Ideas For Container Gardening

Container Gardening Ideas

So for my first official article, I would like to talk about the many reasons and ideas behind using container gardens. Some of these reasons are extremely straight forward, especially for those that rent their home and are not allowed to dig up a place in the yard. Or people living in big cities, dorms or other places where space is limited.

However the not quite so straight forward reasons are the ease in which a person can grow with containers. I use containers for my Peppers, my herbs and the more sensitive plants I grow. Herbs with many watering needs can be planted along side each other using container gardens. Not to mention you can bring anything you plant inside for the winter, extending your season year round if you desire.Now the key is you must use the correct containers with the correct soil.

I use container gardens to make an area more decorative, and to add scents to other spots. I keep one container garden on a counter in my kitchen so when I need fresh herbs I just have to turn around and pluck them, not to mention it looks and smells wonderful. Some containers are made with considerations for water foremost, while others are made to be decorative, and will stand on that merit alone.Most containers are made for practical reasons, such as strawberry towers.

I use container gardens because I love to touch the soil, and feel the leaves. I use container gardens to enjoy the sights and the smells, and even to take delight in the mud under my fingernails. And the rewards are many. Both in tangible harvests, and a difficultto define sense of well being.

Now for some container gardening ideas and tips.

Container Gardening Tips (from Container Gardening Zone) :
Want to keep the bugs off of your container gardens but don’t want to use harsh chemicals. Take a small containerin it, combine 1tsp. Combine thoroughly. Take a squirt bottle, mix 2tsp of the above mixture and 1C water. spray the above mix on any plants you may be seeing aphids or flies on.

Another wonderful thing to use as a Container Garden is an wooden barrel, cut the top off and put the soil in, the barrels give your yard an antique look and work great.

Container Gardening Ideas (from Container Gardening Zone):
Another fun thing to do is grow a “Tickle Me” plant also called a Sensitive Mimosa. If your not familiar with the Sensitive Mimosa , it is a plant that, well moves when you tickle it, I’m being serious it does. Best of all it is perfect for Container Gardens.

For more Container Gardening Ideas go to http://www.containergardeningzone.com

Ideas For Container Gardening

Container Gardening Ideas

So for my first official article, I would like to talk about the many reasons and ideas behind using container gardens. Some of these reasons are extremely straight forward, especially for those that rent their home and are not allowed to dig up a place in the yard. Or people living in big cities, dorms or other places where space is limited.

However the not quite so straight forward reasons are the ease in which a person can grow with containers. I use containers for my Peppers, my herbs and the more sensitive plants I grow. Herbs with many watering needs can be planted along side each other using container gardens. Not to mention you can bring anything you plant inside for the winter, extending your season year round if you desire.Now the key is you must use the correct containers with the correct soil.

I use container gardens to make an area more decorative, and to add scents to other spots. I keep one container garden on a counter in my kitchen so when I need fresh herbs I just have to turn around and pluck them, not to mention it looks and smells wonderful. Some containers are made with considerations for water foremost, while others are made to be decorative, and will stand on that merit alone.Most containers are made for practical reasons, such as strawberry towers.

I use container gardens because I love to touch the soil, and feel the leaves. I use container gardens to enjoy the sights and the smells, and even to take delight in the mud under my fingernails. And the rewards are many. Both in tangible harvests, and a difficultto define sense of well being.

Now for some container gardening ideas and tips.

Container Gardening Tips (from Container Gardening Zone) :
Want to keep the bugs off of your container gardens but don’t want to use harsh chemicals. Take a small containerin it, combine 1tsp. Combine thoroughly. Take a squirt bottle, mix 2tsp of the above mixture and 1C water. spray the above mix on any plants you may be seeing aphids or flies on.

Another wonderful thing to use as a Container Garden is an wooden barrel, cut the top off and put the soil in, the barrels give your yard an antique look and work great.

Container Gardening Ideas (from Container Gardening Zone):
Another fun thing to do is grow a “Tickle Me” plant also called a Sensitive Mimosa. If your not familiar with the Sensitive Mimosa , it is a plant that, well moves when you tickle it, I’m being serious it does. Best of all it is perfect for Container Gardens.

For more Container Gardening Ideas go to http://www.containergardeningzone.com

Container Gardening Ideas – 3 Amazing Ideas For Effective Container Gardening!

Just about everyone would like their homes to appear charming and agreeable to the inhabitants as well as guests. Nothing is more eye-catching and attention grabbing than a brilliant display of lovely plants spreading joy and perhaps disguising some blemishes.

A splendid way to beautify your house is by using plants grown in containers. As they are easily moveable, they can be positioned wherever you wish to brighten the appearance and bring in color. Container gardening is not at all complicated and can be effectively employed both indoors as well as outdoors.

In order to fashion dramatic and spectacular works of art you may require a couple of ideas on container gardening.

1. Having a newly picked spray of flowers adorning a table is definitely not an inspired thought. But, effecting small modifications, and setting little plant holders brimming over with pretty flowers, on top of a table, is an unusual concept. Remember to maintain tiny flowerpots with short plants in them. It is quite exasperating not to have a clear vision of your dining guest due to an exaggerated flower display. This idea for container gardening is rarely perceived, but it certainly lends a charm and grace to the room. Simply ensure that you select containers that set off your interior decoration.

2. Most people are unchanging of their opinions that gardens necessarily have to located on the floor level. However, the magic of container gardening lies in the fact that you can opt for an elevated plane to create a visual impact. Suspending flower baskets is one alternative, but you can also contemplate a wooden bracket or a tower in order to put the plants on a terrace or deck.

Make sure the plants are easily accessible and can be reached with a garden hosepipe since it is next to impossible to use a watering can at that level.

Locating or suspending your lofty flower displays near a flowerbed in order to attain a homogenous look is a further idea for creative container gardening.

3. In case the site you wish to give a face-lift to does not receive plenty of sunshine, then plants that prosper in the shade will suit your needs. Begonias and Petunias serve as fine alternatives for settings such as entryways with the roof of the portico jutting out.

One key factor to commit to memory when considering decorative edging of the entryway, is to think life-size. Bring into play large flowerpots with masses of vibrant flowers. Selecting plants with rich, stunning foliage makes for an imaginative container gardening concept when you are mulling over appropriate themes for the entrance door. This ensures that even in the absence of blossoms, you are still left with a striking and imposing exhibit.

There are numerous ways to obtain valuable and effective ideas for container gardening. The web, books and periodicals and the local hothouse are great places to visit in order to get the hottest information on this increasingly popular development. Container gardening is an inspired and artistic pursuit that lends a touch of exquisiteness and a blush of color to your home.

More Container Gardening Ideas Articles

Ideas On How To Use Container Gardening To Decorate Your House And Garden

Nearly every house and garden presents numerous attractive settings for container plants. Suburban gardens, estates, little city backyards, and summer cottages—all can be heightened by this type of gardening. A few of the seemingly continual possibilities admit entranceways, steps, courtyards, walls, rooftops, balconies, patios, breezeways, lawns, driveways, walks, sundecks, windowsills, porches, summer houses, even tree stumps can be utilised

Let us start with the entrance, a focal point for every house. A uncomplicated arrangement consists of akin container plants at each side of the doorway. If the house is colloquial, enamelled tubs will make a beaming note, while urns or ornamental pots are more apropos if the architecture is conventional. The arrangement, however, necessitate not be balanced, since a single container at either side, particularly if the doorway is off-center, is admirable. A ample specimen can be equilibrated by an aggrouping of little pots, and individual other absorbing combinations can be worked out. Sometimes, the front entranceway can meabound up as an alfresco place for house plants, but be bound they are not unwrapped to alcoholic sun and wind

Unexpected areas like side and rear entrances can also serve as backgrounds for pot plants in casual groupings. For cheerful steps, consider tubs of petunias, or dwarf dahlias, or boxes of herbs to be utilized in fudging. Tuberous begonias, fuchsias, patient Lucy, and musky nicotiana work out the problem of what to mature in shade

Porches or verandas, traditional or contemporary in style, offer numerous settings for pots, window boxes, and hanging baskets. Indeed, the smooth container garden can be centred there so that plants can be easily gave care for. If the porch is opened on three sides, it will yield exposures to suit a variety of specimens

The patio or terrace, beside or beyond the house, where family and friends gather to eat or relax, is an ideal location. If it is conventional, pick out nipped evergreens and set up pots in balanced rows, perhaps run along up against the house or along the edge of the terrace. If the site is colloquial, make careless groupings of one or two full-length plants with smaller ones in front. Either way, let for a few ample plants in tubs or boxes for accent and height

Container plants may line walks and paths that lead to the house, garage, or garden. They can rest on enamelled areas along fences and walls and on driveways where they are not in the way. If the driveway adjoins the foundation of the house, plant containers may be placed there

Tops of garden or terrace walls are ideal places, too. Put little pots and boxes on full-length, bare walls and ample containers on humble, beamy surfaces. Hanging plants of ivy geraniums in the sun and fuchsias in the shade will cascade down from walls, as they do in the patios of Spain, Portugal, and Italy. On Rhodes, I retrieve a fifteen-foot wall exceeded with a row of thirty glittering chromatic tin cans afloat of roses and other flowers

Think of what you can do with rooftops and sundecks where considerable space is usually available. Here sun-loving plants, like geraniums, most annuals, cacti, and succulents can be matured, but, again, admit ample specimens for height to give a garden feeling. A few large boxes and planters for trees and shrubs are adequate but be bound to include some everchromatics for year-round chromatic

Many gardeners like to insert container plants in flower borders to introduce unusual specimens, such as tropicals in the North. Large tubs can be set at the corners and small pots may be scattered among the permanent flowering plants. One gardener keeps a supply of potted chromatic Fiat Enchantress geraniums on hand to fill up naked spots in her ample borders, traveling them about as necessitated. Most of the geraniums are in four-inch clay pots, but there are larger specimens for the center of each aggrouping. Make bound their procure, sink pots a few inches into the ground

You can always dress up the lamp post in your yard with container plants at the base or you can suspend a hanging basket of lantana, perhaps from the top. Ivy geraniums in an old-fashioned dark kettle are discriminating for the base. Bare posts that support sectional roofs over patios or enamelled surfaces of synchronal houses appear more bewitching if potted plants are constellated around the bases or abiding boxes for plants are constructed there. Try implanting climb uping up ivy in a pot and train it to climb up the posts

Novelty containers—donkey carts, wheelbarrows, and spinning wheels—can be fun in some places, but, of course, such planters must not be overdone. Usually they are set on lawns, on a terrace or beside a gate or doorway. (If you life in a neighborhood that has a house owners association check up on with them first to see if this is let). Steps leading to a driveway or street or to antithetic levels in a garden can be stressed with pot plants. A few can be set up at the top or at the base of the stairs. And, there are other possibilities. Tree trunks reduce to the ground or gone forth a few feet eminent make acceptable pedestals for ample containers. In fact, this can be a solution to the problem of what to do with a trunk too big-ticket to take away. If you have a tree with dense shade, why not reconstruct a pretty sitting down area around it and grace the space with containers of coleus, wax and other begonias, caladiums, ferns and other shade-tolerant plants

These are just a few ideas for using container plants around your house and garden. Use your imagination and have fun. Happy Gardening!

Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved

Container Gardening Ideas for Pots and Planting Herbs

For container gardening ideas, glance over the internet, the library or a bookstore. The challenge is to pass off up with a loveable container garden plan. There are a distributed collection of containers free for your container garden. These range in size from small-scale house-plant pots to considerable boxes and planters. Equally alternated are the materials from which they are cooked. These see wood, glass, clay, aluminum, bamboo, straw, plastic, fiberglass, terra cotta, tin, cast iron, zinc, copper, and brass, each with field advantages and disadvantages. What you set will calculate on availability, price, background, and attraction not to appeal the characteristics of the gardening pots

Here are some container gardening ideas. In addition to run-of-the-mill roundish pots and tubs, there are redbrick and ultraredbrick forms much as square, angulate, many-sided, hexagonal, and octagonal. Also bailable are stale iron kitchen pots, kettles, pails, jugs, casks, vases, crocks, jam tubs, barrels and nail kegs, Japanese fish tubs, modified sinks, bathtubs, bamboo soy tubs. There are novelty containers such as driftwood, wheelbarrows, donkey carts, distorting wheels and boxes tackled to a roadside mail container. There are also bird cages, nonfunctional well heads, animal figures, and Strawberry jars. Woven baskets may be committed to hide plain containers. Even tar paper pots, dealt by garden centers and florists are cum laude if interpreted or blotted out to elevate their outside. Any of these can be used in your container gardening ideas

Where to find your container supplies? Begin with what you possess. If you diagnose cellars or basements, attics, garages, and sheds, you will doubtless encounter objects of interest. Old-fashioned pots and kettles, usually exchanged in antique shops at cracker-barrel auctions or respected at hoar New England inns, have much attraction

Different container garden ideas to ponder are old cookie and bean jars, pickle and other types of crocks, wash tubs, coal pails, jardinières, and ceramic bowls. For drainage, scatter a two-ply layer of essential pebbles or burst pieces of pots or bricks at the bottom and then drizzle plants with care. In substantial containers, drainage material should be many inches thick. Where rainfall is heavy, be bound to make garden containers without drainage outlets on porches, below awnings or the under large eaves of house. With pails and hoar galvanized wash tubs, holes can be easily vilipended at the bottom

Plants in containers without drainage openings stay wet longer. Some of these—crocks, jardinières and cookie jars—are large enough to be picket against the elements in outside container gardening

What constitutes the perfect container for your container garden ideas? A container needs to be attractive, even if it is not an object of art. It should be rugged and living and fit to reject all kinds of weather. This is especially veracious of the wholesome sizes which ofttimes bear on outdoors all year around. In the North, cyclical shiny and dissolving is a predicament in winter (and could engender falling apart); in blazing away climates, intense heat, humidity, and moisture are to be expected (and could cause deteriorating). And in dry areas, there is the impact of drying sun to prevent your attention, another source of fading. All these things govern be kept open in mind when taking place up with your container gardening design

The perfect container must be vast enough to hold a sizeable quantity of soil. It should have comprehensive drainage facilities through holes or different openings at the bottom or sides. It must not rust, at least in a single season, and it should have a large enough base to roost firmly wherever sequenced. Further, it needs to be leaden enough to hold out ordinary winds. In strong storms, like hurricanes and tornadoes, portable containers can be agitated to temporary safety. All of these things should be factored in when you are running up with your container gardening ideas

Resistance to rot is another requisite. Wooden containers—except those behaved of rot-resistant Redwood, Western Cedar, and Southern Red Cypress—will call for treatment with a wood preservative. Except for long containers, the capability to castle your container garden is another quality, and sometimes a safety precaution, of movable container gardening. Sizable boxes and planters can be muscled with wheels, and garden centers have redwood tubs that sit down on platforms with wheels. An exhibiting in the platform corresponds to the hole in the tub. Sizeable containers without wheels can be went on iron or woody rollers by two or more people; however, if you breathe in an area taken heed to plain storms it is best to lodge your containers small-scaled

Smaller containers are ideal for cultivating herb container gardens. If you plan to plant a herb container garden be originative. Here are some container garden ideas for herbs that go large together
* For an Italian selection try Sweet Basil, Italian Parsley, Oregano, Marjoram and Thyme
* For a pleasing scented container use Lavender, Rose Scented Geranium, Lemon Balm, Lemon Thyme, and Pineapple Sage
* For utterly extravagant salads try Garlic Chives, Rocket, Salad Burnet, Parsley, Celery
* And to say “We love French Cooking!” use Tarragon, Chervil, Parsley, Chives and Sage
Any of these will liven up your meal and please your family

So these are just a few container gardening ideas. Get out a pad of paper and make up a container garden plot that will add to the view and conceivably even the palate

Happy Container Gardening!

Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged

Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives in Central Florida. This allows her to grow gardens inside and outside year round. She has put out other articles on Cruising, Gardening and Cooking. Visit her websites at http://www.GardeningHerb.com and http://www.ContainerGardeningSecrets.com To forebode more of her articles go to http://www.ArticleBazaar.net

Container Gardening Ideas for Pots and Planting Herbs

For container gardening ideas, skim the internet, the library or a bookstore. The challenge is to come up with a lovable container garden plan. There are a distributed collection of containers accessible for your container garden. These range in size from small-scale house-plant pots to big boxes and planters. Equally altered are the materials from which they are made. These admit wood, glass, clay, aluminum, bamboo, straw, plastic, fiberglass, terra cotta, tin, cast iron, zinc, copper, and brass, each with pick out advantages and disadvantages. What you select will count on availability, price, background, and attraction not to advert the characteristics of the gardening pots

Here are some container gardening ideas. In addition to run-of-the-mill apple-shaped pots and tubs, there are contemporary and ultracontemporary forms much as square, angular, angulate, hexagonal, and octagonal. Also bailable are older iron kitchen pots, kettles, pails, jugs, casks, vases, crocks, jam tubs, barrels and nail kegs, Japanese fish tubs, senesced sinks, bathtubs, bamboo soy tubs. There are novelty containers such as driftwood, wheelbarrows, donkey carts, spinning around wheels and boxes tied to a roadside mail container. There are also bird cages, nonfunctional well heads, animal figures, and Strawberry jars. Woven baskets may be utilized to hold back homely containers. Even tar paper pots, managed by garden centers and florists are applaudable if enamelled or blotted out to kick upstairs their out. Any of these can be used in your container gardening ideas

Where to find your container supplies? Begin with what you possess. If you diagnose cellars or basements, attics, garages, and sheds, you will doubtless encounter objects of interest. Old-fashioned pots and kettles, usually traded in antique shops at agrarian auctions or taken note at older New England inns, have much attraction

Different container garden ideas to ponder are old cookie and bean jars, pickle and other types of crocks, wash tubs, coal pails, jardinières, and ceramic bowls. For drainage, scatter a dense layer of wholesome pebbles or broken pieces of pots or bricks at the bottom and then drizzle plants with care. In substantial containers, drainage material should be many inches thick. Where rainfall is heavy, be sure to keep garden containers without drainage outlets on porches, below awnings or the under big eaves of house. With pails and older galvanized wash tubs, holes can be easily broken at the bottom

Plants in containers without drainage openings stay wet longer. Some of these—crocks, jardinières and cookie jars—are big enough to be procure against the elements in out container gardening

What constitutes the perfect container for your container garden ideas? A container needs to be attractive, even if it is not an object of art. It should be hard-line and enduring and competent to defy all kinds of weather. This is especially truthful of the wholesome sizes which ofttimes go on outdoors all year around. In the North, cyclic frozen and unfreezing is a predicament in winter (and could bring forth cracking); in blazing away climates, intense heat, humidity, and moisture are to be considered (and could cause melting). And in dry areas, there is the impact of scorching sun to keep your attention, another source of fading. All these things necessitate be kept in mind when coming up with your container gardening design

The perfect container must be vast enough to hold a sizeable quantity of soil. It should have comprehensive drainage facilities through holes or individual openings at the bottom or sides. It must not rust, at least in a single season, and it should have an ample enough base to roost firmly wherever placed. Further, it needs to be dense enough to defy moderate winds. In intense storms, like hurricanes and tornadoes, portable containers can be changed over to impermanent safety. All of these things should be factored in when you are coming up with your container gardening ideas

Resistance to rot is another requisite. Wooden containers—except those made of rot-resistant Redwood, Western Cedar, and Southern Red Cypress—will necessitate treatment with a wood preservative. Except for long containers, the capability to travel your container garden is another quality, and sometimes a safety precaution, of man-portable container gardening. Sizable boxes and planters can be fitted out with wheels, and garden centers have redwood tubs that roost on platforms with wheels. An opening up in the platform corresponds to the hole in the tub. Sizeable containers without wheels can be pushed on iron or woody rollers by two or more people; however, if you dwell in an area been given to intense storms it is best to keep your containers small-scaled

Smaller containers are ideal for cultivating herb container gardens. If you plan to plant a herb container garden be originative. Here are some container garden ideas for herbs that go enthusiastic together
* For an Italian selection try Sweet Basil, Italian Parsley, Oregano, Marjoram and Thyme
* For a pleasing scented container use Lavender, Rose Scented Geranium, Lemon Balm, Lemon Thyme, and Pineapple Sage
* For utterly unrestrained salads seek Garlic Chives, Rocket, Salad Burnet, Parsley, Celery
* And to say “We love French Cooking!” use Tarragon, Chervil, Parsley, Chives and Sage
Any of these will liven up your meal and please your family

So these are just a few container gardening ideas. Get out a pad of paper and make up a container garden plot that will add to the view and conceivably even the palate

Happy Container Gardening!

Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged

Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives in Central Florida. This allows her to mature gardens inside and outside year pear-shaped. She has printed other articles on Cruising, Gardening and Cooking. Visit her websites at http://www.GardeningHerb.com and http://www.ContainerGardeningSecrets.com To scan more of her articles go to http://www.ArticleBazaar.net

Related Winter Container Gardening Articles

Container Gardening Ideas for your Home

Many gardeners have given up on the idea of a garden because they lack space, time or lots of experience. But if maturing plants is an interest of yours container gardening could be your answer. Container gardens will let you to bask “playing in the dirt” without endowing a lot of time or money. You can get very constructive in container gardening utilizing vegetables, nonfunctional grasses or flowers and herbs. You can plant a container garden with any plant that would mature outside. The trick is to come up with some creative ideas for your container garden.

You should do some research at your local nursery or on the internet to choose the plants you wish to grow to help you come up with some ideas. Try to use plants that complement each other and have the same alkalic needs for water, air and light

A container garden idea that has taken off recently is the landscape container. Some people plant an uncomplicated evergreen tree in a container with acceptable drainage to place at their front door. Or you could plant an assortment of flowers for a brilliant and aesthetic vista. If you do plant flowers, append plants that slop over the sides of the container to append more visuals and interest. What ever container gardening idea you can come up with can be placed on a deck, patio, and balcony or by the front doors. Put them somewhere that your family and friends can bask

You can grow vegetables in containers but choose wisely. Vegetables like squash and pole beans necessitate lots of space, while tomatoes necessitate a thick pot. When you mature your personal vegetables you will have acid-tasting bring forth not the diplomatic stuff that is in the grocery store. Nothing tastes better than a tomato proper off the vine. There are many chefs and acceptable home cooks that grow their own for just this reason. Don’t bury to pot some herbs, they are pretty plants and append zest to your meals

But don’t just stick to vegetables and herbs; why not add fruit trees too? Instead of using an evergreen tree, pot a fruit tree instead. There are many dwarf varieties accessible that work best in pots since with pots there is less soil therefore less nutrients to draw from. If you dwell in a year pear-shaped cordial climate citrus trees are cold. In other regions, stick to pear, apple and chromatic trees. Another acceptable container gardening idea is to mature strawberries. With strawberries climate does not matter since you can convey the container inside. Fresh strawberries are amazingly cloying and tasty. Imagine how good a bowl of caller strawberries will be, strawberries that you have just plucked.

Remember that container gardens dry out more quickly than traditional gardens. Be assiduous about irrigating your plants if you don’t desire your container gardening ideas to shrivel and decease. Container gardens must be fertilised too. Keep a little notebook accessible so you can compose down the needs of your plant so you will always cognize when to water or feed. Keep an eye out for pests. If you happen a container that has an infestation, insulate it immediately and do by it with a biological pesticide. You don’t want coarse-grained chemicals on fruits, vegetables or herbs. A acceptable natural pesticide recipe is:

In a jar, combine 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid and 1 cup vegetable oil. Shake vigorously. In a hollow spray bottle, unite 2 teaspoons of this mixture and 1 cup water. Use at ten-day intervals (or more often if necessitated) to rid plants of whiteflies, mites, aphids, scales, and other pests
 
So, do some research, come up with your own unique container gardening ideas, gather your materials and get to work. The fruits of your labor will be impressive

Happy Container Gardening!

Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged

Container Gardening Ideas For The Many Different Garden Pots

For container gardening ideas, search the internet, the library or a bookstore. The challenge is to come up with a pleasing container garden design. There are an unlimited variety of containers available for your container garden. These range in size from small house-plant pots to large boxes and planters. Equally variable are the materials from which they are made. These include wood, glass, clay, aluminum, bamboo, straw, plastic, fiberglass, terra cotta, tin, cast iron, zinc, copper, and brass, each with certain advantages and disadvantages. What you select will depend on availability, cost, background, and appeal not to mention the characteristics of the gardening pots.

Here are some container gardening ideas. In addition to traditional circular pots and tubs, there are modern and ultra-modern forms—square, rectangular, triangular, hexagonal, and octagonal. Also eligible are old iron kitchen pots, kettles, pails, jugs, casks, vases, crocks, jelly tubs, barrels and nail kegs, Japanese fish tubs, old sinks, bathtubs, bamboo soy tubs. There are novelty containers such as driftwood, wheelbarrows, donkey carts, spinning wheels and boxes attached to roadside mail receptacle. There are also bird cages, decorative well heads, animal figures, and Strawberry jars. Woven baskets may be used to conceal unattractive containers. Even tar paper pots, handled by garden centers and florists, are worthwhile if painted or covered to improve their appearance. Any of these can be used in your container gardening ideas.

Where to find your container supplies? Start with what you have. If you scout cellars or basements, attics, garages, and sheds, you will doubtless encounter something interesting. Old-fashioned pots and kettles, often sold in antique shops at country auctions or seen at old New England inns, have much appeal.

Other container garden ideas are to consider old cookie and bean jars, pickle and other types of crocks, wash tubs, coal pails, jardinières, and ceramic bowls. For drainage, spread a thick layer of large pebbles or broken pieces of pots or bricks at the bottom and then water plants with care. In large containers of this kind, drainage material should be several inches thick. Where rainfall is heavy, be sure to keep garden containers without drainage outlets on porches, under awnings or the broad eaves of houses. With pails and old galvanized wash tubs, holes can be easily punctured at the bottom.

Plants in containers without drainage openings remain moist longer. Some of these—crocks, jardinières and cookie jars—are heavy enough to be secure against wind in outside container gardening.

What constitutes the ideal container for your container garden ideas? A container must be attractive, even if it is not an object of art. It should be strong and durable and able to resist all kinds of weather. This is especially true of the large sizes, which usually remain outdoors all year around. In the North, alternate freezing and thawing is a problem in winter (and could cause cracking); in tropical climates, excessive heat, humidity, and moisture are to be considered (and could cause fading). And in semiarid areas, there is the effect of scorching sun to keep in mind, another cause of fading. All these things must be kept in mind when coming up with your container gardening design.

The ideal container must be large enough to hold a substantial amount of soil. It should have good drainage facilities through holes or other openings at the bottom or sides, though this is not absolutely necessary. It must not rust, at least in a single season, and it should have a wide enough base to rest firmly wherever placed. Besides, it ought to be heavy enough to withstand average winds. In severe storms, like hurricanes and tornadoes, movable containers can be shifted to temporary safety. All of these things should be factored in when you are coming up with your container gardening ideas.

Resistance to rot is another requirement. Wooden containers—except those made of rot-resistant redwood, Western cedar, and Southern red cypress—will need to be treated with a wood preservative. Except for permanent containers, the ability to move your container garden is another feature, and sometimes a safety precaution, of portable container gardening. Large boxes and planters can be fitted with wheels, and garden centers have redwood tubs that rest on platforms with wheels. A hole in the platform corresponds to the hole in the tub. Large containers without wheels can be pushed on iron or wooden rollers by two or more persons; however, if you live in an area prone to disastrous storms it is best to keep your containers small.

Smaller containers are ideal for growing herb container gardens. If you plan to plant an herb container garden be imaginative Here are some container garden ideas for herbs that go well together.

For an Italian selection try Sweet basil, Italian parsley, Oregano, Marjoram and Thyme.

For a lovely scented container use Lavender, Rose scented geranium, Lemon balm, Lemon thyme, and Pineapple sage.

For really great salads try Garlic chives, Rocket, Salad burnet, Parsley, Celery.

And to say “We love French Cooking!” use Tarragon, Chervil, Parsley, Chives and Sage.

Any of these will liven up your cooking and please your family.

So these are just a few container gardening ideas. Get out a pad of paper and make up a container garden design that will please the eye and maybe even the palate

Happy Container Gardening!

Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved.