Made in Kent · wooden planters
If you ever grow something you’ll eat, you shouldn’t have to wonder what’s in the wood.
Most wooden planters leave you a quiet choice nobody mentions: chemicals in the timber to stop the rot, or a plastic liner to keep them out. Either way, something’s leaching into your soil. Here’s how we built the Sussex so you never have to make that choice.
“Toxins from the wood, or toxins from the liner”
If you’ve looked into this, you’ll know the worry. You buy wood because it’s the natural choice. Then you read the small print and find the timber’s been pressure-treated with something it doesn’t name, and you start to wonder what’s soaking into the soil your herbs are sitting in.
So you think about lining it. And then you read that the cheap liners break down, the microplastics end up in your compost, and you’re back where you started. One gardener summed it up better than any of us could: “either get toxins from whatever the wood is sprayed with, or toxins from whatever I line the wood with.” Another, plainly: “what they treat it with really stinks.”
It feels like you’re cornered either way. You’re not. The corner only exists because of how most planters are treated.
It’s not the wood. It’s the treatment.
The reason you’re stuck choosing between rot and chemicals is that the usual way to protect outdoor timber is to soak it in them, tanalised or pressure-treated, the stuff that does stink and does leach. So the planter forces a trade: protect the wood and risk the soil, or skip the treatment and watch it rot.
We treat ours a different way. The Sussex is finished in Timbac, our own non-toxic, water-and-wax treatment, made in-house. Not tanalised. No harsh chemicals. It protects the timber without anything you’d worry about leaching into the soil, which means it’s safe around herbs, pets and children from the day it arrives.
Timbac, not tanalised
Our own water-and-wax treatment. Non-toxic, made in-house, nothing you’d worry about around edibles.
No lining trade-off
It arrives lined and ready, so you’re not choosing between a leaching plastic liner and bare treated wood.
A floor that drains
A raised inner floor drains water away beneath the soil, so the timber stays dry and lasts without the chemicals.
Solid & assembled
Solid Northern European softwood, fully assembled. Lift it out, fill it, plant it.
The Sussex Planter
✓ Free UK delivery on every order
Same-day dispatch before noon · 2-3 working days · 2-year guarantee
Safe to plant from day one — vs the rot-or-chemicals trade-off
The Sussex
- Timbac, non-toxic, not tanalised
- Safe around herbs, pets and children
- Arrives lined, no liner trade-off
- Raised inner floor keeps it dry
- Solid softwood, fully assembled
- Made in our Kent workshop
- 2-year guarantee, 90-day returns
A typical treated planter
- Tanalised / pressure-treated, often unstated
- You wonder what’s leaching into the soil
- Line it yourself, microplastics in the compost
- Flat base sits in water and rots
- Thin cladding, flat-packed
- Imported, no traceability
- Short or no guarantee
72 gardens in, with herbs, salads and flowers planted from day one
★★★★★ 4.88 out of 5 · 72 reviews
“Sturdy, well built, ready assembled, good price.” — H.
“Fabulous quality, it brightens up a dark corner.” — Joan
Plant what you like, and don’t think twice about it
You shouldn’t have to choose between a planter that lasts and soil you’d trust around your food. The Sussex is finished in non-toxic Timbac, arrives lined and fully assembled, and comes with free UK delivery, a 2-year full guarantee, and 90-day free returns. Fill it with herbs by the kitchen door, salads, or just flowers — and don’t think twice about what’s in the wood.
The Sussex Planter
✓ Free UK delivery on every order
Same-day dispatch before noon · 2-3 working days · 2-year guarantee
- Timbac finish, non-toxic, not tanalised
- Safe around herbs, pets and children
- Arrives lined and fully assembled
- Raised inner floor, drains, stays dry
- Free UK delivery on every order
- 2-year guarantee, no exclusions
- 90-day free returns, including large items