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.

Garden Containers, Flower Pots and Planters

There are many reasons for growing plants in garden containers, flower pots and planters. An obvious one is if you are growing exotic plants that can be placed outdoors in summer in a location that suits each plant, and then taken indoors or into a more shaded spot in the fall and winter. They are also very convenient for people who live in mobile homes.

People who rent their homes and tend to move around with their job can grow their own plants that can move with them. Plants grown in garden containers are portable, and to many people this is big advantage. Not only that, but you arrange your garden as you please rather than the plants being in fixed positions. Using containers and flower pots it is possible to plant a whole garden that can be rearranged to suit the flowering patterns of the plants.

No more bare patches in spring due to some plants flowering late, or in summer when the short-lived flowers die off quicker than their longer lasting or hardier cousins. You can fill in the bare patches with new pots or planters, and arrange the colors to suit your preference. You can decorate your veranda or patio with the flowers that are in season, and are not restricted to the same ones all year round.

While this all sounds like a very good reason for using nothing but pots and planters, there are certain aspects using them that have to be considered. Potted plants are totally depended on you for their water and nutrition. Their root growth is restricted and you have to know which plants are suitable for this type of environment. You should also consider the overall look of your garden and the shape and color of your pots and planters.

First the plants. Pots are restrictive and the size will depend on the requirements of the plants. Ferns, for example, grow better when the root system is crowded whereas roses prefer a bit more space in which to grow, especially climbing varieties. Cyclamens too prefer more space, and so would be more suited to large pots or planters. Trees prefer large pots, and the larger garden tubs would be more appropriate for the larger varieties.

The same is true of shrubs and larger perennials such as hydrangeas. You can start these off in smaller pots, and gradually increases the size as they grow. Bulbs can be grown in planters, about two to three bulb widths apart, though the fall bulbs will need some exposure to the frost since they need a low temperature for a strong root growth.

Annuals are ideal for color, especially if you get a lot of frost in the winter, and they can be replaced each year. If you plant them fairly close together in garden containers or planters, you can design a lovely looking garden, or a fine display for a patio. Planters are available in a wide range of colors and shapes, and can be made of concrete cast into a variety of shapes or stained or painted wood to suit their surroundings.

Hardwood planters fitted with a trellis are ideal for climbers, and can be free standing units suitable for outdoor use, or even for hallways, vestibules and conservatories. Cedar is popular, but so also are cypress, oak and cherry. They are suitable for a number of climbing plants from sweet peas to cyclamen to passion fruit.

Most annuals are suitable for garden containers, pots and planters, some particularly attractive choices being petunia, tobacco plant (nicotiana) with its wonderful smell, and begonias. The latter two are particularly suitable for growing in shaded areas, as is impatiens or Busy Lizzie. Other flowers suitable for containers are lavandula, gaura and salvia which provide colorful opportunities for any type of garden design. Cigar Plants (cuphea) love lots of sun and have unusual flowers. These shrubs are ideal for tubs in sunny climates.

Many people use containers for window ledges and balconies, and if you have decking, then deck rail planters are an attractive means of hanging plants from the handrails. Many people prefer the look of natural terracotta, but keep in mind that earthenware pots and planters dry out very quickly, and so need a lot of watering. The plastic equivalents are much more practical, if not as attractive.

Garden containers, flower pots and planters are an attractive and very practical way of decorating your garden, patio or conservatory, and a little bit of imagination can work wonders. They also provide a very practical means of planting for those that like to frequently rearrange their garden, or are often on the move.

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