Container gardening provides a lot of options to fit your busy lifestyle. It doesn’t take much space to develop visual impact and containers often require much less work than a large garden.
Old bird feeders, discarded chairs, even paint cans can be repurposed for your portable landscape. Whatever container you decide to plant in make sure it has adequate drainage. If the container is going to be in full sun, choose a lighter color pot to help lessen heat absorption.
Other tips to note:
- Location, location, location – Analyze the sunlight throughout the day as it’s the one thing you cannot change. Once you’ve determined the location, decide how you want to view your garden. Will you be looking at it from one direction or all the way around?
- Select some soil – There are very few nutrients in soil mixes. And since containers require frequent watering any nutrients the soil mix does contain will be washed away. Plan to add some kind of fertilizer: slow release, water soluble, organic seaweed and fish emulsion are good options.
- Pick your plants – Grouping plants that have the same watering requirements is ideal. Typically there are three types of growth habits for container gardening: tall for vertical interest, filler to fill the remainder of the pot, and trailer to break up the edge of the pot.
Following the above steps can help you get started with a versatile, portable landscape that’s both fun and creative.
