August 7, 20210 found this helpful
Base tires filled with dirt..pack solid! Then, stack next row of tires on top, pack full of dirt, after placing rocks or wood chunks into the joints where dirts can fall through. Or, stack straight, for faster root growth more straight down.
The dirt packed inside each layer/row of tires, locks the upper tires onto the ones below.
A tire packed full of dirt is VERY heavy, & wont shift, even stacked 4 tires high.
Additionally, can use 2 or 3 chunky hex-head screw bolts through the sidewall of upper tires down into the sidewalls of tires below, or into the ground, to prevent shifting.
Ive either placed a bit of mesh or weedcloth into the pocket formed where tires meet, to block dirt from falling through those.
Avoid covering the bottom with anything solid, as that blocks drainage; better to use mesh, or a few layers of recycled cardboard, unless hanging-up your tire planter.
One drawback of running-brick-stacking-pattern: if planting large shrubs, the roots need to go deep, & those will run around the inside of the tire before finding the tricky way down between the tires, which will slow growth of big shrubs.
I running-brick-stacked 3 rows high, along fenceline, & planted thuja spires in the top. Goal is growing a living fence of prickly, evergreen thorny shrubs, with the roots & trunks protected from mowers & intrusions.
But, Those have taken several years to grow even a foot of height; its taken about 5 years for their roots to find their ways down around & through the brick-stacked obstacles. But they are finally rooting deeper & are now growing better.
Using tires forms mini-water catchments in the upturned bottom rims, helping plants stay alive with less watering. I always build-in a little reservoir that holds water, to prevent plants dying between rationed waterings.
