I have no experience with shrubs or lavender in earth boxes, sorry. I suspect lavender would do fine during the summer, but it sounds like you will use the self watering container to overwinter. If that is the case you will find it tricky in zone 5 (I am also in zone 5). Lavender will revolt against wet in the cool season and not many varieties are reliably hardy in zone 5 winters even in the ground. Kind of hit or miss. I have one remaining plant that has made it 3 years, the rest decided they would prefer to die than live in my yard ;-) In a container I would think them unlikely to overwinter without a lot of protection. One can always try though. Anyway the real reason I am posting is to inform you, if you didn't already know, that the earth box has it's own website with a forum. While many folks here use earth boxes, you may run into someone on the 'official' forum who has tried what you are thinking of. Just an additional resource. Click me for the EB forum.

Lots of people use them, myself included. Many also make their own as the principle behind them is fairly simple. An earthbox (or gardener supply SW container) is simply a self watering container. All this means is that underneath the potting mix is a reservoir holding water. The idea is that the water wicks up into the potting mix and therefore provides a more consistent moisture level for plants for a longer period of time than the same sized container without the water reservoir. The earthbox is unique among self watering containers as it is intended to also be self fertilizing. The 'official' way to use an earthbox is to place granular fertilizer in a band or strip over the top of the potting mix and then cover the container with a waterproof cover. The water wicks up from the bottom and as the surface is moistened the nutrients in the fertilizer enter the potting mix gradually. The idea is the potting mix has a more consistent level of nutrients and moisture for plants than they would otherwise. EBs are a proven method of growing healthy plants and one reason I think they are so popular is they take the guess work out of the 2 major things people often struggle with. Do I need to water and do I need to fertilize and if so, how much. These 2 questions become a moot point with an EB. There is even an automatic top off system available for the EBs now. Mate an EB with auto top off system and you can literally set it up, plant and do nothing else until harvest time (in theory anyway). Some people prefer to have more control over watering and fertilizing and thus won't be attracted to EBs or other self waterers, but for others they are a great tool.

If you are growing tomatoes, earthtainers are the way to go! I have both this year and in the earthbox, I have one black cherry tom and in one of the tainers I have a black cherry sharing with an Indian Stripe. The tainer cherry is shooting out of the top of the inverted cage, at least 7 feet tall on about 4 stems. It probably has 100 or more toms on it right now (multiple clusters of more than 10 toms) and probably 30 have come off of it already. The B.C. in the earthbox is about 4 feet tall and probably has 30 toms on it with maybe 10 already picked. It is healthy and happy, but the one in the tainer is a beast! I can't speak to the other veggies as I haven't tried them. Good luck.

hi i am so glad that these posts are recent. i am concerned about the leaching of chemicals when i use plastic containers, or wood (might have been "treated"). i know nothing about this possibility and need some sources. uv was mentioned in this forum. hope that someone here knows where to start to become informed. would appreciate any info!!!!! the reason that i think i need to grow in containers is, i feed the wild birds and they have taken over the yard, and i am concerned their droppings carry diseases. (i am glad that they have taken over the yard - they give me many pleasant moments) any thoughts on leaching and chemical contamination from the plastic milwaukee