Dollar Tree has become a reliable spot for skincare dupes, makeup, hygiene essentials, cleaning supplies, and holiday decor. However, shoppers say its gardening section could use some TLC. Online, the discount retailer is catching heat for its popular plastic stackable planters. They retail for only $1.25, but many shoppers say they’d rather invest in pots that aren’t "garbage."
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Designing a garden with "trash quality" planters is a recipe for disaster, said one shopper in a Reddit thread, warning others to steer clear of Dollar Tree’s stackable planters. The controversial product has the internet divided, with many siding against the planter due to its fragility and cheap aesthetic. Conversely, others say that’s to be expected for something with a $1.25 price tag.
The four-tier planter can hold 12 medium-sized plants, with three on each level. The alternating tiers resemble a game of Jenga, allowing each plant room to grow comfortably without invading other nearby greenery.
But it’s not so much the planter’s structure as it is its durability that shoppers are fed up with.
“The ones I bought there cracked very easily and didn’t last the season,” shared one unhappy customer.
A shopper with a similar experience said, “I stopped buying planters at Dollar Tree. Even the $3 ones barely lasted a season…they’re all broken junk. Not worth it.”
The planters also don’t have drain holes, which customers have taken umbrage with. “These are trash. No holes and when you try to pop the holes out they crack,” reads a comment. Another shopper said they had to take a drill to the bottom of the pots to open the sealed drain holes.
However, their plastic modeling is the biggest concern among environmentalists and green thumbs.
“These things become brittle in the sun almost instantly,” one user wrote in another Reddit thread. “These are the worst kind of cheap plastic.”
“Seriously, these are the worst. My family gave me these as a gift a few years ago, they’re terrible planters and I’m still finding bits of plastic all over my yard,” revealed one person.
“Those will probably leech all kinds of nasty stuff,” reads a third comment.
“Have fun cleaning up all the micro plastics from when you try to move it, and it shatters in your hand…So many types of plastic out there that are cheap, but are degraded by sunlight…So unless you're growing in the dark, it's gonna get trash everywhere,” explained another.
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Plus, their fragility is a liability.
“A stack of those in my yard would probably last exactly as long as it took for one of the neighborhood raccoons to decide it wanted to climb them, and then they wouldn't be in a stack anymore,” another joked.
“Don’t buy this trash,” one customer bluntly stated.
