Need a Fresh Container Gardening Idea? Create a Container Garden With the Entire Family

If you are looking for a fun family weekend project, I would suggest trying container gardening.  This is something the entire family will enjoy doing together because it appeals to all ages.  It’s an easy, fun and inexpensive way for the family to spend some quality time together. And you will continue to enjoy watching your garden grow and flourish, knowing that you each took part in developing your family garden.

To get started, make a list of the things you will need to start your container garden. They should include: containers, plants, dirt and some small gardening tools.  Now you need to choose the area were you will put your garden. This is one of the great things about this alternative way to garden; you can have a very small area and still grow whatever you like. A small balcony, a window box or a front porch can all be transformed into a beautiful and useful area. You may want to grow flowers, vegetables, herbs or a mix of all. If you are including children, you may want to look up some plants or take them to the garden center and let them choose their very own plants. Children will enjoy being included in the entire process, including the care of the garden once it is in place.

So with your list and some ideas in place, it’s time to load up the family and head to a home and garden center.  You can start with seeds or small plants. There should be instructions on each that will tell you how large the plants will get and the ideal conditions they will grow in. You may want to find an experienced worker and explain to them that you are starting a container garden; they can be a font of information. They can also help you with decisions such as types of soil and fertilizers and information about the plants you choose.

Once you have all of the materials needed for your container garden, the real fun begins. Even big kids like to play in the dirt!  You should place the containers in the areas you think you would like them. Then just plant the seeds or the plants and enjoy watching your garden grow.  Soon you will have grown beautiful plants. You can now make fresh salads or a bright floral bouquet to add nature and beauty anywhere.

Most people who try container gardening get hooked right away. Once you see how easy the whole process is and how the whole family enjoys it, you will probably be expanding your garden every year. You really don’t need acres of land and farm equipment to enjoy gardening.  Just a little time and imagination and you can grow your ideas anywhere.

I hopefully have inspired you to try container gardening as a family project. In this day and age when family time is so rare and budgets are low, we all need ideas that will keep our families close and connected.  So enjoy!

Creating A Container Garden

Container gardens are the perfect way to add texture, color and fragrance to a terrace, balcony or deck. They often provide the only way for people who live in apartments or urbanized areas to garden. Most plants, including evergreens, herbs, perennials and annuals, can be used in a planter. Container gardens soften the hard lines of a paved patio and can provide privacy on a large terrace. Planters can be grouped for a massed effect on a large patio while a single potted specimen is effective in a small space.

To vary the theme of your container garden over the course of the year be ready to replace flowers that have finished blooming with something new. Container gardening allows you to easily change the color scheme of your garden throughout the season. For instance, spring bulbs can be replaced with summer blooming annuals. Annuals, in turn, can be replaced with chrysanthemums and asters for fall color. Evergreens, such as the Alberta spruce and holly, provide interest through the winter.

If you have steps leading up to your front door, the use planters will charm your visitors. Container gardens can accentuate interesting architectural details. For example, large planters with tall evergreens are great for framing an entry way. When massing your planters, group them in odd numbers rather than even, and try to vary their size and type. Also, be sure to include in your container garden plants of varying of shapes and heights. Take into consideration the shape and texture of the foliage as well; it is these qualities which create interest during lulls in blooming.

Indoor, pots of flowers create a cozy and warm atmosphere. Decide ahead of time where you want your pots to be positioned, then buy plants that suit the situation. Try to find locations next to windows since most plants require at least some sun during the day. Some plants, such as those which grow extensive root systems, are more suited for the outdoor garden.

Experiment with different types of containers. You can use anything which will hold soil; just be sure to allow for adequate drainage. An old whiskey barrel or copper urn are both suitable and are perfect for a more rustic garden. If your looking for something more traditional, buy your planters at the garden center. They usually have a wide range of colorful terracotta pots. You can also build a planter out of landscape timbers.

Plastic pots are inexpensive and can be decorated on the outside with water based paints. When purchasing pots, don’t forget to buy matching saucers to catch any overflowing water. This will prevent cement floors from getting stained or timber floors and decks from rotting.

When planting your containers be sure to use a high quality, nutrient rich potting mix as it will feed your plants throughout the season. Also, place a few stones at the bottom pf the pot to allow for drainage. Take some time to plan your container garden before buying your supplies. With a little imagination you can turn any patio or deck, small or large, into a lush year-round garden.

Tips and Techniques For Watering Your Container Garden Plants

The importance of proper watering cannot be stressed enough for your container garden plants. Container Gardens are exposed to wind and sun so they dry out quicker than plants in the ground. There are no exact rules about watering your container garden plants. You have to become acquainted with the needs of various garden plants. The best tip is to examine them daily and water the plant when the surface of the soil begins to look dry. Feeling the soil will also help you determine the moisture needs of your container garden. Or, take the easy way and invest in a water meter if you are not sure.

How much and when to water will depend on the kind of plant and soil, the type and size of container, and the amount of exposure to sun and wind. Climate and the weather also play their part. During hot spells most plants in your container garden need daily water, except those in small clay pots, which may require it twice. Some plants, like fuchsias and tuberous begonias, wilt when dry, but geraniums and succulents are not so sensitive to neglect. On the other hand, it is good to let soil dry out a little between watering. This prevents the soil from depleting its nutrients.

Since unglazed containers dry out quickest, watch them more closely. Wooden tubs, window boxes, and planters dry out more slowly; metal is the slowest of all. Groups of plants in large containers keep moist longer than single specimens. A good technique to avoid excess dryness is to have groupings of plants, arranged close together. This allows the container plants to shade one another to keep cool and stop moisture evaporation.

There are several methods of watering the plants. If you have many containers in your container garden, depend on the hose, allowing water to flow through slowly and gently. Water small pots with a watering can that has a long spout or buy one of the self watering containers now available. When plants are grouped closely in a container garden, set up a sprinkler or hose with a fine spray nearby, allowing it to run for a long while, until the soil is soaked. In many states where the climate is dry, an automatic sprinkler system is a must to keep your whole garden hydrated. Remember this tip with geraniums and petunias, avoid sprinklers which spot blossoms.

One thing is certain; you must not depend on rain to keep your container garden plants hydrated. Even heavy showers deposit a surprisingly small amount of moisture, and unless rains are frequent and lengthy, you must do your own watering. Remember those window boxes and other containers near houses or under trees can stay dry in spite of an all-day downpour.

Though it is essential to give enough water to your container garden, it is equally important not to over water and so cause root rot. Over-watering also prevents aeration of the soil, and will cause the plant to drown.

One good method is to set your container garden, if the containers are not too large, in a basin or pail of water for several hours, or until the surface of the soil feels moist (this is the theory behind self watering containers). Or immerse the pot in a tub or large barrel of water and leave it there until air is eliminated and the bubbling stops.

The best general rule is to soak soil thoroughly when you water and then allow it to go just a bit dry before you water your container garden again. Best of all, keep a small spiral notebook and paste the care of each plant into it so that you will always have the needs of each individual plant at your fingertips.

If you go away for long periods during the summer, give the container garden serious thought before making it a project. On the other hand, you can enjoy both holidays and plants if you are absent for only short periods. The best safeguard is to entrust your container garden to a responsible friend. Or if you are going away for a vacation at your second home, or one that you have rented, take the container garden with you as a little bit of home.

Several techniques can be practiced. One is to arrange smaller containers in boxes of peat moss, sawdust, or soil, which has been well soaked. Then there is the pot-in-pot method, whereby small pots are set in larger ones, with moist peat moss inserted between.

As mentioned above, in many of the garden centers self watering containers are offered for sale. These are ideal for your container garden when you are traveling or taking a vacation.

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.

How to Care and Grow Crassula Ovata or Jade Plants Flowering Container Garden Favorites

Crassula ovata or Jade plants are shrubby succulent plants that make excellent choices for dry gardens and container plants.  Xeriscaping with drought tolerant cactus and succulent plants has become popular in dry areas or places where water conservation is a concern.  Jades have thick, deep green leaves sometimes tinged with red on the edges. The leaf shape, like the name ovata implies, are oval from 1 – 2 inches long.

Crassula ovata develop thick, fat trunks that have an aged look and will eventually grow up to 8 feet tall.  In late winter jade plants get 3 inch clusters of light pink to pale salmon flowers with five petals. These perennial plants are drought tolerant and only need water once a month or so.

Indoors, succulent jade plants make good houseplants in containers.  They prefer bright, indirect light and can take a few hours of direct sunlight but they are also adapted to low light.  In a pot, Jade stay small and can even be used for bonsai.  Crassula ovata is sometimes confused with Crassula argentia, which has a similar growth habit, but has silvery grey leaves.  Crassula are usually not bothered by insects or disease.  The biggest problem crassulas face may come from over watering.  This will result in a soggy brown, rotting trunk.

In the garden, drought tolerant jade plants will grow in light shade to full sun.  In hottest desert areas, crassula do better when they don’t have an entire day of full sun.  Crassula ovata are hardy to 41 degrees (5 degrees centigrade).  A light frost will show up at brown dots on leaves.  Overhead protection is usually enough to protect succulents during a light frost.  Heavy frost, or a deep freeze will turn leaves brown and shriveled.  Frozen leaves will fall off, or you can brush them off with your hands.  If the plant branch or trunk is not damaged, new sprouts should form in a few weeks.

Green jade plants are able to live off rainfall alone in many areas.  In my southern California garden, crassula are happily growing in both full sun and shade, in heavy alkaline, clay soil.  You can see photos of flowering jade plants at http://www.theGardenPages.com .

To root cuttings like jade plant or gollum jade, start with a 5 or 6 inch cutting.  Bury about half of the stalk in soil.  This will give you deep roots and helps the plant withstand drought better.  Keep the soil moist (like a squeezed sponge).  After a month, cut back to monthly watering.  The leaves will probably shrivel a bit as the plant forms roots: it is living off the stored energy in its leaves.  This is normal.  You may also lose a few leaves, which is also normal.  The plant will start growing again and may even flower in a year.

Visit at http://www.theGardenPages.com to see crassula plant photos and read about more plants that are versatile and easy to grow.  Their winter bloom make jade plants a great addition to any garden or home.

Related Flower Container Gardening Articles

Planting Your Container Garden

There are so many horror stories from novice and experienced gardeners about using an incorrect soil mixture for their garden planters and containers.  Here is the best advice that we have culled from many sources, especially from those growers that specialize in container plants.

Bagged commercial potting mixes are the very best choice for filling containers.  These mixtures contain a variety of ingredients, including composted bark, sawdust, peat moss, perlite, vermiculite, or sometime real soil which is usually pasteurized.  Some container mixes also contain fertilizers, and if you wish your planters and pots to be organic, you will want to avoid those.  Although perfect loamy soil may be used as an ingredient for your homemade potting mix, most ordinary garden soil is not suitable.  It is too heavy and compacts easily in pots and planters and doesn’t drain properly.

Here are some suggestions if you wish to create your own container mixture – 100% compost, 100% soil-less mix, 25% garden soil with 75% compost or soil-less mix and we have also seen 50% soil-less mix and 50% compost.  There are a lot of variations; however, garden soil may contain weed seeds or pathogens that cause plant diseases.

Initially, you will need to purchase enough container soil to fill all your planters and urns, but you may cheat a little the next year and just replace half the soil from the previous year and top-up for the next year.  This may be false economy and it is very good practice to replace all the soil every year and then you know that you have the best conditions for your new plants.  Just add the spent soil to the compost pile or the “old” soil to pot up those plant sale donations.

Your very large planters and pots may be cumbersome to move around, so consider setting them in position before filling them with your potting mix.  Even with the lighter pots, it is often easier to fill them where they will eventually reside.  Just move around with your container mix and plants and fill up your planters with those flats of beautiful new flowers, herbs and perennials.

A long lasting container mixture is the perfect medium for long-term plants such as woody plants and perennials.  Use one part:  peat moss, composted bark, compost, sand and perlite.  If your compost is too heavy, just add more perlite to ensure good drainage.  You can use extra compost for mature plants; however, it may be too rich for young plants and could damage their delicate roots and stems.

If you are considering Cacti and Succulents for your planters and containers this year, they certainly use less water; this is a soil mixture that may be considered.  Start with five parts perlite, 4 parts bagged potting soil, 1 part coarse sand and a pinch of rock dust. Once your plants are in, just top dress with small rive rock, gravel, aquarium stone or a fine grade of gravel to keep the crowns of the plants from rotting.  To increase the acidity (succulents thrive in acid soil), add a tablespoon of white vinegar to 5 gallons of water when watering.

To sum up, always moisten potting mixture before filling containers.  Pre-moistening is essential, potting mix may be difficult to wet and you may end up with pockets of soil that stays dry.  This dry soil will just pull the water right out of the plant roots and damage them. Some gardeners even consider pre-soaking their plants before filling the pots and containers.

Tips and Techniques For Watering Your Container Garden Plants

The importance of proper watering cannot be stressed enough for your container garden plants. Container Gardens are exposed to wind and sun so they dry out quicker than plants in the ground. There are no exact rules about watering your container garden plants. You have to become acquainted with the needs of various garden plants. The best tip is to examine them daily and water the plant when the surface of the soil begins to look dry. Feeling the soil will also help you determine the moisture needs of your container garden. Or, take the easy way and invest in a water meter if you are not sure.

How much and when to water will depend on the kind of plant and soil, the type and size of container, and the amount of exposure to sun and wind. Climate and the weather also play their part. During hot spells most plants in your container garden need daily water, except those in small clay pots, which may require it twice. Some plants, like fuchsias and tuberous begonias, wilt when dry, but geraniums and succulents are not so sensitive to neglect. On the other hand, it is good to let soil dry out a little between watering. This prevents the soil from depleting its nutrients.

Since unglazed containers dry out quickest, watch them more closely. Wooden tubs, window boxes, and planters dry out more slowly; metal is the slowest of all. Groups of plants in large containers keep moist longer than single specimens. A good technique to avoid excess dryness is to have groupings of plants, arranged close together. This allows the container plants to shade one another to keep cool and stop moisture evaporation.

There are several methods of watering the plants. If you have many containers in your container garden, depend on the hose, allowing water to flow through slowly and gently. Water small pots with a watering can that has a long spout or buy one of the self watering containers now available. When plants are grouped closely in a container garden, set up a sprinkler or hose with a fine spray nearby, allowing it to run for a long while, until the soil is soaked. In many states where the climate is dry, an automatic sprinkler system is a must to keep your whole garden hydrated. Remember this tip with geraniums and petunias, avoid sprinklers which spot blossoms.

One thing is certain; you must not depend on rain to keep your container garden plants hydrated. Even heavy showers deposit a surprisingly small amount of moisture, and unless rains are frequent and lengthy, you must do your own watering. Remember those window boxes and other containers near houses or under trees can stay dry in spite of an all-day downpour.

Though it is essential to give enough water to your container garden, it is equally important not to over water and so cause root rot. Over-watering also prevents aeration of the soil, and will cause the plant to drown.

One good method is to set your container garden, if the containers are not too large, in a basin or pail of water for several hours, or until the surface of the soil feels moist (this is the theory behind self watering containers). Or immerse the pot in a tub or large barrel of water and leave it there until air is eliminated and the bubbling stops.

The best general rule is to soak soil thoroughly when you water and then allow it to go just a bit dry before you water your container garden again. Best of all, keep a small spiral notebook and paste the care of each plant into it so that you will always have the needs of each individual plant at your fingertips.

If you go away for long periods during the summer, give the container garden serious thought before making it a project. On the other hand, you can enjoy both holidays and plants if you are absent for only short periods. The best safeguard is to entrust your container garden to a responsible friend. Or if you are going away for a vacation at your second home, or one that you have rented, take the container garden with you as a little bit of home.

Several techniques can be practiced. One is to arrange smaller containers in boxes of peat moss, sawdust, or soil, which has been well soaked. Then there is the pot-in-pot method, whereby small pots are set in larger ones, with moist peat moss inserted between.

As mentioned above, in many of the garden centers self watering containers are offered for sale. These are ideal for your container garden when you are traveling or taking a vacation.

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.

Tips For Creating A Container Garden

Container gardens can create a biological sanctuary in an engaged city street, along rooftops or on balconies. You can easily emphasise the accepting appear of a deck or patio with colourful pots of annuals, or fill up your window boxes with aesthetic shrub roses or any number of little perennials. Whether you set up your pots in a group for a rolled up effect or highlight a smaller space with a single specimen, you’ll be delighted with this uncomplicated way to create a garden.

Container gardening enables you to easily vary your color scheme, and as each plant finishes flowering, it can be replaced with another. Whether you select to harmonize or contrast your colors, make bound there is variety in the height of each plant. Think also of the shape and texture of the leaves. Tall strap-like leaves will give an acceptable upright background to low-growing, wide-leaved plants. Choose plants with an abundant flowering season, or have others of an antithetic type at the ready to supplant them as they finish up blossoming.

Experiment with creative containers. You might have an older porcelain bowl or copper urn you can use, or perhaps you’d rather make something really contemporary with timber or tiles. If you make up one’s mind to purchase your containers ready-made, terracotta pots appear extraordinary, but be given to assimilate water. You don’t desire your plants to adust out, so coat the internal of these pots with an extraordinary sealer accessible from hardware stores. Cheaper plastic pots can also be enamelled on the outside with water-based paints for acceptable effect. When acquiring pots, don’t bury to buy corresponding saucers to pick up the drips. This will salvage cement floors getting tarnished, or timber floors decomposing. Always use a good quality implanting blend in your containers. This will insure the best performance accomplishable from your plants.

If you have steps leading up to your front door, a bewitching pot plant on each one will delight your visitors. Indoors, pots of plants or flowers assist to create a comfy and accepting atmosphere. Decide ahead of time where you desire your pots to be positioned, then purchase plants that suit the situation. There is no point purchasing sun lovers for a disreputable position, for they will not do well. Some plants also have really ample roots, so they are best kept for the opened garden.

If you have plenty of space at your front door, a group of potted plants off to one side will be more visually appealing than two similar plants placed each side. Unless they are dramatic, they will appear rather tiring. Group the pots in inexact numbers rather than even, and alter the height and type. To tie the group together, append ample rocks that are akin in appearance and just slightly antithetic in size. Three or five pots of the same type and color, but in different sizes also looks affective.

With a creative mind and some determination, you will soon have a container garden that will be the envy of friends and strangers alike

More Blueberry Container Garden Articles

How To Grow And Handle Fresh Herbs From Your Garden Beds Or Your Container Garden

In any recipe calling for herbs, use fresh herbs. Preparing the herbs for your dish is easygoing. The more caring herbs like mint, parsley, basil and cilantro can be garnered in a bowl and snipped with scissors. This is the fastest and safest way to chop the herbs. If your recipe calls for the more manful herbs like oregano, rosemary, or thyme you should use the stripping method. Hold a branch of the herb upright in your fingers and run the fingers of your other hand down the stalk stripping the little leaves loose. The flavor will be more aggravated if you have gathered the herbs from your herb gardens or container gardens because they will be absolutely the freshest herbs accessible

The best way to have fresh herbs is to plant and grow them yourself. No longer is there a denominated “herb garden”. They can be happened in your flower beds, along walkways or in pots on your porch. Many aspirant gardeners are happening fresh ways to comprise herbs into their garden beds and their container gardens

Many gardeners are unaware of the beauty of flowering herbs and never consider planting them within their flower beds. Some herbs that have aesthetic flowers are chromatic coneflower, catmint, bee balm, yarrow, pinks, lavender, pot marigold, borage, feverfew, and nasturtium which is particularly lovable in caller salads.. Many other herbs, much as parsley are superior next to flowers of all sorts because of their dramatic foliage. When implanting bloody or cheerless flowers, place purple basil around them for an adroit arrangement

Another area to consider is to use herbs as ground cover. The herbs that are fit to this are the humble maturing oregano, chamomile, confused and other crawling thyme, mint, and rosemary. Not only will it appear pretty but it will be absolutely musky. Just be aware of the mint family, they be given to take over everything

One of the best ways I have grown herbs is in containers. In fact, I like container gardening so much I composed my eBook “Container Gardening Secrets” (accessible at ContainerGardeningSecrets.com), so everyone could bask this type of gardening. The beauty of a container garden is that it is man-portable and can be changed at a moment’s whim. When there is no more room in your garden, get down a container garden which you can place on your door step or patio. Use them to fill up in naked spots that come up during the gardening season or set them on a cheerful window sill in your home for easygoing collecting. Best of all you can convey your herb containers inside over the winter months and go on to harvest for months to append to your acid-tasting meals or to be utilized for healthful purposes.

Another way to employ pots in your garden is to plant invasive herbs such as mint into a pot and then plant pot and all into the ground. This is an easygoing trick to keep those “creepers” from taking over your garden beds

Plant a container garden near your door with the cherry pie scented blue flower heliotrope and other fragrant herbs such as rosemary, thyme and basil. Every time you take the air by you will be recognised with there tasty scent

Some herbs that have grown on rocky hillsides over the centuries such as thyme, oregano and lavender are perfect for cracks in flag stone paths or walls and rock gardens. They boom in blistering adust areas with acceptable drainage. Some believe that those herbs matured in these conditions bring forth much better flavor

Now is the time to plant your herbs, whether it is in a garden bed, a cracked wall or a container garden. Use your imagination. Consider color height and texture when implanting your gardens. Not only will it be visually admirable but your fudging will better too!

Happy Gardening!

Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved

This article may be meted out freely on your website and in your ezines, as abundant as this smooth article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are dateless.

How to Plant Gardening Containers Or Gardening Pots In Your Container Garden

When you are at the ready to blend ingredients for your container garden, be bound the soil is wet and possible. To find out this, take a handful, squash it and let it to drop down. If water comes out, it is too soaked; if it breaks apart, it is too adust. But if the lump of soil retains its shape or cracks just a little when it is dropped down, it is in acceptable condition to work into your gardening pots

Be certain your garden containers are clean when you start. Soak utilized or fresh clay gardening pots overnight so they will not draw moisture from the soil after implanting. This is a very crucial step when you are beginning your plants life. If the pot draws off the moisture the new plant will be divested. Clean filthy clay pots with a strong brush and blistering, insincere water. Clean gardening pots will be much more bewitching in your container garden

Though redwood, cedar, and cypress gardening pots may be left natural, they may also be stained or painted. First fresh the surfaces then utilize one or two coats of stain or coat. Let adust completely before implanting. Concrete, metal, plastic, fiberglass, and akin materials all necessitate making clean before planting your container garden

Suiting plants to garden pots is very important in container garden design. Consider the shape of each container, its color, and texture in relation to the color of flowers and foliage, as well as the crowning size of each plant in your container garden. Don’t select material that is too little, and if you desire a group of plants for an ample container, pick out one full-length specimen for the center to give height and scale. Don’t bury that you can plant vegetables in container gardens; seek to comprise them into your container garden design. And, for an acid-tasting addition to your container garden plant herbs in garden containers or even hanging up baskets, your recipes will go extraordinary

In low pots or bulb pans and in tubs, use low-growing plants like fancy-leaved caladiums, petunias, verbenas, Iantanas, ageratum and wax begonias. Hyacinths, tulips, and daffodils are also apropos. In full-length containers, plant specimens of geraniums, heliotropes, coleus, balsam, dwarf dahlias, fuchsias, and marguerites. Reserve the larger container pots and boxes for trees and shrubs or roses

As a gardener, keep in mind the form of plants, particularly the evergreens which stand out boldly in winter. Rounded types, as clipped yews or globe arborvitae, look well in angular containers. Hollies or yews, sheared into squares or pyramids, appear better in apple-shaped tubs. This contrast of the swerving with the unbent always gives interest to the garden and those guests that visit your container garden

The first step in potting for a gardener is to place sufficient drainage material in the bottom of each garden container, allowing the water to pass through freely, but not so much as to interfere with the roots. An inch or two of flower pot pieces (rounded out sides up), or chips of brick or flagstone, pebbles, gravel, little stones, or cinders can be utilized. The larger the container, the larger the pieces should be. Some gardeners spread a piece of coarse-grained burlap and a layer of sand over ample drainage pieces. A layer of Vermiculite or sphagnum moss over the drainage material is also close-grained to keep soil from choking off holes. If the holes choke off the roots will submerge in their gardening pot

Above the drainage, spread a layer of soil, the amount depending on the size of the container and the root ball of the plant. Place the plant in position so that the surface of the soil will be an inch (more for ample plants) below the rim of the container. This space is necessitated to keep water

Fill soil in around the roots, firming gently with your fingers or a piece of wood so as to eliminate air pockets. Add more soil and firm, but do not make the soil too air-tight for close-grained giving roots must be competent to penetrate it with ease

Finally, water your garden container plants well, let them drain. If water passes through the gardening pot very rapidly, press soil again to firm it; that means there are air pockets. If the soil holds water too abundant, tease apart it a little

Place the container garden in a sheltered spot out of sun and wind for the first week while they make new root growth and adjust to new conditions. This also helps to debar shock. Once your plants have settled in, you at the ready to set up your container garden according to your avant-garde container gardening design

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 a drawing a bead on 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 http://www.CruiseTravelDirectory.com and http://www.ContainerGardeningSecrets.com or contact her at mary@webmarketingreviews

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