It is your garden. It can be a work of art,
as simple as pots along the side of the steps or an elaborate balcony container
garden. Container gardening is limited only by imagination and
desire.
With little soil or space, selecting the right
plants and containers can result in a beautiful, functional patio, deck,
balcony, walkway or doorstep. Containers provide you more control over soil,
watering, sun and shade; allowing you to make your statement in the garden.
Container gardening is also mobile gardening, with the flexibility to start
small in building your Garden of Eden and quickly change your focal points with
the seasons, new found plant treasures or your mood.
While the possibilities for container gardening are
endless, consider the following -
* Don't limit yourself to annuals. Perennials can be
mixed with bulbs and annuals for a long-blooming interesting display.
* Water containers until it runs out the drainage holes, wait five minutes and
do it again, and may be third time. Large containers can regularly require
a gallon of water.
* Prune any scraggly stem and deadhead flowers.
* Check the flower guides for sunlight requirements
for each plant.
* Spin containers every couple of days to provide
even sunlight.
You can grow almost anything in a container garden
with virtually no limit to the type of container you can use. Even if
anything that holds soil, is a container, make sure
every container has sufficient drainage. Plenty of pot shards or gravel in the base will help maintain
good drainage.If there is any question about
adequate container drainage, drill or punch additional holes. Roots rot in
waterlogged soil.
*Put a regular pot inside a decorative container, if
you do not want holes in your planter. This can benefit some heavy drinking
plants, but they should not sit in water for an extended period.
* Setting the container on a solid surface or floor
reduces drainage. Slightly raise the container off the floor with bricks or wood
blocks.
* A clay pot “breathes,” allowing more air to the
plant’s roots, but will require watering more often.
* Cheap plastic pots may deteriorate in direct
sunlight and terra cotta pots dry out rapidly. Glazed ceramic pots, though
excellent containers, may require drainage holes.
* Redwood and cedar are best, but all wooden
containers eventually rot. Don't use any wood that has been treated with Penta
or Creosote.
* A pot with a flared top allows the plant to be
repotted more easily.
* Small pots restrict the root area and dry out very
quickly. The size and desired number of plants to be grown should determine the
size of the container used. A larger pot helps protect the plant’s roots from
high and low temperatures.
* Gravel or newspaper in the bottom of the pot helps
to prevent soil loss.
* Use light-colored containers to decrease heat
absorption and discourage uneven root growth and keep baskets out of the
afternoon sun.
* Closely monitor porous clay pots, smaller
containers, sun or wind exposed plants for moisture loss.
Container soil Roots require
both air and water with their fertilizer. Container soil must be porous enough
to drain rapidly, yet retain moisture. Soil or dirt is typically too heavy and
holds too much moisture. Most lightweight packaged potting mixes from the garden
center will work. If your container will be of any size, we recommend your own
mix: one part peat moss, one part garden loam or sandy soil (or potting
mixture), and one part coarse sand. A higher percentage of soil-based potting
mix is best for long-term planting. Compost or composted bark are always good
additives. Depending on the plants, lime may be needed. Commercial potting mixes
sometimes have a high percentage of slightly acidic composted bark. This is also
a good time to add your slow-release fertilizer to the mix. Leave room at the
top of the container for water and maybe mulch. A mulch on top of the soil
mix helps retain water.
Fertilizer Depending on the plant requirements, top performance may
require a variety of nutritional elements, and remember watering washes
out nutrients. We recommend slow
release fertilizers (with trace elements) and frequent watering with diluted liquid
fertilizer - if you want to be the envy of friends and neighbors. Occasional
application of liquid fish emulsion, liquid seaweed or compost will also
add trace elements. Do not overdose with any fertilizer, excess fertilizer can
harm, even burn and kill, your plants.
Here are a couple of final thoughts for
container planting:
*Planting in containers can be a temporary plan to
develop root systems, or can help determine whether you like its attributes well
enough to place the plant permanently in your garden.
*A plant
can stay in the same pot for many years but will need annual feeding with a
slow- or controlled-release fertilizer. Scraping off and replacing the top few
inches of potting mix also helps to keep older plants growing
happily.Planted in a containers, perennial
plants (and their offspring) will eventually become rootbound, requiring them to
be stepped up to larger pots or be divided.
*Most any perennial can be grown in
a container. As a general rule of thumb the minimum container size
should be 1 gallon capacity for each foot of potential growth, i.e. 1 foot = 1
gallon, 3 feet = 3 gallons.
*Pots in groups look best if they are all similar in design and
construction.
*Traditional settings demand classic, quality pots, while
contemporary minimalist gardens can accommodate sculptural containers with simple lines
and those made of innovative materials. Rustic gardens require natural-looking containers sympathetic to their
environment.
*Overwintering can be a concern for some plants. If
your local temperatures fall below 15F, you may need to provide some protection
against the cold. Set the pots in a bed of mulch or for larger containers, use
of burlap or poly foam sheets wraps. You may want to overwinter some of your
containers in a unheated garage or basement, but be sure to water occasionally.
In zone 7, we over wintered thousands of plants in containers at the nursery
without extra protection. The only plant the we seem to have difficulty with are
purple coneflowers.
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