Plant Gardens 101

Sometimes, the urge to garden might be stomped out by other circumstances, such as living arrangements or space constrictions. If you live in an apartment, you can’t really operate a full garden, just because you don’t really have a yard! I think that one of the best solutions for this problem is to grow plants in containers. You can hang these, or just arrange them on your patio, window sill or balcony. Just a few baskets or pots, and your whole living area will look much classier and nicer.

A benefit of growing in small containers is the fact that you can move them around to suit your needs. If you rearrange your furniture and you think that it would look nicer if it was in the other area, it’s no trouble at all to scoot it over. As long as the lighting is about the same, your plant shouldn’t mind the transition at all. Another benefit of the containers’ versatility is the fact that you can adapt it to simulate any environment depending on the type of soil you fill it with and where you place it.

If you are trying to make an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of containers and plants, you can adjust the containers to be at different heights by hanging them from the ceiling or placing them on supports. Hanging them will allow you to make the most of the space you have. This is called “vertical gardening”. If you pull it off right, you can make a very pleasing arrangement of plants while conserving your valuable space. If you live in an apartment, you know how important it is to conserve space! One method of vertical gardening is the use of a wooden step ladder. If painted correctly, you can arrange all the plants on it in a beautiful, stylish cascade of color. (more…)

Container gardens can fashion a real shelter in an active city road, along rooftops or on balconies. You can simply accentuate the welcoming look of a deck or deck with colourful pots of annuals, or fill your pane boxes with beautiful yard roses or any number of small perennials. Whether you display your pots in a group for a massed look or highlight a minor hole with a track specimen, you’ll be delighted with this unadorned way to produce a backyard.

Container farming enables you easily to differ your flush idea, and as each deposit finishes zenith, it can be replaced with another. Whether you elect to tone or diverge your flag, make definite there array in the height of each hide. Think also of the character and eminence of the foliage. Tall belt-like foliage will give a good vertical background to low-budding, varied-leaved plants. Choose plants with a long peak term, or have others of a different mode willing to swap them as the finale flowering.

Experiment with creative containers. You might have an old porcelain bowl or copper urn you can use, or perhaps you’d pretty make something really fresh with lumber or tiles. If you decide to buy your containers immediate-made, terracotta pots look amazing, but cultivate to absorb watering. You don’t want your plants to dry out, so paint the interior of these pots with a unique sealer untaken from hardware stores. Cheaper false pots can also be painted on the beyond with water-based paints for good cause. When purchasing pots, don’t overlook to buy matching dishware to trap the drips. This will avert buttress floors getting marked, or kindling floors putrid. Always use a good quality potting mix in your containers. This will guarantee the best performance promising from your plants. (more…)

According to the National Gardening Association, 91 million households participated in some form of do-it-yourself lawn and gardening activity in 2005, spending an average of $387. Over the past decade, an increasing percentage of this total has gone towards container gardening.

Containers offer a versatile form of gardening that fits into any lifestyle and yard size. City dwellers can use them to brighten up lifeless balconies, roof decks or front stoops, while those with more space can decorate high-traffic spaces and incorporate them into lawn and garden areas for added drama and flair. Because of the multitude of options on the market, container gardens are an easy way to add a splash of color to any outdoor space, big or small.

Roses are among the most spectacular and rewarding choices for a container because of their combination of color, fragrance and season-long blooms. Also, with advances in hybridizing, roses are easier to grow than ever before. Look for the All-America Rose Selections (AARS) rose logo as a “seal of approval,” which indicates that the rose excelled in the most difficult plant trial in the world: two years of testing in 23 gardens across the country, representing all climate zones. By performing well against 15 criteria including fragrance, ease of maintenance and disease resistance, AARS roses are proven to be the very best.

Tom Carruth, director of research at Weeks Roses and hybridizer of eight AARS Winners in the past nine years, provides the following tips for building the perfect container rose garden: (more…)

Tenacity is a key word for cacti and succulents. They make a good choice of plant for gardeners who lack the knack that sees plants flourish, but who yearn for something green in their immediate surroundings. They are also very good subjects for indoor container growing, and can prove a successful introduction to gardening for young people: I still remember with affection the “mother-of-millions” (Kalanchoe daigremontiana) succulent I was given by a neighbor when I was a pre-teen.

All succulents have the virtue of tolerating an erratic watering schedule, since that is what nature provides them and what they have adapted to manage; but some have the additional virtue of tolerating dimly lit growing conditions, which is indeed a bonus if you are looking for a house plant to keep an invalid company. Ideally, some rotation of plants from poorly lit to window sill locations will increase the probability of achieving flowering: but that does require additional discipline on the part of the gardener.

There are some cautions to be observed with growing any plants on a window sill (or any other surface close to a window). On a sunny day temperatures close to the glass can exceed 100?F; and in winter, without insulation or adequate air movement plants can literally freeze. (more…)

For years people have been gardening in containers, mostly because they lacked space. For some it was because they lived in climates that wouldn’t allow them to grow year round. Container gardens afford you the option of planting outside until the cold forces the container inside, next to a sunny window.

Most container gardens were planted by people that lived in apartments but still wanted the addition of color and the feeling of accomplishment when seeing their plants grow. Big, beautiful showy flowers have a tranquil effect that soothes you at the end of a long day. Container gardening need not be limited to apartment gardening, everyone should have their own. Most certainly you don’t have to stick to flowers in containers. You can grow vegetables and herbs in pots. (more…)

Elegant garden planters overflowing with flowers create a summer oasis on your deck, patio or balcony. They can even be seen in your landscape garden as well. There are step by step instructions for exact combinations to copy; however, it is more fun to do your own. Just experiment, it is easy to move the plants to the garden or start over next year with a different combination.
You can plant one plant per container and keep things very simple and then arrange three planters together for a great combination. Just remember to group plants that need the same amount of sunshine each day. Great combinations can be found when you use three plants per container, however; again they should all need the same amount of light, soil and water conditions to thrive together.

To be more daring, here are a few suggestions to create focus, balance, interest and proportion in your container garden. Roughly divide your planter, pot or container into four equal parts. We don’t know who named the categories but they work – “thrillers”, “fillers”, “accents” and “spillers”. Choose one plant from each category for each planter, the exact number of each depends upon the size of your container. For the largest container, you may wish to consider one or two thrillers, two or three fillers, one or two accents and two or three trailers. For a small garden pot, just plant one of each category. (more…)

Container gardening solves many problems for the avid & novice gardener. It’s the ideal solution to challenges such as limited space and poor soil.

Container gardening also allows you to place your garden where you want and need it. Container gardening can also improve monitoring and control so that optimal growing conditions can be maintained.

But what is container gardening? Container gardening is the raising of plants in soil filled containers outside of the traditional garden. It affords many people the chance to garden who would otherwise not have the space for an open garden on the ground. Container gardening is ideal for city dwellers who have only a balcony or rooftop to garden on. But even if space is not a problem, container gardening can just make gardening easier and more convenient.

While any type of container will do, it’s best to use something that’s not too shallow and does not leak. Most Home and Garden stores and nurseries sell prefabricated containers for container gardening. Or you can simply build your own to fit the space. With a little imagination, almost anything can be used for your container gardening project. An old wheel barrow or large kettle for instance. Even an old computer case! The container you select for container gardening doesn’t just have to be functional. It can also be a design element. (more…)

Not all homes are fortunate enough to have lawns and backyards to grow in home gardens. This is especially true nowadays when most families live in apartments and condominiums that definitely do not offer space for planting and growing a full garden. These homeowners may try and find satisfaction in having plastic plant decorations but aficionados know all to well that this comes nothing close to the real thing. Fortunately, plant lovers can still fulfill their garden fantasies with container gardening. This type of gardening is now preferred by most individuals as they entail easy and uncomplicated maintenance as compared to their lawn counterparts.

The one advantage of having your garden in containers is mobility. We have at one time or another heard complaints from some gardeners and home owners wishing that they could have planted a tree that is perhaps obscuring the view somewhere else or have come to realize that positioning the flowering shrub on the left side corner instead of the right would have created a better landscape. With flower gardening, this does not pose a problem. You simply pick up your pot and then set it in a different location in minutes. Container gardening gives you the option of growing indoor and outdoor plants too. For those plants that are sensitive to weather conditions particularly winter, you can safely shelter them inside during the cold balmy season and then let them out to gather some fresh air as the sun peeks its head in the sky during summer. The mobility offered by container gardening is a good thing especially if there is a chance of you moving residences. You can easily take your garden with you without the dirt and hassle of digging, transporting and replanting your garden in another location.

If you are a person who likes to rearrange furniture according to your moods or perchance loves to match up your home arrangements with the season, you will be well pleased with container gardening. Flexibility does not end with your layout but also with the kind of plants and flowers that you have for your home. You can go wild on a selection of colors and species without the worry that they may contradict and go against each other as you always have the option to situate them in another room. In short, there are no limitations so go ahead and indulge yourself.

In container gardening, you are enhancing your abode’s ambiance as well. Vividly colored plants and flowers can easily brighten any room in the house. Garden pots can create variation and sparkle on dull colored walls and corners. You can go for a particular theme for your house during the different seasons like choosing sunny and cheery bright pottery plants during the summer or opt for winter poinsettias and rosemary through the holidays. Further, you may find yourself having no more need to light up scented candles for aroma as the natural fragrance that flowers and blossoms give off could very well do the job. What is more, the scent can last all season long.

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About James Brown
James Brown writes about Gardens Alive! discount codes, Wind & Weather deals.

As the proud owner of a tiny vegetable plot one of the easiest ways to increase my plot is to grow vegetables in containers. Container vegetable gardening has become very popular to the point the seed companies now have special varieties for growing vegetables in containers. You cannot always use just any plants because some varieties like a wide spread root system while others grow perfectly well with a smaller root set.

This year I tried to grow sweet peppers in some flower pots but I found them pot bound and dying. I transferred them to the plot and within 2 weeks they were growing and much healthier.

Many people actually are constantly on the lookout for a good way to grow their own vegetables even when space is at a premium. Moreover, these people also wish to avoid purchasing vegetables that contain non-organic matter and they need to also find a way to avoid paying for highly costly organic foods. (more…)

Container gardening is one of the most pleasurable pastimes and is very rewarding with little effort. You get a special feeling of abundance seeing your deck or patio filled to overflowing with plant-packed containers and pots. Your deck garden is sure to give you a warm feeling and entice you to outdoor living. Container gardens can provide that link between the indoors and outside area, helping you to transform a deck or patio into another living space – an outdoor living space.

Container gardening is one of the most pleasurable pastimes and is very rewarding with little effort. You get a special feeling of abundance seeing your deck or patio filled to overflowing with plant-packed containers and pots. Your deck garden is sure to give you a warm feeling and entice you to outdoor living. Container gardens can provide that link between the indoors and outside area, helping you to transform a deck or patio into another living space – an outdoor living space. (more…)

Contain It: Ten Things to Think about when Growing Container Roses

If your space is at a premium, but you love roses, you may want to think about growing container roses.

1. Convenience of Location

Growing roses in containers had a lot of advantages. If you don’t have a yard to garden in, or are limited to a balcony on your apartment, container gardening is perfect. Containers can be set on a patio or moved about as needed to give you the most decorative effect you can get. As long as you are gentle, it is fairly easy to move container roses. Larger containers can get quite heavy after they are filled up with plants and soil. If you are planting a large container, put it where you want it to sit before you begin to fill it. If you put it on a rolling stand, it is easier to move the container later or rotate it to get even sun exposure.

When choosing a spot for your container rose, remember your rose needs six hours of direct sun every day. You’ll also want to keep in mind how easy it is to water your rose in your chosen location, and what kind of temperatures will your rose be exposed to in its container. (more…)

If you’ve always dreamed of ditching your big-city life in favor of growing your own food in the back woods, get started now with container gardening! You would be surprised at how many plants can live happily on a balcony and in the house. Many varieties of fruit and vegetable can be grown in a small space.

Evaluate your space before you purchase gardening supplies and plants. Some plants can do well in smaller containers, but need more sunlight. Some need larger containers, but can be grown with little sunlight. Herbs, for example, can be grown in small containers, but need at least 5, preferably more, hours of sunlight. Leafy greens, like lettuce, need less sunlight. (more…)

Containers are so versatile – often we design with a combination of plants, however, to add special interest for an overall display, consider including some large plants or special plants and grow them in a single pot or garden planter.

Create a distinct break between your patio or terrace and turn this into an outdoor room. This can be accomplished by incorporating large garden containers filled with just a single spectacular plant and then infilling with border plantings. More than just providing a view, the design is provided from the inside out. (more…)

Herb gardens are so useful, versatile and easy to grow that they make an excellent addition to any home. Unfortunately not everyone has access to a spacious garden to grow their herbs in. This is where container herb gardens come in. They are great because you just need enough space for a few containers, and you can grow the most wonderful herb garden! What’s more, if you ever decide to move house, you can simply take your container herb garden with you!

So where do you start? Well, the first thing you need to do is consider what sort of herbs you would like to plant. To help you decide this, you might want to think about what sort of dishes you like to cook or what you will be using your herbs for. To give you some ideas, the following is a list of commonly used herbs in the kitchen:

Rosemary - Very fragrant and flavoursome herb that goes well with meat dishes. Can also be used to flavour oils. (more…)

If you would love to grow healthy, fresh vegetables and vibrant, beautiful flowers but have limited space, organic container gardening can be the answer you’ve been looking for. This creative type of natural gardening can be done just about anywhere and it can even be easier than maintaining a traditional garden plot.

Here are three things to consider for simple organic container gardening, regardless of the amount of space you may have.

Start With Organic Soil

It only stands to reason that for any successful venture in organic container gardening, one would need organic soil. A regular, outdoor garden begins with the soil or dirt that you already have and then organic materials are added to increase nutrients. But you’ll be ahead of the game if you start with organic soil to begin with. (more…)

In a small garden, where the patio or decking occupies a significant proportion, or if you have only a yard or roof garden available, container gardening is a good solution to the planting problem. In addition, it can give you a garden that is easily rearranged, which adds an extra dimension of interest to what you have. As with your overall garden plan, a little forethought can pay dividends.

For example, the size of pots needs consideration. A whole host of small pots will add flexibility and are easy to move around but they will take more frequent watering, whereas larger pots require less watering as they contain more soil or compost but moving them is not so easy. A compromise is to have a mixture of container sizes, with larger, more architectural plants in a few large containers that will be moved infrequently some medium sized ones that can be moved around more frequently and then some smaller, easy to move pots containing the smaller plants that can be moved round easily whenever you want. If you want a pot that will contain several different plants, a strawberry planter is ideal. (more…)

There are so many varieties of containers out there and you don’t need a lot of space or money. Plastic containers these days look just like pottery or concrete.

You can easily highlight a patio with colourful pots of flowers or small plants. when you fill your pots with bulbs and they are flowering you probably won’t even notice the containers. A collection of plants in containers or pots can make a welcome oasis in a corner of your balcony or lounge.

I prefer to arrange my plants in groups according to their colours, a group of flowers all yellow look really magnificent , but you can mix and match according to your preference. you can highlight a small space with just one plant. That can look quite elegant.

Choose containers that have a lot of drainage holes, cover these holes with fine netting, this will stop you losing potting mix out of the bottom of the pot.

Container gardening lets you quickly change your colour scheme as each plant finishes flowering, you can change it for another, make sure your plants have a difference in height and shape, tall plants with long leaves at the back provide a good contrast with short plants in the front.

Planting bulbs in pots can be done quite cheaply and they have the advantage of multiplying each year, even expensive bulbs become cheaper after they have been divided a few times. Always use the best potting mix available, this will give your plants a really good start in life.

If you are into planting bulbs and would like a large mixed pot, fill your container half full of potting mix and screw your large bulbs carefully down , keeping them in a group, cover each layer with potting mix and layer your bulbs from large to small until you reach the top, top of with potting mix and soak well, put in the shade until leaves appear, then when they flower take them inside and fill your house with wonderful scents and colours, You will have a green thumb before you know it )

Putting an attractive plant or plants on the steps leading to your front door can give your visitors a colourful welcome, decide ahead of time where you are going put each plant, you don’t want to have plants that need plenty of sunshine in the shade, or visa versa.

Some people think plants mostly die from too much watering, however my experience is that most plants die from lack of water, a good rule of thumb is to put your finger into the pot and if the soil is moist do not water them, do not forget them either.

Dare to go beyond the ordinary and you will soon have a container garden that your friends will have nothing but praise for.

But most of all have fun and remember gardening can be very forgiving.

About the author.
Gordi Hall just loves teaching others about the joys of gardening, to learn more about container gardening and to get other great gardening tips, visit, http://www.best-home-gardening-tips.com/container-garden.html

View more articles from Gordi Hall

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Here are some plants you can grow in hanging baskets to make a great display:

Asparagus Fern (Asparagus plumosus)

These can be grown from seed but the seedlings are the victims of so many insect pests that it is better to purchase small plants in February and grow them on in the warm house for spring and early summer sales.

Feathery green trailing growth, plus small white flowers which often produce small red fruits, make this a froth of green for the window box or planter. Here it is seldom bothered with pests unless the season is exceptionally hot and dry, then it may become infested with red spider.

If you have old plants left over, you can divide them with a sharp knife, potting up the pieces of long white tubers and foliage in 4-inch pots of greenhouse soil. They also make wonderful hanging basket plants for the patio or greenhouse. (more…)

The nice thing about Container Gardening is that vegetables and flowers can be grown in almost any type of container. Just make sure there are sufficient drainage holes drilled in the bottom of each container. Four to five one-half inch holes will be sufficient. After the holes are drilled, put a piece of window screening inside the container.

The precaution is in selecting which container is best suited for what vegetable. For instance. Root crops like carrots, tomatoes, and other large plants require deeper containers. On the other hand, leafy vegetables do not need such deep containers.

Here are some containers I use for the various vegetables I grow. For tomatoes, I always select dwarf, determinate tomato plants. These grow and produce extremely well in 3 to 5 gallon cake frosting plastic buckets. Any bakery will be happy to save their buckets for you. Remember, you can only plant 1 tomato plant per container. (more…)

Sometimes, the urge to garden might be stomped out by other circumstances, such as living arrangements or space constrictions. If you live in an apartment, you can’t really operate a full garden, just because you don’t really have a yard! I think that one of the best solutions for this problem is to grow plants in containers. You can hang these, or just arrange them on your patio, window sill or balcony. Just a few baskets or pots, and your whole living area will look much classier and nicer. A benefit of growing in small containers is the fact that you can move them around to suit your needs. If you rearrange your furniture and you think that it would look nicer if it was in the other area, it’s no trouble at all to scoot it over. As long as the lighting is about the same, your plant shouldn’t mind the transition at all. Another benefit of the containers’ versatility is the fact that you can adapt it to simulate any environment depending on the type of soil you fill it with and where you place it.

If you are trying to make an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of containers and plants, you can adjust the containers to be at different heights by hanging them from the ceiling or placing them on supports. Hanging them will allow you to make the most of the space you have. This is called “vertical gardening”. If you pull it off right, you can make a very pleasing arrangement of plants while conserving your valuable space. If you live in an apartment, you know how important it is to conserve space! One method of vertical gardening is the use of a wooden step ladder. If painted correctly, you can arrange all the plants on it in a beautiful, stylish cascade of color. (more…)