GB2069805A - Improvements in plant containers - Google Patents

Abstract

A container for plants, especially shrubs and trees, comprises an open-topped, open-bottomed outer box lattice (10) made of wood billets (11), preferably derived from conifer thinnings. The billets (11) are apertured adjacent their ends and formed into a four-sided box shape by means of a length of rope (12), preferably a single length of synthetic fibre rope, passed in a vertical direction through the apertures at the four corners of the box. The base of the box is constituted by a cradle support, preferably in the form of a wire cradle having two sets of spaced parallel limbs arranged mutually perpendicularly. A water-penetrable inner lining, eg of wire netting or roofing underlay, is supported on the cradle for retaining rooting medium. A range of different sizes of container may be provided for different sizes and types of trees. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in plant containers This invention relates generally to plant containers and more particularly to plant containers for shrubs and trees, especially the iatter.

Tree containers fall into two general types:- 1) the semi-permanent ornamental type domestic container of moulded plastics or concrete, commonly seen in town gardens, and 2) the temporary nonornamental commercial type of weldmesh or whalehide, commonly used by nurserymen and local authority tree banks for growing-on purposes It is an object of the present invention to provide a construction of plant container which is useful both for growing-on purposes, for example in nurseries, and for semi-permanent display purposes. Thus, in some instances, the same container can serve to sustain and display-a tree after it has been used four tree development.

According to the invention, there is provided a plant container comprising an open-topped, openbottomed uter box lattice made of billets of wood apertured adjacent their ends and formed into a four-sided box shape by means of a length of rope passing in a vertical direction through said apertured wood billets at the four corners of the box, alternate wood billets at each corner appertainingto the respective adjacent sides of the box, a cradle support fitted to said box lattice to form a base therein, and a water-penetrableinner lining supported on the cradle support with the box lattice to retain rooting medium.In a preferred construction, a single length of rope, eg synthetic fibre rope, is employed to lace a box lattice of rustic wood billets, preferably peeled rustic derived from forestry thinnings, the rope passing upwardly at one corner, downwardly at the next, and so on. A pair of battens may then be secured to the underside of the box lattice to prevent abrasion of the exposed rope on the underside when the container is moved. Coniferthinnings capable of being treated with preservative constitute a preferred wood material The base is preferably constituted by a wire cradle having two sets of spaced parallel limbs, the limbs of one set being perpendicular to the limbs of the other set.

The inner lining is preferably constituted by wire netting. A second lining of less water-penetrable material may be employed if necessary, for example to reduce dessication of the rooting medium in use.

The second lining may, for example, be of hessian, but a preferred material for this purpose is roofing underlay. This latter material has been found to be particularly useful for containers of about 0.05 cubic metres capacity. Further, because of the relative rigidity of roofing underlay it is found that when using this material it is possible to dispense with a separate inner lining, eg of wire netting, ie itisposs- ible to use the roofing underlay as the inner lining.

Permeability of roofing underlay can be improved as required, eg by forming apertures therein, and use of this material is thought to be suitable for containers of all sizes.

A preferred rooting medium is a mixture of loam, peat and leafmould or compost, which has minimal weight and has good moisture retaining characteristics. The container itself being of light weight construction, with high strength and a degree of flexibility to resist damage in transit, a tree planted in the preferred rooting medium in the container can readily be transported without difficulty.

The container of the invention also has the advantages of easy assembly, of substantially permanent aesthetic appeal, of permitting ready release of a tree from the container when necessary and of suiting both manual and mechanical methods of plant installation, both for forestry transplants and heavy standard trees. In this connection, it will be appreciated that the construction of the invention may be employed in containers of various sizes suited to growing-on purposes in accordance with conventional practice, wherein it is usual to prune the roots and stems of a tree to be containerised so that the root space in the container can be expected to be filled within a period of up to about three to six years, so that the size of the container required for a particular tree will depend on the growing vigour of the species and the height of the tree it is desired to produce.

In the drawings Figure lisa perspective view of a preferred embodiment of tree container without base and lining; Figure 2 is a view of the container from the underside, with base fitted; and Figure 3 is an enlargment showing a detail of the construction of the container.

The illustrated container comprises an opentopped, open-bottomed box lattice 10 made of peeled rustic wood billets derived from forestry thinnings, preferably conifer thinnings which can be treated with preservative. The wood billets 11 are formed into the box lattice 10 and held in shape by lacing them together with a synthetic fibre rope 12, eg a polypropylene rope. For this purpose, each wood billet 11 has a hole 13 drilled through it adjacent each of its two ends. The wood billets are then laid on a flat surface in a line of four sets of parallel billets, one set for each side of the box lattice. The rope 12 is then laced through aligned holes 13 of two adjacent sets, first through a billet of the first set and then through a billet of the second set and so on alternately, with the billets of the two sets respectively projecting to opposite sides of the laced rope.

The rope 12 is then passed along the surface of the end billet of the second set to enable it to be similarly threaded in the reverse direction through the wood billets of the second and third sets. The rope is then laced through the aligned holes in the billets of the third and fourth sets. The flat laced assembly thus produced is then folded into a box shape, and the rope 12 is threaded through the aligned holes in the billets of the fourth and first sets. Finally, the rope 12 is tensioned to draw the billets into tight engage ment, and the ends of the tope 12 are secured, as indicated at 14 in Figure 2, on the underside of the assembled box lattice 10. Figure 3 shows the manner of lacing of the rope through the wood billets 11 at one corner of the box lattice, before the final tensioning is effected to draw said billets into tight engagement.Although not shown in the drawings, opposite sides of each billet 11 at the ends thereof may be chamfered or shaved to provide flat bearing surfaces providing for closer engagement between adjacent billets when the rope 12 is tensioned.

A pair of battens 15 are nailed or otherwise fixed to the underside of the box lattice for protection of the exposed rope on said underside, especiaily when the loaded container is being moved in use.

A wire cradle is then nailed or otherwise secured to the bottom of the box lattice 10 to form an openwork base therein. The cradle 16 shown in Figure 2 consists of two pairs of spaced parallel wire limbs, the limbs of one pair extending perpendicularly to the other pair.

When the box lattice 10 has been treated with wood preservative, it is lined with wire netting (not shown). A second lining such as hessian orthin roofing underlay may also be provided, being a lining which is less water-penetrable and therefore reduces the risk of drying-out of the rooting medium in use.

The container is then ready for use, and may be filled with a rooting medium in the form of a mixture of loam, peat and leafmould or compost.

For further exemplification, it is mentioned that containers of about 0.15 cubic metres capacity have been constructed, in accordance with the above described procedure, using between fourteen and twenty peeled rustic billets 0.76 metres long, six metres of polypropylene rope of 8 to 10 mm diameter, two battens 0.76 metres long, 3.75 metres of plain galvanised 8 to 10 gauge wire (for the cradle support), 1.6 square metres of 22-35 mm diameter mesh galvanised netting, 1.8 square metres of hessian, and 0.85 litres of wood preservative. Heavy standard trees (English Oak and Red Oak) have been successfully planted and developed in these containers.

It will be appreciated that the above-described container may be modified in various ways within the scope of the invention, for example by employing a separate rope length at each corner of the box lattce or by forming the cradle support of wood.

These and/or other modifications may be desirable according to the size of container being constructed, which will vary according to the plant species to be contained therein and the growth vigour of any particular species.

Claims (14)

1. A plant container comprising an open-topped, open-bottomed outer box lattice made of billets of wood apertured adjacent their ends and formed into a four-sided box shape by means of a length of rope passing in a vertical direction through said apertured wood billets at the four corners of the box, alternate wood billets at each corner appertaining to the respective adjacent sides of the box, a cradle support fitted to said box lattice to form a base therein, and a water-penetrable inner lining supported on the cradle support with the box lattice to retain rooting medium.

2. A plant container according to claim 1, wherein a single length of rope is employed to lace the box lattice of wood billets, the rope passing upwardly at one corner, downwardly at the next, and so on.

3. A plant container according to claim 2, further comprising a pair of battens secured to the underside of the box lattice to prevent abrasion of the exposed rope on the underside.

4. A plant container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rope comprises synthetic fibre rope.

5. A plant container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the billets comprise peeled rustic billets derived from forestry thinnings.

6. A plant container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the billets comprise coniferthinnings capable of being treated with preservative.

7. A plant container according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the base is constituted by a wire cradle having two sets of spaced parallel limbs, the limbs of one set being perpendicular to the limbs of the other set.

8. A plant container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inner lining is constituted by wire netting.

9. A plant container according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a second lining of hessian or roofing underlay.

10. A plant container according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the inner lining comprises roofing underlay.

11. A plant container according to any one of the preceding claims and containing rooting medium.

12. A plant container according to claim 11, wherein the rooting medium is a mixture of loam, peat and leafmould or compost.

13. A plant container according to claim 11 or 12, and having a tree planted in the rooting medium.

14. A plant container substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.