Hi crmjtm, You can just use the cement planters as receptacles for bottom wicking pots. These are pots in pots, with the upper one's holes drawing water up from the one it stands in. The bottom one has no holes & this way your cement leakage is solved. The cement planter just becomes where you place several dual container growing sets inside. These are sold ("Dutch" pots among other names) & also do-it-yourself ideas can be searched for on the GW "Container Gardening" forum as "SWC" (self watering containers).

Calculating the amount of soil needed is not that complicated - you just need to determine the volume the bed will hold. Multiply the two sides to determine square footage (14' x 4' = 56 sq ft), then mutiply that by the depth to arrive at the volume (56 sq ft x 1.5' = 84 cubic feet). There are 27 cubic feet to a cubic yard - the volume most bulk soil is sold by - so you will need just a hair over 3 cubic yards. And unless you want the soil to fill to the very top of the bed, 3 yards should be fine. Rosemary is not all that picky about soil conditions as long as it is very well draining. I'd avoid a soil mix that has too much compost or other organic matter in it as that will continue to breakdown and compact over time. What you should be looking for are similarly xeric plants that do not need a lot of frequent irrigation. It also helps if a good portion of these would be evergreen or have a continuing presence year round as well, so the planter maintains a very uniform look throughout the year (evergreen generally means less maintenance as well). I'd consider something like phormiums (New Zealand flax) or red flowered yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora), various salvias, artemisia, hebes, euphorbias, nandina. And the lantana mentioned above....comes in many colors.

I am due to move to a second floor apartment in the new year, which has a small ledge outside of the window. I would like to grow some blue fescue in planter boxes on this ledge and would be grateful for advice on how I would go about doing this - I'm a complete novice when it comes to plants / gardening! What sort of planter / box should I be using? What sort of soil should I use and how do I go about filling the box with this? How do I plant the grass, how many plants / how far apart? Watering / drainage? Any tips would be greatly appreciated! I'm based in the UK in case relevant.

You have asked a loaded question. More info is needed. 1. What kind of water supply do you have? City or well water? 2. If it's a well do you know the well output? 3. If city water do you know the pressure? 4. How big are the boxes? 5. Are you installing drip or spray heads? Let me know any info that you have and I can give you some advice. Sincerely Kelly All Wet Irrigation & Lighting