Which Container To Use In Container Gardening

Container gardening these days is very common. Gone are those days when a strip of land was necessary for practicing the wonderful habit called Gardening. Now anybody can start their own garden if he/she has the interest to start. When we talk about container gardening, the most important word is container. Many people have asked me in the past about the containers. What material is good for the plants? is it necessary to plant in earthy pots only? Can we plant in metal containers? So I have decided to write an article on the very basics: About the various containers which you can use for planting.

Following are some of the various materials used for making the containers which we use in container gardening.

Terra cotta: These are good value for money. Usually in reddish orange in color, these can be in found in many color and texture. Their earthy looks make them suitable for almost any garden. The porosity of the material helps the excess moisture to evaporate and allow plant roots to breathe.  To make their water retention capacity better, the unglazed side of the pots is sometime fired with glass like coating. These are waterproof and can hold moisture better than the normal unglazed one.

Plastic pots:Plastic pots are very common these days. They can be found in many shapes and sizes. You can also use your old bottles to plant. They are clean and non-porous and easy to move from one place to another.

Wooden pots: Pots made up from rot resistant red wood or cedar can be useful for planting. They provide very good insulation from weather outside. To prevent the pots form rotting you can also add some sand (at least an inch deep) at the bottom of the container and then put the soil.

Fabric pots: These are ultimate portable containers. These are made up of fabric these are rot proof as they are usually made up of polypropylene. They look much more like terra cotta or wooden containers.

Concrete pots:  You can prepare concrete pots of your own or you can buy it from outside. These are weather resistant and durable. On the other side, these can be heavier than the other pots.

Metal pots:  Pots made up of brass, copper iron etc can look aesthetically very superior.  Many planters use them to enhance the beauty of their gardens. If you are using metal containers it is advisable to keep your containers far from the direct sun light. These containers can get very hot in the sun and can harm the plant. It is also not easy to make drainage hole in the metal containers.

Biodegradable pots: these pots are made up from bio degradable materials like peat moss or coconut coir.  These biodegradable pots are very useful for sensitive plants like Lupins. These pots are designed as such that you can put them into a larger pot. The roots grow through the material and after some time the pot decomposes and thus it minimize the root disturbance.

If you are doing container planting it is a good idea to use self watering containers. We have discussed the basics of seal watering container in our last article. You can find it here. 

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Gardening in Containers

Lack of space in the garden should not stop your passion for purchase.  Your patio, deck or porch are perfect homes for beautiful container gardens.  Pots can be purchased in many sizes, shapes and materials and can be wonderful places for growing anything from vegetables to conifers or perennials.  Best of all you can grow plants that aren't hardy in your zone, because you can move pots to a sheltered location during cold weather

Below are just a few container Garden Design Ideas that have caught my eye.

Longwood Gardens Kennet Square PA

Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square PA



Longwood Gardens Kennett Square PA



In the Conservatory at Longwood Gardens

Denver Botanical Gardens

Container success starts with good soil.

Soil (Soilless mix) I use in every container 
Good container soil is critical to successful root growth in containers. I  always use a good quality soilless mix in my containers. Don't use a cheap brand or regular garden soil because they will compress and make root growth difficult over time.  
I typically make my own mix. It works extremely well and the same soil can be used for a few years in the same pot.  Most important this mix allows for the best drainage and root growth.   Al’s Gritty Mix  is in my opinion the best soilless mix you can use.  Information on how to make it and why it works so well can be found on the from the Garden Web Forum (Houze).  You will need to assemble this fantastic mix.  (and yes it is worth the extra time and effort) .

Al's Gritty Mix - Equal parts by volume: Pine or fir bark in 1/8 - 3/8" size (no fines), Turface MVP, Crushed granite (Gran-I-Grit, in grower size) or #2 cherrystone  and gypsum.

My favorite Hypertufa container. Planted with a mini Hynoki Cypress, sempervirums  and Elfin Thyme.

Something new - Succulents in Concrete and Hypertufa containers  hanging in my sunroom.

Container of dwarf conifers and a sedum on my deck.

 

Dwarf Hynoki , Weigela Fine Wine and Coleus on my deck

 One last container tip -

"Its a myth that a layer of gravel or foam peanuts (inside the bottom of an individual pot) beneath the soil improves container drainage. Instead of extra water draining immediately into the gravel, the water "perches" or gathers in the soil just above the gravel. The water gathers until no air space is left. Once all the available soil air space fills up, then excess water drains into the gravel below. So gravel in the bottom does little to keep soil above is being saturated by overwatering."   

the University Of Illinois Extension

One of my Hypertufa container which featured in garden article by George Weigel, for the Patriot News, Harrisburg.   http://georgeweigel.net/

Bonsai at Longwood Gardens

 

Unique planting on a slate at the Kral Garden in Rochester NY

http://conifersociety.org/blog/welcome-kral-garden/

Container full of succulents

Hosta at Carolyn's Shade Garden  

http://carolynsshadegardens.com/

Swathmore College, Swathmore PA

David Culp's Garden Brandywine

 http://www.davidlculp.com/layered_garden.htm

 

Enjoy your patio, deck or porch this summer by planting a few containers, and don't let lack of space dampen you  passion for purchase.



How to Choose Plants for Container Gardening

Though you can grow any type of plant in containers (provided you have given the proper growing condition), it is always a good idea to start with the container friendly varieties. While choosing transplants ask for those which are container friendly. If you are growing from seeds; look out for words like bush type, dwarf, container friendly etc. In the seed packet.

Before choosing any plant you need to consider the placements of those containers. If you have planned it for indoor gardening then not all plants would be ideal. Here is a list of top indoor gardening plants which you might wanna try. Whereas if you are putting those in a place where they will receive ample sunlight the range is much broader. Here are some of the options which generally goes pretty well with the containers:

Growing vegetables is probably the most popular form of container gardening. It gives you fruits and veggies at your convenience. Veggies such as Tomato, Okra, Spinach or Onion can grow really well.

Herbs is a very good choice for planting in containers. They are good aesthetically and also easy to grow and can be a great substitute for vegetables. You can definitely try your hands on Oregano, Thyme, Cilantro etc.

The next choice can be Perennials. There are many reason to grow perennials in the first place. They can be like herbs or fruit bearing or can be just simply woody.

Last but not the least you can try your hands on bulbs and rhizomes like ginger.

Type of containers:
Depending upon your plant's variety you need to choose the containers accordingly. For instance plants which are perennials or shrubs or some big plants like tomatoes you need to choose larger pots. There are various types of pots available in the market. A rule of thumb is that the container should not be less than 12 inch depth and 8 inch wide. Sometimes you have to switch to larger pots.

Make sure the containers have drainage hole at the bottom.

Potting mix:
You can buy them from any nursery store nearby or you can make your own. Here is a list of different growth media which you can try. It is always beneficial to add compost with the potting mix.

Type of compost: 
You can choose to prepare it by yourself or you can also opt for the commercial one. Once you have decided on the type one option is to mix a good amount of it with the soil mix at the time of planting or you can also plan to fertilize it once it starts growing rapidly.

Taking care of your plants:

you need to add slow-release fertilizer from time to time depending on the the type of plant you have planted. Fruit bearing plants require a lot more nutrients and water than the rest of the plants. So take that into consideration.

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Plants around the Swimming Pool

It's hard to believe we've been in this house 24 years! Well not so hard, really. The easiest way to see how the property has changed is by the plantings. The linden trees and Pin oak are 40 - 50 feet tall and all shrubs have reached their mature height. 

As with all homes, certain things need to be replaced and changed after a certain number of years. We noticed that the (original!) pool liner had begun to leak. Yup! It had lasted an incredible 24 years but now was giving up the ghost. So we called the company that had originally installed the pool and talked about what else could be done besides replacing the liner.

We decided to take out the original concrete decking and replace it with interlocking brick.

We gained about an extra 2 feet of space on each side of the pool and a lot of extra new "patio" space at the end of the pool. All in all I think we are really going to enjoy this new expanded area in years to come! I can picture putting some of our deck chairs onto the new patio part and adding some containers full of colourful flowers.

As with all renovations, once you change the first thing, you often need to change something else.

At the back, because the yard slopes downwards towards the back fence, they will build in some steps to descend to the back of the yard. This area could use some plantings so I started to plan what might be suitable.

I think my best bet will be to stick with ornamental grasses. They have a natural beauty that suits water and the lovely swaying plumes will add movement. Their root system is shallow so it will not interfere with brickwork.

What else? Perhaps daylilies and sedum. Both are tough and low maintenance and blend well with the grasses.

Annuals are always good for all season colour.

I will not plant even small trees because of possible damage to the pool by tree roots. Also, I certainly do not need anymore leaves/fruit/catkins in the pool!!

Probably good to stay away from plants that attract bees…. and anything with thorns.

Any other ideas would be more than welcome :)

Thrillers, Fillers and Spillers Part 2

Last week I worked on my deck pots and containers as well as my 2 hanging baskets. Today I finished my front urns.
My favourite plants for the front door urns are Rex begonias and Caladium (which is technically an indoor plant but is fine in Canadian containers). As spillers I raided the garden and added Ajuga and Lysimachia nummuralia. Both urns have the same contents.

The larger urn in the centre of the flagstones features "Red Star Spike", Cordyline, as the thriller, Supertunia Pretty Much Picasso petunias, dark purple petunias and pink impatiens as fillers and
a spiller  - Ajuga - that is once again dug up from the garden.

This one is from a few years ago - I used Heuchera as the Thriller, Rex Begonias as the filler and Lamium (from the garden) as the spiller.

Here is a lovely one we had at work: Kong coleus, dogwood branches and Creeping Jenny as the spiller.

This particular year I used an (overly large) Cordyline spike as the Thriller, red Rex Begonias and Heuchera and Lamium as spillers.

When travelling I once snapped this interesting arrangement around Halloween time. I think all the hotel did was add small pumpkins and hydrangea to a summer container. Looks very good!

Here is an urn within a perennial bed behind a wrought iron fence.

And lastly, sometimes you can add very very simple flowers if the container itself is the star of the show.

Thrillers, Fillers and Spillers Part 1

Yesterday and today I worked on my containers on the back deck. We have a walk-out onto the deck from the kitchen through big sliding doors. It's always been important to us to see colour close up as we eat our meals or while we sit on our loungers, enjoying the last of the wine after dinner.

Years ago in Fine Gardening magazine I remember reading about the rule of thumb for interesting containers: use thrillers, fillers and spillers. In other words
(a) have a focal point - the thriller (usually tall)
(b) fill the container with medium height plants  - the filler
(c) add trailing plants at the edges - the spiller

Last year I saved the peat moss base of 2 hanging baskets along with the hardware - the rounded metal "bowl", the 4 metal chains and the hook. I bought Geraniums and Asparagus fern as the thrillers, Torenia as the filler and pink and white Verbena as well as spillers. I paid a small fortune for the fully planted hanging baskets last year but this year, by making them myself, I saved well over $50! Each!!

Over the years, I have purchased at least 4 Japanese Golden Grass plants (Hakonechloa macra), which the rabbits happily munched until the grasses disappeared. I still love this plant so much that this year,
I decided to dedicate 2 of the pots to Golden Grass alone.

The other pots have grasses or Potato Vine as the Thrillers,  a gorgeous dark new Picotee petunia called 'Pinstripe', Geraniums and Browallia as fillers and Wave Petunias, trailing Lobelia and Lysimachia nummularia (dug out from a far corner of the garden) as the spillers.

This is Pinstripe:

Some of the smaller pots have just sedum in them which I overwintered from last year. Sedum is very drought tolerant and sometimes those small pots dry out as fast as the hanging baskets.

I'm as messy a gardener as I am a cook so the deck was covered with dirt, empty pots, empty bags of soil, etc. I wonder why I didn't include a picture of the deck before I cleaned it up???
:)

(we still need to take the Christmas lights off the pergola posts - ooops!)

I'm quite pleased with the containers this year. They are colour coordinated, they have plants in them that are new to me and I will make sure they are thoroughly watered if the summer is as hot and dry as they predict.

Tomorrow I hope to do the front yard urns.