It’s easy to fall in love with the idea of growing a gorgeous container garden. It allows people with limited outdoor space to easily beautify almost any spot, and helps those with large, open gardens make vast spaces feel more intimate. Container gardens are also perfect for screening and creating stunning accents or focal points, and they can provide easy instant color wherever needed. (And the list goes on…)
It’s hard to contain your excitement for container gardens when there are so many plants and pots to choose from!
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Raise your container garden to new heights with an array of hanging planters and baskets that complement a garden bed below.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/Doug Dealey
Container gardening allows you to experiment with non-native plants and interesting container shapes and materials.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Line your garden pathways and mark patio corners with blooming containers to soften lines and provide great color when inground garden beauties are out of bloom.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Potted plants offer a variety of forms and functional benefits, including as a screen to create privacy for a restful seating area.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/Tim Butler
Whether beautifying an entryway or softening the edges of a concrete drive, a floral border of potted plants warmly welcomes guests to your home.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/Image Point
For practical reasons, containers are just a good gardening choice. For one thing, they give you better control over soil conditions. If you’ve got problem soil, there’s no need to dig and amend – just buy the right potting mix for the plants you’d like to grow. Another practical reason: Garden containers are mobile, so you can easily shelter your plants from inclement weather by relocating them, or just move them around if you’re looking for a different look on your patio, porch or balcony. But above all, a container garden allows you to grow plants that are foreign to your soil and climate, as well as express your personal style. And if your tastes or needs change, so can your plantings – quickly, easily and affordably.
What you might not realize, though, is that successful container gardens actually require a bit more knowledge and care than a typical inground garden – especially if you’re experimenting with unusual plants or you live in an extreme-weather climate. For example, because the soil in pots is limited, it quickly becomes depleted of nutrients and compacted unless you fertilize and repot regularly. And depending on your plant choice, most container gardens typically require more watering than those planted in the ground. These are just a few things to consider before investing in this addictive hobby. So before you get planting, think about why you want to garden in containers in the first place. Not only will this affect which plants you choose, it’ll help you decide which containers to buy (and where to put them).
If you’re like most people, one reason you’d like a container garden is to add life and color to areas that are otherwise unplantable, like along sidewalks and walls, and on patios and decks. Another top reason is the appeal of using container groupings as a decorative statement. Some plant lovers like container gardening because it allows them to try new or non-native species in a controlled environment, while others may be moving and just want to take their plantings with them. Whatever your reason, just take the time to consider your personal motivation so you get the best garden for you.
And don’t forget the many functional roles containers play in the garden. Potted plants can be used to define outdoor “rooms,” lend privacy and direct foot traffic. They can soften the sparse and hard look of masonry walks and walls, as well as make empty vertical spaces like walls and roof overhangs more beautiful.
If planned and planted properly, a container garden can even attract beneficial insects that feast on pests that otherwise would feed on your beloved landscape. (Did you know that ladybugs eat more than their weight in aphids each day?) Such natural pest-control measures add to the health of your plants, as well as preserve the natural order, sustaining the environment.
Just remember that in the garden, function is best coupled with form, so visual appeal must be weighed in, too. The ability of container gardens to stimulate the senses and excite the eye is a practical and necessary complement to any utilitarian motives. So take a look around your yard, patio or front stoop and identify areas that could stand sprucing up or are just plain unsightly. Maybe the concrete stairs leading to your entry door could use a more colorful step, or that hard-edged corner of the patio needs softening with a rustic oak barrel or an antique wheelbarrow filled with flowers. Maybe there’s even a bare tree branch that could support a hanging basket filled with trailing greenery and flowers.
If you’ve got walkways that lead to a covered porch or alongside a house, you’ve got a perfect potted plant opportunity. A well-placed container – or a grouping of them – can guide visitors to the party or doorbell. Entries to the house also benefit from potted containers. Stone urns sprouting dwarf trees in a bed of stonecrop can be a welcoming sentry, as can a tandem of hanging baskets flanking the back door. (Remember that these areas are frequently hot spots due to reflection from walls and windows, so choose plants that can tolerate strong sun and heat.)
Whether your container garden is an old mailbox planted with daylilies to one side of an entryway, or a basket or box hung above a door with the chain leading up to a chime or bell, the key is to get creative, find your potted plant purpose and don’t contain that excitement for your containerized plantings any longer!
