Drainage holes on the side of a planter?

[hiloire]

Hello, I’d appreciate some advice!

I’m having a planter built - it’s tricky to describe but here goes. It will be a long narrow planter combined with a storage bench, the front of which lifts up so you can store stuff in it, and when the lid is down, it will be a bench seat.
I can either have one long, 1 metre deep planter with the Storage bench in front of it, or I can have a 0.5metre deep planter built on top of the back half of the storage bench seat.
If I have the 1metre deep planter, I’d obviously just drill drainage holes in the bottom, then chuck a load of hardcore or similar in (?) - it will be deeper than necessary and I don’t want to waste topsoil.
If I go with the other option, itll only be half a metre deep so I won’t need as much soil to fill it. But, I wouldn’t be able to drill holes in the bottom, as the water would then drain directly onto the storage bench it will sit on top of. So I’m wondering if it would work if I drilled holes along the sides instead, along the bottom of the planter. This would mean that any excess water that runs off from the planter would run down the sides of the bench beneath it, rather than sitting on top of it.
Which of those two options do you think would make the most sense? Sorry if I haven’t explained it very well, I’ve attached a pic of a rough sketch which might make it clearer - any help would be most appreciated!

[burnie]

Hi, what is the unit made of?

[hiloire]

Hi, it’ll be made from probably planking, pallets (good quality stuff, used in transporting steel) and ply.

[Jungle Jane]

If you go with the second option how can you stop water from draining out over the seat? Even lining the bottom section water could creep through,especially after rain I think? I’d do the first option & put a load of chopped up branches of prunings in the bottom half,it would be good if the bottom had a door & you could push more prunings inside,like a composting bench planter

[hiloire]

I was thinking I'd drill holes along the back and the sides so it wouldn't drain onto the seat - I'm assuming that would be enough drainage but I just don't know. I like your idea about the 'door' though. I'm definitely veering towards the first option but it's the guy who will be making it that suggested the second, which made me think there's something I'm missing...

[burnie]

The problem may be it will rot where the water runs out the back, good luck though

[Nicos]

I grow my tomatoes in the free black flower buckets and find that they do better when the holes are in the side rather than underneath.
The idea is that there is always a small reservoir of water at the base rather than it draining away.
i suppose if you put holes right at the base of the side you could avoid the reservoir ( which would make the wood In contact with it rot quicker )

[bikermike]

Hmmm, are you putting soil in the wooden box? that would seem to leave a lot of damp risk where you don't want it.

Could you put some plastic troughs inside the back (and then some kind of guttering arrangement to make sure the water drains out from any over-watering).

I'd also want some air-vents (suitably grilled over) for the storage area to stop it getting damp from the soil behind it.

If you put the storage below the planter, water will seep through unprotected wood eventually, so I'd not recommend that (and the storage underneath will be a right sod to get to, and all the stuff you want will roll to the back...).

[Leslie Simpson]

The location of the drain, the number and size of holes should take into account the frequency of watering and how active the air movement is around. If watering is not frequent and the plants are in a draft, then lateral drainage can lead to drying out of the soil.