Container Gardening

Container gardening is fun, easy and rewarding with several creative possibilities. It’s the perfect way to exercise your green thumb whether you live in a house with a yard, a patio, or a condo with a balcony. Use pots for plant containers filled with lush color and fascinating texture.

Place pots of color by your front door, hang baskets of blooms from the balcony, or fill a window box to enjoy outside your kitchen window.

Create a container garden by choosing pots with drainage holes, using high-quality potting mix (not garden soil), and selecting plants suited to your sunlight conditions. Use a "thriller, filler, spiller" design for visual interest and place pots in sunny spots. Maintain by watering frequently—often daily—and using fertilizer, as nutrients leach out quickly

Steps to Creating a Container Garden

Select Containers: Use pots with adequate drainage holes, such as terracotta, plastic, or fabric pots. Ensure they are large enough for the plants' root systems—10-gallon pots are ideal for vegetables like tomatoes.

Use Proper Soil: Use a lightweight, high-quality commercial potting mix rather than garden soil, which can become compacted and waterlogged.

Choose Plants: Select plants based on your climate and the amount of sunlight the spot receives, which should be roughly 6 hours for most vegetables.

Design the Layout: Apply the "thriller, filler, spiller" method: place a tall, showy plant in the center (thriller), surrounded by smaller, mounding plants (filler), and trailing plants at the edge (spiller).

Planting: Fill the container two-thirds full, position plants, and add more mix, leaving 1–2 inches of space at the top for watering.

Watering and Feeding: Water deeply and regularly, as containers dry out faster than the ground. Apply a slow-release fertilizer or water-soluble fertilizer regularly to sustain growth.

Maintenance: Elevate pots with pot feet or pebbles to improve drainage and protect surfaces, and prune as needed.

Your climate and sun or shade conditions will determine what plants will do best in your containers. Make sure the plants you select have the same light and water requirements. Many plants can be grown in containers, including:

Annuals

Perennials

Shrubs

Ornamental grasses

Vegetables

Herbs

Once you have picked your plants and planted them in your container, you will need to provide proper care to make sure they thrive. Your plants will be at their best when you are watering properly, providing the right nutrients, and trimming them back if they become overgrown. Proper watering of the plants in your pots is crucial to having the plants perform their best. Use drip irrigation to water your containers automatically. For containers, it is best to soak them once a day, maybe twice in extreme heat. Water in the morning and near the roots rather than directly over the foliage of the plants.

When selecting your pots, pick something that suits your style. Make sure your containers have drainage holes to prevent plants from drowning due to over-watering. Terra cotta pots are not frost-proof and may crack when freezing temperatures strike. Unglazed pots will dry out more quickly than glazed ones, and a plastic pot retains water more effectively than a ceramic one. Small pots will also dry out faster than larger pots because they have less soil. Try unique garden planters such as galvanized metal buckets, old milk cans, washtubs, teapots, roasting pans, or watering cans.

Put planters on casters, or rolling plant caddies, to make them super-easy to move.

Container gardening lets you add visual interest anywhere you want to draw the eye or direct traffic. Garden containers provide focal points that grab attention and screen the unsightly — perfect for inspiring garden design ideas and showcasing your favorite pots for plants. Incorporating colorful foliage plants and a variety of textures will take your container planting to the next level. Good Luck!