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Wood or plastic flower box with trellis

Updated: October 2026

You are stuck between a fir trough that looks like garden furniture and a black PP tower that promises tomatoes in a weekend. That is the real choice. A wood or plastic flower box with trellis fails in different ways: fir can split when it stays wet, and plastic joints can walk once the plant is heavy. The [flower box with trellis comparison](/hub/plant-accessories/flower-box-with-trellis) holds the prices and star lines. The [flower box with trellis buying guide](/hub/plant-accessories/flower-box-with-trellis/sub/flower-box-with-trellis-buying-guide) holds the types. Load and permission sit on the balcony page. We did not run a lab trial.

You are stuck between a fir trough that looks like garden furniture and a black PP tower that promises tomatoes in a weekend. That is the real choice.

Our top picks

MYMULIKE MYMULIKE (2-pack)

Best overall

MYMULIKE MYMULIKE (2-pack)
7.2/10about £29.99
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Outsunny Outsunny (wall rack)

Alternative

Outsunny Outsunny (wall rack)
6.9/10about £36
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GiantexUK GiantexUK (180 cm)

Alternative

GiantexUK GiantexUK (180 cm)
6.1/10about £99.59
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On this page
  1. 1.What fails in each material
  2. 2.When the plastic tower is the one to buy
  3. 3.When the fir trough is the one to buy
  4. 4.Metal in the title is a third case

What fails in each material

Plastic in this set does not rot. The four towers are PP or HDPE, empty weight about 1.2–3.2 kg, shelf prices about £14–£30. The failure is the joint. UK reviews on CHEOAR call the sticks flimsy and describe a collapse. JQTOP’s few UK texts include a frame that falls apart once tomatoes grow. MYMULIKE, the largest UK file, still describes a top that comes apart when the tower is moved. You cannot treat the clip-together grid as a welded frame. Fir looks solid in the photograph. The failure is wet wood that was never sold as pressure-treated. UK reviews on the Outsunny rack report wood that splits or buckles after watering. The 180 cm GiantexUK trough has nine UK texts and no repeated defect in that file, and one buyer still says it may be less strong than it looks. The RHS container page is blunt about winter wet: pots stay wetter than open ground, so drainage is not optional. A material line on the listing is not a treatment certificate. If the page does not say pressure-treated, do not invent a 15-year anti-rot guarantee from another brand.

When the plastic tower is the one to buy

Buy plastic when you want a light, drainable tower for one or two cordons, and you will accept the joints. The four towers all state a well. That well is useful on a patio you will not water twice a day in July. It is not a closed system. CHEOAR does not state drainage holes. MYMULIKE and JQTOP mark drainage yes. Weight is the other plastic win. A 1.24 kg JQTOP or a 2.46 kg MYMULIKE pair is something you can carry through a flat. A 25 kg empty privacy kit is not. UK reviews on MYMULIKE mention taking the kit apart at the end of the season. Fir does not stack that way. Leave the tower if you need a wide trough, or if you will drag a full pot across flags. Leave it if you need a 30 cm pot for a cordon and you will not accept a 25 cm square. Do not treat plastic as the safer balcony choice in wind. Light is not the same as stable.
MYMULIKE MYMULIKE (2-pack)

Testsieger

MYMULIKE MYMULIKE (2-pack)
7.2/10about £29.99
View offer

When the fir trough is the one to buy

Buy fir when you need width, a back grid, and a box that looks like a trough. The GiantexUK 180 cm unit gives you 85 × 39 × 25 cm of soil under a 180 cm frame, at about £99.59. The long bed at about £44.99 is open underneath, so it wants soil or a prepared base. Outsunny at about £36 gives you three 16 cm boxes on a wall. Those are different jobs from a 25 cm tower. Keep the base dry. The 180 cm trough has holes in the box. Raise feet on slats or castors if the listing sits on wet flags. One UK buyer on the 180 cm unit did exactly that. Do not pretend these fir kits are the treated pine on another site. Planters.co.uk lists a tanalised pine planter with trellis at £274.99. That claim is not on the fir listings here. The 180 cm finish field says unfinished.

Metal in the title is a third case

Crevyteg and GarveeMore are planter-and-privacy-screen sets, about 2.9 m wide, 25 kg empty. The bullets on Crevyteg say a plastic trellis. The only UK review on GarveeMore, dated 10 June 2026, says the panels are plastic and only the poles are metal, covered in plastic. Plastic when you need light weight and no rot. Fir when you need a wider trough and you will keep the base dry. The privacy kits are screens with boxes attached.

Common questions

Will the fir kits rot in a UK winter?
They can stay wet, and wet timber fails. The RHS treats drainage as essential in a container because compost stays wetter than open ground. Outsunny reviews already describe wood that splits or buckles after watering. These listings do not state a rot-life. Keep the base dry, and do not assign them a five-year life from a general article.
Are they pressure-treated?
Not on the pages in this file. The GiantexUK and Outsunny listings say fir, and one also says pine in the bullets. Planters.co.uk’s £274.99 pine planter is described as tanalised. Forest Garden’s guarantee is on Forest Garden products. Those are different goods.
Why do reviews say the metal trellis is plastic?
Because the title and the box can disagree. GarveeMore’s only UK review calls the panels plastic. Crevyteg’s bullets already say a plastic trellis. One MQJIAZHI buyer expected metal and received plastic. Read the material field and a review that names the plastic before you pay for a lattice.
When is the £275 treated planter a different product?
When you need stated pressure treatment and a long anti-rot line. The Planters.co.uk pine planter with trellis is £274.99 and described as tanalised. The fir kits here sit at about £36 to £99.59 and do not state that treatment. Pay the higher price only if that certificate is the job.

Related pages

Flower box with trellis comparison

Flower box with trellis buying guide

Flower box with trellis on a balcony

Best flower box with trellis for one named job

How to plant a flower box with trellis in the UK

Sources

Public UK sources used for this page. Shelf prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures captured for these listings, checked on 19 October 2026.

  1. RHS, Growing plants in containers (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. RHS, Roof gardens and balconies (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. RHS, Tomatoes: grow your own (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. RHS, How to plant a climber (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. British Clematis Society, growing in containers (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. GOV.UK, General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. Wilko, Samuel Alexander wooden trellis planter (retrieved 19 October 2026)