Welcome home! These two 3-year-old black urns closest to the front door are full of evergreen perennials, including cast iron, Farfugium, a variety of ferns, Heuchera, and ivy, providing a foundation for the porch. With each season, annual color is added to complement their neighboring pots, but intentionally, these urns are meant to be a beautiful, evergreen backdrop with interesting composition so that the smaller planters below can steal the show with their bold, bright, and inviting color palette.
Per the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a garden is a plot of ground where herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables are cultivated. However, a variety of limitations — lack of space, poor soil quality, a gardener’s physical ailments, pests, local wildlife, even children’s backyard games, and family pets — can make having a “typical” garden challenging. In those situations, a wonderful alternative is a container garden.
When you follow a few simple guidelines, container gardens are a much easier and less overwhelming way to add color, fun, and personality to your porch, patio, or yard. You do not need to be a seasoned plant lover to successfully design, plant, and care for your chosen flora. Even a beginner, whose thumb may not be very green yet, can confidently experiment with different varieties of plants and flowers. Other benefits of container gardening include the need for only basic tools, less weeding, and fewer pests to worry about. Also, the containers can be easily relocated if desired. Just like typical gardening, creating and managing container gardens can be beneficial to health and well-being by getting folks outside, giving them some exercise, improving moods, and relieving some stress.
The first step is choosing a container. In doing so, several characteristics need to be considered. Containers, which come in a multitude of shapes, sizes, colors, styles, and price, are made from a variety of materials, including wood, composite, pottery, clay, and metal. Be certain to choose one that is appealing, easy to manipulate, and complementary to your space. When considering the container’s surroundings, pay special attention to home and door colors, porch furniture and accessories, and even nearby landscaping. Neutral colored pots tend to complement best.
The trickiest part in choosing a container is making sure it’s the right size. Since many container gardens are located near a door, a general rule of thumb is to purchase a planter that is approximately one third the height of the door. The width and depth will be determined based on the surrounding space, so it’s helpful to measure. The larger the container, the bigger its “wow” factor, the more plants it can hold, and the less frequently it needs to be watered.
Smaller containers tend to get overlooked and dry out faster, therefore requiring more upkeep. The most important component of any container is proper drainage. Without open drain holes, accumulated water will weaken the plants, making them more susceptible to disease and root rot, which can eventually lead to plant death.
Once the container is in its place, the next step is to design the container garden. Local garden centers are the best bet to find plants and flowers that will be happiest in our climate. Most local nurseries employ extremely knowledgeable garden enthusiasts who are eager to help choose a compatible combination. Exploring any garden center can be overwhelming, so in addition to using the expertise of the staff, most plants have tags detailing their preferred sun exposure, water needs, ideal spacing, and expected size.
When choosing plants, remember several tips. First, don’t overcrowd your pot because doing so can stunt the growth of your plants. Generally, a 10- to 12-inch pot can accommodate three to four plants, a 14- to 16-inch pot can hold five to seven plants, and a 16- to 20-inch pot can hold six to nine plants.
Second, make sure the chosen plants like the same conditions, especially with regards to water and light. For example, if the container is in a sunny location, then all of the chosen plants need to prefer sun. Or if the container is under an awning and won’t get wet when it rains, consider plants that prefer drier soil.
Third, when choosing a combo, add interest, height, and depth by remembering “thriller, filler, and spiller,” or “tall, thick, and trailer.” The sky is the limit with color and texture, so have fun picking plants that bring joy. The thriller, or tall, is the showstopper of the pot and is usually the tallest and grandest specimen in there. Because it’s a statement, the thriller is either one big plant or shrub or several identical plants. The filler, or thick, is the meat of the container. It can be a swath of color from either blooms or foliage. To add an artistic flare, have fun and pick more than one filler of different heights, colors, or texture. And don’t forget the spiller, or trailer. This is the one that trails and spreads dramatically over the edge and down the side, doing its best to hide the pot!
Now that the chlorophyll producing friends have been chosen, it’s time to introduce them to their new home. Before beginning to plant, cover the drain holes so that they won’t get clogged with the plants’ roots. A simple piece of window screen or even the plastic plant containers turned upside down over the drain hole will prevent roots from growing into it and won’t interfere with the drainage. When larger pots get completely filled with soil, they can become extremely heavy and cumbersome, making future container cleanings difficult.
To reduce the amount of soil used without adding weight to the container, add a layer of plastic containers — recycled water bottles or plastic plant cups — to the bottom of the pot. Next, fill your planter approximately two-thirds with soil. Most any designated potting soil will do, but look for soil that has a loose, crumbly texture. Some brands have a long-acting fertilizer mixed in that will slowly provide nutrition to the plants over several months. If the chosen soil doesn’t have this, sprinkling a long-acting granular fertilizer on top of the soil will feed the plants for up to six months. Before actually planting, position the plants on top of the soil in the container to make sure the design is pleasing. As the artist, the gardener should play around with the plants’ placement until it’s just right! When ready, remove them from their containers and fill the space between with soil. Try to keep the soil about an inch under the lip of the pot so it doesn’t run over the edge and make a mess when you water.
Now that the container garden has been created, enjoy watching it grow and flourish. Basic care includes regular watering, occasional pruning, and monthly nutrition. Most plants want a root drenching drink of water, but then prefer the soil to dry out in between waterings. Gently water each plant using a shower type nozzle, and water until it runs out of the bottom of your pot. Some plants need to be pruned or clipped back to promote new growth. Especially with seasonal flowers, they grow quickly and can become scraggly. Pinching or clipping them back will promote new and fuller growth. And finally, for the flowering plants, a monthly nutritional boost with a water-soluble fertilizer will keep their flowers blooming robustly. Monet said, “My garden is my most beautiful work of art.” Hopefully yours is too!
