The Best of Home Gardening  

CONTAINER GARDENING

Container gardening has grown so much in popularity, and for good reasons.  First, not everyone has a suitable place to grow certain plants.  For instance, the only place where some people can grow shade-loving plants is on their front or back porch.   Second, containers are portable.  If they don't do well on the porch, they can be moved to the patio.  Third, they're attractive and can be used to decorate a bare wall, or place that could use some color.

WHERE TO BEGIN

Start by purchasing your container.  There are many types and styles to choose from.  Be sure it has drainage holes!  Glazed pots, and the new types that are lightweight can withstand freezing and thawing temperatures.  Keep in mind that clay pots cannot withstand freezing temperatures for very long, and will crumble.  Store them in a warm place over the cold winter months.  If you like the look of clay, the best quality is the Italian pottery, because it has been fired at high temperatures and will be more durable.  Be careful not to go too small with your container.  Try to avoid 10 and 12-inch pots.  Your plants will quickly outgrow them and by mid-summer will be competing for moisture, nutrients, and space.  Try the 14 and 16-inch pots.  You can also try wire baskets and line them with coir to hold in soil, fill with a good brand of potting soil, put plants in and then top the basket with canadian sphagnum to hold in moisture.   

PLANT SELECTION

First, you want to plan a taller, vertical plant in the center.  A popular choice is dracena, or "spike" plant, but you can get more creative and try foxglove, coleus, caladium, or another tall plant.  Avoid plants, such as lilies, that only bloom one time and then are finished.  

Next, select mounding plants, such as impatiens, dwarf dahlia, lamium, blue plumbago, pentas, bacopa, Japanese painted fern (for shade), mini-zinnias, begonia (especially "Dragon-Wing Red"), diplodenia, million-bells, lantana, petunias, verbena, and there are many more.  
If you live in an area that has hot summers, you might want to avoid using cool weather plants, such as pansies, snapdragons, New Guinea impatiens, and  torenia.  These look great in spring, but go downhill quickly with hot temperatures.

Also, know which plants like sun, or shade, according to the location where you want your pot or basket.

Then you may want to add a trailing plant, such as a variegated ivy, alyssum, sweet potato vine, or moneywort, to give the effect of plants spilling over the sides of the pot.  

THEMES

Your container can have a theme.  It can be a subject theme, such as the grocery cart pictured at left.  It can be a color theme, such as red-white-and blue, or shades of all one color.  It can be edible, such as everbearing strawberries, or tomatoes (choose "Tumbler" or "Tiny Tim"), or even a mixture of various herbs.  

POTTING SOIL

Purchase the best quality potting soil that is available.  You're looking for a premium mix that includes high grade peat, aged pine bark, perlite, and a control-release fertilizer.  Most good mixes also contain a water absorbing ingredient and wetting agent.  In my experience, the best fertilizer to use is the slow release type (Osmocote), which lasts for about 3 or 4 months, and plants respond very well with lots of flowers throughout the summer.  

Before you put in your soil, place a piece of screen or shadecloth across the holes at the bottom, so your soil doesn't run out.  Then I use a layer of styrofoam peanuts, or pebbles, and then the soil.  Place the potting soil in a large container or wheelbarrow, and mix in slow release fertilizer, and water absorbent product if your potting soil does not contain them.  More of these products is not better, so follow the label directions.  Wet the soil to where it is not soggy, but enough that it is damp enough to work with...it should feel sandy and loose, not lumpy or runny.

INSTANT GRATIFICATION

Make holes in the soil where you want your plants to go, and one in the center for your tall plant.  Be sure to plant them as deep as they were in the container they came from.  You can plant them close together, so the basket is fairly full.  Water them in well.  

If you decide to hang your container, be sure to hang it either very high, at eye level, or at chest level.   Otherwise, someone's head will painfully come in contact with it.  If you decide to hang it very high, the plants you choose should be visible from below, like trailing plants.  Be aware that hanging baskets or pots can be very heavy, so hang them from structures that can take the weight.

WATERING

There is no question that container plantings require more attention to water during the hot summer months.  If your soil does not contain a water absorbant, there are products on the market that you can mix in your potting soil to help retain moisture.  They look like pellets, but swell up once wet, helping the soil stay wet for a longer time.  Using too much of this product can turn a beautiful planting into a really big mess, so be sure to follow the directions exactly for the amount needed.  You won't need very much of it.  I have heard where people have used more than the required amount; they end up having to repot after a heavy rain, because the pellets swell, and heave the soil and plants out of the pot.

Another trick to keeping in moisture is to line the top of your baskets or container with Canadian sphagnum (the long stringy type).  It is used as a cover over the top of the soil when you have finished planting, and will water from evaporating out of your soil too quickly.

For deep containers, you can drill some holes in a PVC tube and insert it down the middle of your container and then fill your potting soil around it.  Then put in your plants.  Water will fill in the tube and disperse evenly inside the pot.