money, disruption, mess, damage, and inconvenience required to replace carpenter-built wood planters or cracking fiberglass and concrete planters again and again.
Stand-alone Large Commercial Wood Planters for Trees prevent structural damage and expensive remediation associated with leaking built-in concrete planters.
OK, the photo at left shows an extreme case, but as buildings settle, and all buildings do over time, unseen cracks appear. Also the tree roots that tear apart huge stone temples in Central America exert the same expansionary forces on buildings. Cracks allow water to run along the lines of steel rebar used in poured concrete construction, causing the rebar to rust and expand up to 20X its original size. This creates an effect called “spalling,” which cracks the concrete and wreaks the structural integrity. Correcting spalling is a very expensive and disruptive process. Stand-alone planters in modular liners avoid this inevitable problem entirely.
I think a lot of Architects, developers, and general contractors have not lived in poured-in-place concrete buildings that are so predominant here in Miami, or they wouldn’t design or build poured-in-place concrete planters.
Even with the best waterproofing systems, they will leak, and much sooner than you think. Sure, your warranty as a builder may be up, but you leave the HOA with expensive special assessments and disruption to solve the problems you could have, should have, avoided in the first place. Even if you install plastic liners with a horizontal flange over the top edge from the start, eventually every liner will fail, leading to unseen structural damage.
If you do have a building with leaking concrete slabs and you have access to the slab there are expensive, but effective, solutions that involve metal fittings inserted holes drilled along the crack lines that have hoses attached to pump in a proprietary agent under tremendous hydraulic pressure that will displace the water, run along the rebar and sealing it against further damage. We have experience with this system as a customer in one of our building so feel free to contact Sheila, (305) 857-0466 for more information. But believe us when we say it is better to avoid this process up front.
These are the planters that we created while building our own residential condominium project, where we still live today. Stop by our Coconut Grove offices and see both the problem and the solution, in person.
Specifying DeepStream’s proprietary anodized aluminum legs and engineered frame system to create modular Large Wood Planters for Trees saves budget and resources, while eliminating the eventuality of structural damage to the building caused by leaking poured-in-place concrete planters.At our shop, you will find skilled American craftsmen building custom planters and planter liners to the exact dimensions you need, one planter at a time. What you won’t find are assembly lines, or custom or design fees.As a complete 3-component engineered system, the separate planter box, constructed from either natural 3/4″ thick tongue-and-groove solid tropical wood or recycled plastic lumber planks, is held by the slots in our proprietary aluminum legs, engineered to allow the natural expansion and contraction of the planks without fasteners to pull apart.
The internal aluminum frame houses a separate rugged, waterproof, rotomolded, UV-resistant LLDPE plastic stock planter liner, which is tapered for easy repotting and designed for advanced drainage. The gap between the planter box and the liner provides a thermal break preventing the root ball from overheating as the sun heats the outer layer of a single layer pot or planter.
The gap also hides drip irrigation lines, drains, and wiring for lights.
As with all DeepStream solutions, these large Planters for Trees are hand-built by American craftsmen and backed with a Lifetime Structural Warranty. You order and buy factory-direct for the lowest cost, while eliminating confusion.
Every planter is custom-built to your specifications, with volume discounts, and never a design fee.
Stability is a function of form.
It is important to consider the stability of your installation, and pick a form factor appropriate to the ultimate height and size of the tree and maximum wind conditions. Trees such as palms, without a lot of branches and foliage, have lower wind resistance. Palms do better on windy roof tops and terraces here in hurricane-prone Florida. While the weight of the planted planter will keep it from blowing away, a planter with a narrow base, relative to the leverage of wind against foliage, can tip over.
DeepStream’s Large Wood Garden Planters for Trees are lightweight, allowing the roof to support the maximum volume of planting medium while staying within load limits, so that even olive trees like this one,which will grow to approximately 10 feet high, are possible on a roof deck. The separate planter liner hides the drip irrigation system and the wiring for the lights.
Architects often use DeepStream’s modern modular long rectangular garden planters and individual square Large Planters for Trees to create a cool and natural protective parapet wall between different levels, both at ground level and on roof decks.If you have questions, need more information, or would like to discuss your project, please call Sheila at (305) 857-0466 or email her at [email protected]. Sheila has decades of experience to call on as a developer, general contractor, and property manager, with thousands of planter installations and remediation project experiences to help you with budget-saving ideas.
Examples of Installations shown on Archello
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DeepStream Plastic Liners and 3-layer Drain Pads with TREMdrain & Biobarrier complete your Wood Planter When selecting your outdoor garden planters, keep in mind that drainage is critical to the health of your plants grown in containers, and it is very difficult to remedy after the fact.
DeepStream pioneered modern drainage practices with side-wall drains and 3-layer drain filter pads. DeepStream places from one to three 3/4″ threaded drainage ports on its 16 proprietary stock plastic planter liners, to which various plugs, hose barbs, and valves may be attached. Liners are non-structural and are meant to be placed inside planter boxes.
DeepStream Designs rugged 100% recycled Stock Plastic Planter LinersDeepStream commercial planter liners with advanced drainage.Generally, more container-grown plants die from drowning than from lack of water. “Old school” drain holes on the bottom and gravel drainage medium simply do not work and will quickly clog. DeepStream elevates the drainage hole center approximately 2″ up the sides of your liners to provide a “reservoir” for the tap roots and allow clay “fines” in all planting mediums to settle instead of clogging drain packs.
DeepStream’s tapered stock planter liners with advanced drainage make them economical to ship and easy to replant and recondition roots.
Garden Planter liners prevent the soil from contacting the wood, preventing rot, while promoting drainage. The air space the liner creates between itself and the planter box prevents the root-ball from getting warmer than the ambient air. This space also allows you to hide drip irrigation lines and wiring for lights. The tapered shape reduces shipping costs, and makes root conditioning and replanting slide-out-easy.
Custom Planter Liners
DeepStream welds Waterproof Planter Liners to fit any size planter.These Custom-Welded Modular Planter Liners for a large commercial roof deck landscaping project are equipped with hidden drainage and drip irrigation.Depending on your plants, planting mixture, and local weather, you may need to add more drains to your garden plantes. Additional drain holes can be added as required by drilling additional holes in the side walls.
DeepStream’s advanced 3-Layer Drain Pad
Drain pads, when used in conjunction with clean 1-2 mm inorganic drainage material to slow the flow of the water to the drain, could prevent clogged drains for a decade or more in your garden planters.
Biobarrier will not stop aggressive root systems like runner bamboo and Clusia.
Direct Link to detailed Stock Planter Liner Page with Sizes and Pricing
Landscaping large areas with Extra Large Planters for Trees.
Specified by Landscape Architects, DeepStream’s lightweight, Extra Large Wood Planters for Trees, built using our proprietary structural aluminum frame system and modular planter liners hiding drip irrigation and wiring for lights, are used to lushly landscape several expansive areas of the world class 12th story roof terrace atop Boston’s historic Exchange Place.An extra Large Wood Garden Planter 21 inches deep created with DeepStream’s trademark proprietary structural aluminum frame with cross bracing in a U-shape with the longest side 24 feet long by 16 feet on the ends.
Although this planter was designed with modular stock planter liners sitting directly on the deck, it is too shallow for trees, but it gives you an idea of how large and versatile DeepStream’s modular planter system can be.Extra Large Wood Garden Planter for Trees 31 inches deep, engineered with DeepStream’s trademark proprietary structural aluminum frame with double cross bracing in a rectangular shape with the longest side 18 feet long by 12 feet on the ends. This planter was designed to use modular stock planter liners sitting directly on the deck to maximize planting depth and reduce unnecessary costs.Double aluminum cross- bracing joins DeepStream’s trademark proprietary structural aluminum frame.If you have questions, need more information, or would like to discuss your project, please call Sheila at (305) 857-0466 or email her at [email protected]. Sheila has decades of experience to call on as a developer, general contractor, and property manager, with thousands of planter installations and remediation project experiences to help you with budget-saving ideas.
Examples of Installations shown on Archello
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Modular Custom-Welded Plastic Planter Liners are used on roof decks to landscape large areas with trees.
Large areas can be planted and easily irrigated with hidden drip irrigation inside modular planters. When DeepStream’s cost-effective and rugged rotomolded LLDPE stock liner won’t work, we can craft custom-welded modular liners with 1/4″, 3/8″, or 1/2″ co-polypropylene, as used in the construction of large chemical tanks, or HDPE, as we use in our food-safe plastic planters. Polypropylene is extremely durable, but should be buried as even black is not UV-stable. Any color of HDPE is impervious to the sun’s UV rays.
Large areas can be planted and easily irrigated with hidden drip irrigation and custom-welded modular plastic planter liners used inside Large Planters for Trees. Avoid trees and plants with aggressive root systems like Clusia or Bamboo.
You can add side-wall access ports for drip irrigation and drainage holes on-site with a simple hole saw. Drain Pads, proper drainage techniques to slow the water flow, and selecting appropriate planting mediums are critical when plantings are expected to be maintained for years without digging them up.Construction techniques include double-welded gussets, shown in the bottom picture, or cross-straps, for optimum wall support. You can add side-wall drainage holes on-site with a simple hole saw. Drain Pads, proper drainage techniques to slow the water flow, and selecting appropriate planting mediums are critical when plantings are expected to be maintained for years without digging them up.
DeepStream Designs’ rugged double-welded, gusseted, leak-proof Large Planters for Trees are fully water tested prior to shipping.Custom-Welded Aluminum Large Planters for Trees.
In keeping with DeepStream’s commitment to Sustainable Design and craftsmanship, we create square and rectangular commercial-grade Aluminum Planters in a natural finish 5086 Marine alloy.
DeepStream’s Square and Rectangular Modern Aluminum Planters are commercial Landscape Architect-grade, made with stiff 5086 3/16″ thick, or thicker as required, marine-grade aluminum, as used on yachts and commercial ships. They are the strongest and most durable aluminum planters available. Construction techniques include double-welded gussets, shown in the bottom picture, or cross-straps, for optimum wall support.
Aluminum Large Planters for Trees construction techniques include double-welded gussets, as shown, or even cross-strap, for optimum wall support against bowing under root pressure.Large Planters for Trees can be constructed out of stiff 5086 marine alloy aluminum in any practical size, given the particulars of the site location and aluminum sheet size.
Aluminum sheet thickness and construction techniques vary by dimension and landscaping details.While the total lifetime cost of DeepStream’s Aluminum planters will be many times less than that of painted aluminum planters, even if you only own them for 5-10 years, the initial cost is higher. It simply takes more labor to produce flawless unpainted aluminum planters, but there is no paint or powder coating to bubble and chip, failing in as little as 2 years. The more rigid and expensive 5086 marine alloy we use is, at a minimum, 3 times thicker than standard painted aluminum planters. However 5086 aluminum, left in its natural state, creates its own patina that protects it from oxidation for decades in demanding marine environments.
If you have questions, need more information, or would like to discuss your project, please call Sheila at (305) 857-0466 or email her at [email protected]. Sheila has decades of experience to call on as a developer, general contractor, and property manager, with thousands of planter installations and remediation project experiences to help you with budget-saving ideas.
Examples of Installations shown on Archello
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Tips for Landscaping Large Planters for Trees
When purchasing a Large Planter for Trees, it is critical to note that as trees grow, their root ball gets larger and larger. With some species, the container size will limit the size of the tree; with others the root ball continues to grow. An ever-expanding root ball will either push the tree up on a pedestal of its own roots, or push out and eventually break the liner.
If you visit the ancient jungle ruins of the Mayans and Aztecs, you will recognize that, even the giant stone blocks of the temples, weighing thousands of pounds, will be pushed apart, split, and toppled by tree roots. Streetscapes constantly have to deal with root control. This, along with selecting an appropriate planting mixture and micro-climates, is another important reason to consult with a Landscape Architect experienced with container gardening when planning your project.
DeepStream’s stock planter liners are roto-molded in one piece with LLDPE recycled plastic so that tree roots have no weak spots to attack. DeepStream’s custom-welded liners used for major plantings are engineered with thicker 3/8″ co-polypropylene, or 1/2″ HDPE, as used in construction of large chemical tanks. The panels are gusseted and welded from both sides before being water-tested to ensure their ultimate durability in your project.
It is possible for plants with aggressive root systems to grow so thick that they will eventually burst any planter liner, and even bow reinforced aluminum planters and crack poured-in-place concrete planters, so it’s best to consult with a Landscape Architect when selecting your landscaping.
Even the most rugged waterproof planter liner will eventually succumb to an aggressive root system. This Clusia has been removed from its liner every year for 7 years to have its roots trimmed back. The following year the roots began to rip the thick liner apart at the top rim.
The long-term solution for landscaping with plants that have aggressive root systems like these are planters constructed from Corten steel or 5086 aluminum.The bases of trees will be pushed 6-12″ higher by their roots over a five to ten year period as the trees grow to their mature height for that size planter. Knowing that in advance, plant the root ball deeper in the planter to plan for the eventual rise and filled the recess with other plantings for the duration.
Helpful resources for container gardening:
Need help selecting a planter? Here is an in depth blog post detailing the the pros and cons of various planter materials and design.
Need some help with Spring Conditioning for your Planters and Liners? Here is a helpful blog page.
Are your Planters not draining? Follow these instructions on Planter Liners, planting and drainage, and stop drowning your plants.
In an era of droughts, this information on Drip Irrigation and Container Gardening is especially important.
This blog page answers your questions about the best Planting Mix for your climate and why you never use dirt or soil for container gardening in pots or planters.
Need important information on Selecting Planter Liners before you purchase? This blog post will help.
Direct Link to a pro and con comparison of recycled plastic lumber vs. tropical hardwood and color choices
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Examples of Installations shown on Archello
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flower ami | Wooden planter
Harmonious overall picture with wooden planters
Plants as a product of nature are especially well shown in natural product , such as wooden planter . The greenery of the plants and the warm, brown natural color of the wooden planter harmonize perfectly with each other.
Distinctive, captivating grains of various types of wood make wood products alive and unique .
A wooden outdoor planter will always attract admiring glances with its naturalness.
Garden furniture, planters, patios made of wood: All this creates a harmonious overall picture that makes hearts - especially nature lovers - beat faster.
With planters made of wood , you can, on the one hand, decorate your garden with a touch of . But you can also give your living room a green modernist and elegant shade with stylish fine wood planters - for example with teak planter .
fleur ami has interesting solutions for you in this last area. Let yourself be inspired in the fleur ami online store.
Are wooden planters hardy?
Whether your wooden planter is round, tall, square or rectangular, beautiful, natural material makes your planters decorative spectacle . In order to keep the chic look of your planters for a long time, you should check in time how winter-hardy your planters are.
Hardwoods such as acacia and teak , are especially weather resistant . Even without special care, wooden bathtubs made from these types of wood do not succumb to adverse weather conditions and can be left outdoors without hesitation all year round .
On the other hand, softer wood is much more sensitive to moisture and frost. However, pre-treatment with Pressure Seal or Regular Protective Coating will make your favorite item much more durable than and greatly increase its lifespan.
When in doubt, it's best to play it safe. If you have the ability to store your seedlings over the winter without any problems, you should do so. However, make sure winter storage is dry, cool and well ventilated .
Natural privacy protection with tall wooden planters
No matter how nice your neighbor is... Especially those with terrace house gardens close together would like to enjoy their terrace undisturbed and without direct eye contact with a neighbor.
Of course, you can plant a hedge as viewport . However, a partition of ornamental seedlings is more beautiful and more flexible.
Choose attractive wooden seedlings - rectangular, narrow and tall - place them next to each other at the edge of the plot and plant tall seedlings individually and according to needs.
Garden boxes with stainless steel frame look especially elegant. A private screen designed to intercept the views of neighbors becomes a noble decoration of your garden.
Wooden planters are often used as space dividers , especially in gastronomic open areas space dividers play an important role.
Plant boxes can be used to divide zones and create cozy niches. Particularly practical here are the elements that can be moved on the casters and the can be used flexibly.
Even in large private gardens, green decorative partitions can provide more structure than .
So functionality can be combined with the visually appealing design .
Creative design possibilities with wooden planters on wheels
Round or square, a beautifully planted wooden planter catches the eye in the corner of the terrace. However, if you ever need or want to move this XXL wood planter machine to the side, you will find that it is hardly possible.
You can make it easier. Hidden under the planter is a caster set that makes it easy to move large planters. If the planter is not equipped with wheels as standard, you can purchase a wheelbase as useful accessory .
Without much effort even the oversized planters can be rearranged again and again to set new accents. No lifts or lumbago - it makes garden design fun!
What are the benefits of planters as raised beds?
Raised beds have many positive qualities. It makes an accent in garden or balcony and can be comfortably planted in high position , and it provides plants with optimal growing conditions .
The big advantage is that the raised bed requires a relatively small space and can be placed almost anywhere. Even city dwellers can fulfill their desire to have their own herb or vegetable bed by arranging a raised bed on the balcony. However, the statics on the balcony must be correct!
Raised beds are popular in the garden design elements . They can serve as privacy screens, separate areas, or simply serve as decorative eye-catchers.
Elegant tall teak planters combined with stainless steel frames by fleur ami are absolute eye-catchers. Matching inserts made of fiberglass make it easier to fit and also make containers airtight.
So you can plant your 9 without any problems0005 tall wooden pool . Whether you choose colorful flowers, fresh greenery, or eye-catching green plants, there's room for everything in a raised garden bed.
Which wood is suitable for planters?
Which type of wood you end up choosing depends on taste, type of use, and available budget.
Generally speaking, softwoods such as pine and spruce are more sensitive than hardwoods.
Whoever chooses softwood planters should protect them from the weather with oil finish or paint . Some people combine the necessary with the pleasant. If there is a desire to change something, then the planter is simply sanded and repainted in white, neutral or colored.
If you choose teak wood as your planter material, you won't have to worry so much about weather resistance and maintenance. Teak - extremely durable wood , resistant to moisture and frost.
The fleur ami range includes high quality teak planters in natural brown or vintage gray. The noble texture of the wood and the modern shapes of the proposed planters will give your garden what you need.
Proper care of planters
Softwood planters require much more maintenance than hardwood planters such as teak. It goes without saying that all garden pots - no matter what material they are made of - should be regularly cleaned of dirt with a hand brush or brush.
Plant pots made from pine and other wood species also need a new coat of paint at regular intervals. Untreated wood is very sensitive and can be damaged by constant dampness.
Teak vessels, on the other hand, only need to be lubricated once every one or two years if you don't like the gray buildup that develops over time. But it's more of a visual issue.
Cost of Uncle Tom - Money - Kommersant
29K 15 minutes. ...
When we were children, reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin" or "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", we somehow didn't think how much a black servant or a slave miner cost in today's money.
And in front of the screen with Gone with the Wind, the thought of the damage caused to the economy of the US South by the abolition of slavery usually does not come up.
Previous photo
Slave drivers themselves worked under pain of flogging
A photo: Mary Evans / DIOMEDIA
In Gone with the Wind, Vivien Leigh's character Scarlet O'Hara is continuously followed by a servant slave
A photo: MGM Studios/Getty Images/Fotobank
In the middle of the 19th century, white planters hunted runaway slaves like wild animals
A photo: Kean Collection/Getty Images/Fotobank
During the 1840s and 1860s, the South's economy grew rapidly: mainly due to the export of cotton, grown and processed by the hands of black slaves.
A photo: MPI/Getty Images/Fotobank
Sugar produced in the Deep South was bitter from the tears of slaves on plantations and factories
A photo: Kean Collection/Getty Images/Fotobank
The Confederate States of America lasted only a few years - from 1862 to 1865, but the descendants of black slaves still remember them with hatred
A photo: American Stock Archive/Getty Images/Fotobank
The US Declaration of Independence brought freedom but not prosperity to black slaves.
And many planters simply ruined
A photo: Universal History Archive/Getty Images/Fotobank
The plot of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is based on the fact that the runaway Negro Jim must get to the North
A photo: United Archive / DIOMEDIA
Next photo
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Slave drivers themselves worked under pain of flogging
A photo: Mary Evans / DIOMEDIA
In Gone with the Wind, Vivien Leigh's character Scarlet O'Hara is continuously followed by a servant slave
A photo: MGM Studios/Getty Images/Fotobank
In the middle of the 19th century, white planters hunted runaway slaves like wild animals
A photo: Kean Collection/Getty Images/Fotobank
In the 1840s and 1860s, the economy of the South grew rapidly: mainly due to the export of cotton, grown and processed by the hands of black slaves
A photo: MPI/Getty Images/Fotobank
Sugar produced in the Deep South was bitter from the tears of slaves on plantations and factories
A photo: Kean Collection/Getty Images/Fotobank
The Confederate States of America lasted only a few years - from 1862 to 1865, but the descendants of black slaves still remember them with hatred
A photo: American Stock Archive/Getty Images/Fotobank
The US Declaration of Independence brought freedom to black slaves, but not prosperity.
And many planters simply ruined
A photo: Universal History Archive/Getty Images/Fotobank
The plot of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is based on the fact that the runaway Negro Jim must get to the North
A photo: United Archive / DIOMEDIA
ELENA CHIRKOVA
The transatlantic slave trade began to come to naught after 1807, when it was simultaneously banned by Britain and the United States (for more details, see "The World Slave Trade Organization", "Money" N 3 of April 28, 2014, www.kommersant.
ru /doc/2538681). Following them, within a few years, other European countries abandoned the slave trade, while simultaneously prohibiting slavery. The US ban on international trade did not mean a complete ban on the sale and purchase of slaves in the country and the use of slave labor.
Most Russian readers are familiar with "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe, published in 1852, a powerful manifesto of ideas for the abolition of slavery. By the way, Turgenev's Notes of a Hunter, which did no less than Beecher Stowe's text for the abolition of serfdom in the Russian Empire, was first published as a separate edition in the same year. The Cabin became the best-selling novel of the 19th century. In the first year alone, 300,000 copies were sold. There is a story that when US President Abraham Lincoln met with Beecher Stowe at the beginning of the Civil War, he said: "So this is the same lady who started this war." The veracity of the phrase is doubtful: it was first published 30 years after the alleged conversation took place, but it can be seen how influential the book was.
In the North of the USA, slavery was abolished in the last quarter of the 18th - early 19th centuries: in Vermont - in 1777, in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania - in 1780, in Rhode Island and Connecticut - in 1784, in New York - in 1799, in New Jersey - in 1804. The abolition of slavery did not mean the physical emancipation of slaves. The adoption of the law was known in advance, and by the time it came into force, the slaves were sold to the South.
According to American scientists Samuel Williamson and Louis Cain, in the 1850s, the total value of all US slaves in 2011 prices was about $7-9trillion! In the US South, the slave system was abolished only after the defeat of the Confederates in the Civil War (1861-1866). The Confederation is an association of 13 southern slave-owning states of the United States that have seceded from its composition. These states were reintegrated into the US after the victory of the northerners.
At first, the Civil War was not fought for the abolition of slavery.
President Lincoln repeatedly spoke out against its liquidation. At the height of the Civil War, he declared: “My main task in this struggle is to save the Union, and not to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing a single slave, I would do it, and if I salvation had to free all the slaves, I would have done that too." The southern states wanted to extend the slave system to the colonized western lands, then they would have a majority in Congress, which the northern states tried to prevent by military action. The North counted on a quick victory, but as it got bogged down in the war, the slogans about the abolition of slavery sounded louder, slaves from individual southern states who went over to the side of the northerners were promised freedom. Lincoln counted on the uprising of slaves behind enemy lines and hoped in this way to tip the scales in his favor.
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" reflects this ambivalent attitude of the northerners. Mr. Shelby from Kentucky, who has lost his fortune on the stock exchange, sells the beautiful Elise and her son to the slave trader Gailey.
Eliza accidentally eavesdrops on the conversation and decides to flee to the North, since it is not far from the border of the free state of Ohio. And what? At the risk of her life, she moves to Ohio, but it turns out that there, in a state where slavery is prohibited, a law has recently been passed prohibiting helping runaway slaves from other states. You need to get to Canada, only there is real freedom.
The heterogeneity of the South
The slave South was different. It was divided into Upper (Upper South) and Lower, or Deep, South (Lower or Deep South). The Upper South is the relatively northern states of Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, where Mr. Shelby lives, and Washington, DC. The Deep South is South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, etc.
The greatest threat to a slave from the Upper South is being sold to the Lower South, to sugar, cotton, tobacco, or rice plantations. If the description of the horrors of plantation life in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is not enough for you, look into "The Quad" by Mine Reed or watch "Django Unchained" by Quentin Tarantino.
All the characters in Uncle Tom's Cabin are afraid of sales to the South. Eliza's husband is a young mulatto, George Harris, a slave from a neighboring estate. He worked in a sack factory where he "invented the hemp scutching machine, which, given the inventor's lack of technical training, testified to his great talent." His master does not like that he is married to Eliza, who belongs to the liberal and compassionate Shelby, and he does not want to know the cruel slave owner. Therefore, the owner orders George to marry a slave from his own, move to her hut, and if George does not agree, he threatens to send him to the South. George is running. Eliza and her child decide to run away for the same reason: Gailey buys her to sell her to the South, and even to separate her from her son. The black slave “trembles from childhood at the mere thought: “You will be sold to the South!” In his eyes, this is the most terrible punishment - worse than flogging, worse than any kind of torture.
Runaway Negro Jim tries to avoid sales to the Deep South in Mark Twain's novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn": almost all of Huck's adventures are caused by the fact that he and Jim must definitely get to the North. Huckleberry vowed that he would not extradite Jim: "He said that he would not, and would not extradite. Honest Indian. Let me be called the last abolitionist, let them despise - I don't care." The word "abolitionist" (from the English abolish - "eliminate, stop"), which was used to call the supporters of the abolition of slavery, is apparently a dirty word in Huck's home state of Missouri.
Selling a slave to the Deep South is something not quite decent even for slave owners from the northern states of the South. The hero of the novel Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, which takes place in Georgia during and after the Civil War, old Angus "had never set free a single slave in his entire life and committed an unheard of violation of decorum by selling part of his Negroes to visiting slave traders heading for sugar plantations of Louisiana.
Why were slaves sold from North to South? Eugene Genovese, author of The Political Economy of Slavery, published in 1965, explains it this way: industry was booming in the North, where slaves were of little use. Even their use in the more intensive agriculture of the North was meaningless. Some benefit from slave labor could be obtained only on the large plantations of the South, and even then not everywhere.
Economics of slavery
The questions of how efficient the labor of slaves was and how profitable the plantations where their labor was used, and slavery would have died out without war, in itself and when, are still debatable. According to the calculations of Alfred Conrad and John Meyer, authors of the famous article "The Economics of Slavery in the Pre-War South" 1958 years old, investment in slaves was quite profitable. They estimate their yield at 2.2-13% - higher on more productive lands.
The same view was expressed in 1974 by Robert Fogel and Stanley Engerman in Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Slavery.
The book, which argued that slave farms were efficient because the slaves adopted a Protestant work ethic and worked conscientiously with little to no whip, fell short of scrutiny. Many errors were found in it. This was the first thing that struck me: the authors believe that slaves consumed 90% of the product produced, and at the same time it is believed that the plantations were very profitable, and the economy of the South developed rapidly. From the 1840s until the outbreak of the Civil War, it really grew, and not bad, mainly due to the fact that cotton from the US South was in great demand in England and its prices were creeping up. There was even an expression "Cotton rules the world." At that time, cotton exports accounted for about 50% of all US exports. However, no production, even the most labor-intensive, can be profitable if the labor force consumes nine-tenths of what is produced, because there is still investment in the purchase of land, buildings, inventory, consumables, etc.
In this situation, the economy cannot develop successfully. Vogel, however, at 19In 1993 he received the Nobel Prize for this and other works. Not so much, however, for the conclusions as for the development of cliometrics - an interdisciplinary scientific direction associated with the application of economic theory and econometric methods and models in research on economic history.
Other researchers express doubt that the purchase of slaves was a profitable investment. As Max Weber noted in the book Economy and Society, the irrationality of using slave labor was that it was impossible to change the amount of labor in accordance with fluctuations in the business cycle, capital costs were much higher than when using hired labor, sources of cheap labor dry out quickly. Weber's thoughts are consonant with Genovese's argument: slaves were investments, their purchase, according to its economic meaning, was an investment in fixed assets. They had to be paid back, and it was difficult to transfer a slave to another job if necessary: he would not have coped.
Recall from Shalamov in "Kolyma Tales": the hand, which used to hold the shaft of a shovel in a gold mine, did not unbend later, when a prisoner in the Gulag was called to an illiterate chief to write him a letter. The hero could barely draw letters, and only wrapped the handle with a rag so that it was as thick as the handle of a shovel. A black woman who worked on plantations could not become a loom operator. Outside of agriculture, slave labor was mainly used in the coal mines and sawmills in South Carolina, in the steel mills of Richmond, and they built the railroads of the South. Slaves capable of working in tobacco and textile factories and in metallurgy were white bones and had many privileges. In Uncle Tom's Cabin, slaves in the Upper South either work in factories, like George Harris, or are involved in the household as servants, or, for example, want to get a job as a cook in a cafe.
According to Genovese, slavery preserved the backwardness of the South. Cities, with the exception of ports, did not grow.
In the South, the share of the urban population did not exceed 10%. Industry did not develop; almost all manufactured goods, in particular clothes and shoes for slaves, were bought by the planters of the South at northern manufactories or produced on their own farms. And whether she walked, rustling with her dress, around the house, watching the cleaning, whether she looked into the kitchen or into the workshop, where clothes were sewn for the Negroes employed in the field work, a golden thimble always shone on her finger, and on her heels followed a black girl who was entrusted with the duty of carrying a rosewood box with sewing accessories for the mistress and pulling out a basting from the finished sewing,” recalls her mother Scarlett O’Hara, the main character of Gone with the Wind.
In general, the arguments against the effectiveness of slave labor in the US South are as follows. Plantation slaves worked about half as hard as hired whites. (These statistics are in line with productivity measurements of German concentration camp prisoners, which were also about half that of free workers.
) Partly because they were sometimes shackled at work as well. Partly because they had no motive to increase production, except for the whip. The costs of "monitoring" slaves were high. The hefty sums that were paid for slaves were risky investments. A slave bought to give birth to children could be barren or die at the first birth. In appearance, a healthy and hardy slave could turn out to be frail or sick. True, on large plantations the law of large numbers had to operate.
The view that Conrad and Meyer are inclined to agree with is that the Deep South of the United States, where the land is fertile, the plantations produced cotton, sugar and tobacco, and the Old South, slightly different from the Upper, is Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Georgia, where the land had been depleted much earlier, produced a labor force of slaves who were exported to the more southerly states. In the 1850s and 1860s, the slave-exporting states sold 207,000 people to the Deep South, according to Winfield Collins in The Domestic Slave Trade of the Southern States.
Yes, slaves needed to be reproduced in the US after imports dried up.
Owning and using slaves on plantations was not considered as shameful as trading in slaves and raising them for sale. Among the merchants, the most unshakeable were those who separated families. In Uncle Tom's Cabin, Gailey does this all the time. Conrad and Meyer calculated that the return on investment in female slaves was higher. They attribute this to reputational risks: women were bought mainly for the reproduction of slaves, and additional compensation was needed for the loss of reputation of their owner.
People and prices
Let's see what the prices are for slaves in Uncle Tom's Cabin. Gailey is ready to pay dearly for the beautiful Eliza: "In front of my eyes, a thousand dollars were paid for women who were no match for yours." When it comes to the fact that the child will be separated from the mother, Gailey assures that he has such a set case that the separation will be painless. And he indulges in memories of another transaction that he was a witness to: “The buyer took only one mother, without a child, and she was hot, real gunpowder.
taken away ... Well, then she went completely crazy, and died a week later. A thousand dollars - abandoned money ... "When Galey starts chasing Eliza and hires two thugs to capture her, he tells them about the fugitive: "Beautiful, skin color bright, good upbringing. I wouldn’t regret eight hundred or a thousand dollars for her - and that would have made good money on her. ” The market price for Eliza is higher. Those who are chasing her are going to take her to New Orleans to the market themselves and sell her for "thousand six hundred - one thousand eight hundred dollars."
"Uncle" Vol. Hayley bought it too and is now on its way to the South for sale. However, the buyer was found on the ship itself. Tom liked the girl Eve - the daughter of a certain Mr. St. Clair, who treated his slaves very nobly. daughter into it. When St. Clair asks why she wants Tom to "play with him like a rattle, or ride him like a wooden horse?" Eva replies: "I want him to have a good life." Gailey assures that if he appoints one thousand three hundred dollars, then he will not earn anything "on this Negro".
After all, Tom is “outstanding Negro”: “The chest is a wheel, strong like a horse. And what a high forehead! On such a forehead, it is immediately clear that the Negro is smart ... Yes, if God had not given such a young man, He would have cost a lot of money And Tom, in addition to all his other virtues, is the smartest head ... he ... managed his master's estate. He has an estimate for everything. " The young gentleman handed the slaver a wad of money: "Get it and count it." A minute later the bill of sale for Tom was ready.
Tom's free life does not last long. Eve dies of consumption, and soon Saint-Clair himself suddenly passes away. The heirs are auctioning off Tom. Planter Legree lays out one thousand two hundred dollars for Tom and explains to him: "You are now mine, both in body and soul!", and to make it clearer, hits Tom with all his might with his boot. And Tom goes south again.
At the Legree sugar plantation, Tom meets the slave Cassie. In her youth she was extraordinarily pretty, and one young man paid two thousand dollars for her.
Over the years, the price has dropped. Cassie and her friend manage to escape, and Legree complains: "Two women I have never had, and they each cost eight hundred, a thousand dollars."
A child slave, if he has grown a little, is also worth money. Here is Gailey trying to get away with a ten-month-old boy by separating him from his mother. The buyer is sure that they will not ask for more than ten dollars for him, but Gailey does not agree: in this case, he will keep the child for himself, because “in six months the price will be one hundred dollars, and in a year or two it will be all two hundred. So now it’s no less fifty." Agree on forty-five.
To convert prices into modern ones, you need to multiply by 30. It turns out that a thousand and a half for a beautiful slave is 30-45 thousand current dollars. The volume was sold to St. Clair for $39.
Scientific sources (Ulrich Philips, "The economic costs of slavery in the Cotton Belt" 1905) give such prices on young and strong male slaves without qualifications at auctions in the state of Georgia - in the largest market: in 1828 - $ 700, in 1835 - $ 900, in 1837 - $ 1300, then a gradual drop to $ 600 in 1844 and a smooth growth to $1050 in 1851, $1200 in 1853, $1650 in 1859and $1800 in 1860.
It was found that the prices of slaves depended mainly on two factors - cotton prices and labor productivity. The fall in prices since 1837 is explained by the world crisis and the fall in cotton prices. The increase in productivity has been linked to the sharp increase in slave prices since the 1840s: productivity has risen due to the concentration of production on larger, more efficient farms, and US-born slaves are believed to have been more productive.
Uncle Tom's Cabin is set in the early 1850s, when the average male slave was valued at slightly over $1,000. Strong, hardworking, smart and literate Tom is not much more expensive. Probably because of the age discount. The life expectancy of a black slave in the South at that time was about 35 years (a free black in the Northern states five years more), and Tom is already in years - he has a gray head.
How to explain the far from symbolic prices for a baby? According to Konrad and Meyer, a child began to work at the age of six, a boy paid for itself at the operational level, that is, without taking into account investments in its purchase or cultivation, by the age of nine, girls reached self-sufficiency at 13 years old.
Freedom to be poor
Alas, the formal abolition of slavery did not bring prosperity to the slaves. In Russia, the liberation of the peasants during the reform of 1861 was at least accompanied by the allocation of land plots to them, even if they were bought on credit. In the US, former slaves were mostly forced to work on the same plantations for mere pennies. In addition, the economy of the South was undermined by the war: cotton production on a pre-war scale was restored only by the end of the 1870s.
Karl Marx, in his Economic Manuscripts 1857-1861 (original version of Capital), analyzes a letter from a planter in Jamaica, where slavery had recently been abolished, published in November 1857 in The Times. The planter proposes to return slavery: former slaves now produce only the minimum they need to survive; They consider idleness to be a real luxury; they don't give a damn about sugar, about capital invested in plantations; they watch the bankruptcy of the planters with a malicious smirk.
Marx comments: "They stopped being slaves, not to become wage laborers, but to become independent farmers working for their own consumption." Capital can exist "only on the basis of direct coercion to work - slavery or indirect - work for hire."
In the US South, indirect coercion did not take long. Has the life of former slaves improved? Hardly. Rather, it was a moral liberation. After all, free wage workers led a beggarly existence. In Faulkner's short story "The Wash", set in the plantation South before, during, and after the Civil War, a white laborer named Wash Jones came to Colonel Sutpen's plantation and was allowed to live on his land in a fisherman's house he had built. once "in a swampy lowland near the river" and which "since then, abandoned, completely dilapidated and became like a decrepit animal, dragged with its last strength to the water in order to die after drinking." The slaves laugh at Washham (“Yes, and you don’t have anything, only a wreck by the river, the colonel didn’t even let any of us live in it”) and call him white trash.
One of the O'Hare brothers, Gerald, in Gone with the Wind, describes the southerners as people who are characterized by contempt for the "white dud" - for the white poor who have not managed to break out into the people.
Often the fate of a white hired worker on the plantations of the South was sadder than that of a slave. His owner had to feed, treat and support when he could no longer work, and the hired worker had to feed and be treated himself, a serious illness in the complete absence of social protection led to disaster.
The abolition of slavery led to the gradual fragmentation of large farms. The mechanization of production, in particular the appearance of the tractor (steam was invented in 1850, and working on petroleum products - in 1892-m), caused the impoverishment of small "planters": for profitable production, the plots again had to be large.
The tragic fate of small white "planters" is the plot of Erskine Caldwell's novel Tobacco Road (published in 1932).
