How to get started with container gardening

Some tips on buying or making your own container gardens
Spring flower displays in stores always make me think I need to have more container plantings in my life. The truth is though, I am not attentive enough to them to keep them watered and fertilized. So I usually have one pot, and it lives by my door so I am reminded to give it a drink. It is usually red geraniums, because that was my Mom’s favorite, and because they are forgiving of irregular watering. If I am inspired, I will add something that drapes down the side of the pot, or maybe alyssum, tough and ever-blooming.

You can grow herbs and vegetables in containers.
Image from Gardenwise.

Container gardening has a number of advantages. If you have no land to garden in, you can grow your summer garden in a container. 

There are lots of vegetables that have been developed to grow in pots, like patio tomatoes and some squash and cucumbers. Vegetables will always do best if they have several hours of sun and regular water. Most nurseries have plants and seed choices to help you get summer satisfaction.

Many herbs do well in containers and it is often recommended that you plant robust mints in a big pot in your garden, so their amazing tendency to spread can be controlled. 

Containers are also portable if you think about size ahead of time. When one pot starts to look less than sterling, you can replace it with another one that looks better, or even something newly planted.

Pictures of clustered containers with a theme fill pages of gardening and women’s magazines and make me again have to fight off the urge to have more containers in my life.

From Patio Design Ideas

There are clever ways to put drip systems into or onto containers, but I am not yet familiar enough with automation to go that route. 

From Gardening from the Ground Up

If you are like me and won’t water daily, then get succulents. These plants are adapted to store water in their leaves and to be able to take hot sun and less water. They do need attention though, so don’t ignore them completely.

The horticulture industry has developed some really fabulous succulents like ice plants, which bloom in a myriad of colors. There are also many, many choices of sedums, which are chosen for their foliage, not their flowers. The leaves on sedums vary by shape and by color, so you can have quite a lovely, multi-colored container garden without a single flower.

If you like the colors of the innumerable annuals like petunias, which do so well in containers, you can either buy the containers ready-made or make them yourself. The advantage of planting them yourself is that you get to pick the colors and textures that appeal to you. It shouldn’t be intimidating to make a hanging basket or container garden. Important points to remember:

• Get a pot or container that has a drainage hole. Remember that water will drain out, so make sure you have a saucer under the pot so there won’t be water damage wherever you put the pot.
• Get a good quality potting soil. Don’t use soil from your yard. Growing in pots is different than growing in real soil. Real soil drains differently and also adds a lot of weight if you want to move the containers later.



Petunias are prone to overgrowing their
containers and neighboring plants.
From Cozy Home

• Pick plants that have the same moisture and sun requirements for each container you plant. Mixing succulents and marigolds in one pot is not good for either of them.
• Keep in mind how big each plant will get by mid-summer. Petunias can grow over smaller flowers.
• Consider adding foliage-only plants. There are some nifty grey plants as well as coleus which have leaves as their main attraction.
• If you can, take your pot to the nursery and put your selection together in the pot. This will give you an idea of how the plants look all together AND keep you from over-buying.

To plant your container garden:

1. Fill your pot almost full of potting soil and water it well. This is something that is rarely recommended but if you are planting large containers or pots, it is hard to be sure that the deepest soil is really moistened. This means you will be working with wet soil but the soil will compact a bit when it is wet, so you will have to add a bit more dry soil on top once you start to plant. You don’t want it to be sopping wet, just moist. Mix it with your hands and see what it feels like. Be warned! You will get dirt under your fingernails unless you are wearing nitrile gloves, which are the only ones I have found that you can still feel through.
2. If your potting soil has dried out (not uncommon if you have had an open bag over the winter), it may take several waterings over a period of hours to rehydrate it. You can tell if it has dried out because the water runs out almost as fast as you pour it on. You may need to soak the pot full of soil in a bucket to catch the water and let it stand. After it is wet throughout, pour the bucket of water onto your garden and put the pot somewhere it can drain for a couple of hours before planting in it.
3. Ease the new plant out of its nursery pot. If you can see lots of roots, gently break apart the root ball. Dig a small hole where you want the plant to go.
4. Don’t bury the plant deeper than the existing soil line.
5. Repeat with all your plants.
6. Cover any visible roots with additional soils and water gently. If soil moves off the root ball, add more soil. If you planted any of your new plants too high in the soil, you can pull them out and dig a deeper hole.
7. Put the pot outside in shade for a couple of days. Ease it into the sun, then into its final location.
8. Water it with a dilute solution (about half strength) of soluble fertilizer on the 3^rd or 4^th watering and once a week after that.
9. Water with full strength soluble fertilizer once a month.
10. Dead head (cut off old flowers) every so often. This keeps everything looking tidy and encourages more blossoms

If you bought a ready-made container, see 7-10 above.

Pinterest is full of beautiful designs if you want to get inspired, and feel free to send pictures of your containers in to share.