Plant Gardens 101

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…)

There are so many horror stories from novice and experienced gardeners about using an incorrect soil mixture for their garden planters and containers. Here is the best advice that we have culled from many sources, especially from those growers that specialize in container plants.

Bagged commercial potting mixes are the very best choice for filling containers. These mixtures contain a variety of ingredients, including composted bark, sawdust, peat moss, perlite, vermiculite, or sometime real soil which is usually pasteurized. Some container mixes also contain fertilizers, and if you wish your planters and pots to be organic, you will want to avoid those. Although perfect loamy soil may be used as an ingredient for your homemade potting mix, most ordinary garden soil is not suitable. It is too heavy and compacts easily in pots and planters and doesn’t drain properly. (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…)

Keeping your planters and containers consistently watered will be easier and more effective when you follow some very simple and practical procedures.

Firstly, the larger the pot or container the better equipped for water retention. Hanging baskets and small pots may require watering as often as twice a day in very hot weather, making it almost impossible for the average homeowner who works away from home or may be just too busy to carry out this responsibility. Larger containers need watering less frequently. We have found that placing rocks, stones or crushed pottery in the bottom of the container before you plant ensures that they do not become waterlogged over time.

You can position your containers and garden planters so that they are shaded during the hottest part of the day, thus they need less water. For gardeners who are not available all day, it also provides some breathing space at the end of the day; plants are wilting in the hot sun waiting for that lifesaving drink. (more…)

Creating your own container garden can be so much fun, especially if you think of using themes. Consider showing off your style with a small kitchen garden, or create an outdoor pot designed to attract hummingbirds or to welcome butterflies. Our beings are drawn to beautiful scents, what about a container giving off wonderful fragrances.

Culinary containers or kitchen gardens are especially handy as a source of herbs, leafy lettuce or parsley, or even edible flowers. You may wish to combine many edibles to create your own miniature garden at the door. Combining edibles with your flowering or ornamental plants can be so attractive – imagine Beefsteak Tomatoes surrounded by basil or oregano. For foliage color, use green and purple leaved basils, leaf lettuce and Swiss chard. Parsley is especially great, goes anywhere, and adds attractive texture and rich green color to any container combination. Nasturtiums are grown for their showy, spurred flowers and trailing ones are sensational in your planters – they are edible and give a finished look to the container. (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…)

Before you get started with either your balcony garden or gardening on your rooftop, there are some very important factors to consider.

Firstly, and of course the most obvious, make sure that the structure can withstand the weight and the rooftop will not be comprised with anyone walking on it, let alone creating extra weight or watering difficulties. (more…)

You certainly have a feeling of great abundance with you see plant-packed containers on your deck, patio or in your garden. There is nothing like container gardens to link the indoors and outdoors between home and garden. Today, we all want to see out outdoor space turned into a wonderful new addition to our homes.

After choosing the right planters, pots and containers from a wide range of materials, styles, colors and sizes, the time is right to think about what you are going to put in the planters and where to place them.

You can use your planters, urns and pots in many areas. Think about where they would be best – to set off your doorway or deck entrance, to hide unsightly utility areas or storage spaces, or to show off the best views on your deck, garden or patio. (more…)

Once you have decided what plants that you would like to place in your garden planters and containers, then you will need to get the container soil ready for each pot. When working with potting mix, always make sure that the mix is moistened before getting started.

There are a few methods to ensure that the potting soil is pre-moistened and ready for your planters. Firstly, this one we call the wheelbarrow method. Place all of your potting mix into the garden cart and then add plenty of water. With your trowel or spade, make sure that the soil is very moist. You can tell when you can make a fist with the soil and it will hold its shape. The soil will then be a dark brown in color and this rich, moist soil is ready for your containers. (more…)

There are so many choices today in container styles, sizes and materials. There are numerous factors to take into consideration when you decide on the right purchase. Here are a few points to take into consideration – cost, weight, availability, size, durability, interior ledge, winter care and maintenance. When you select your planter or pot, you will want to decide on what design and color. Whatever you choose, ensure that every container has an adequate drainage hole in the bottom.While a more formal design features matching containers, for a more casual and informal arrangement, choose a mix of different containers and planters in various sizes and styles that you find appealing. For example, if you have a cottage-style garden, you may want to look at matching resin containers with the look and feel of terracotta or Mediterranean style. They weigh much much less than the terracotta, but give a similar old-feel cottage look. In choosing matching containers, you create a more unifying design; however, you can use different plant combinations in each for excitement. We have found that using large and small containers together adds variety and great interest to the grouping. Today there are so many colors to choose from in your planters and pots, it is easy to match the exterior design of your home or use color as accent areas in your patio room. (more…)

There are some practical considerations when deciding how many planters, pots and container to have on your deck or patio. There is first of all, some very practical considerations such as available space, sun exposure and traffic flow. We always seem to have more containers than we had intended, however, do not clutter up the deck or balcony area. Do a little purging each Spring and decide which ones can be relocated or given away. You do want to have enough room to sit and enjoy the flowers. Here are some basic thoughts about location.The planters, urns and containers should be placed in groups or pairs with similar combinations to mark the location of doors, stairways and transition areas on the deck. This is a formal way to define or call attend to the entrance to the patio, and also creates the “doorway” between the house and deck. Now we have a definite space and a sense or order.Be sure that you do not crowd doorways. Leave sufficient room for them to open properly and not hit the pots on your way in and out. The same is true for sliding doors, leave enough room for people to enter and exist without tripping over your groupings. (more…)

Each area that you choose for your garden planters will affect the growth and needs of every plant – just like us, they need to be in a place where they can be Happy! If your deck or patio is in a south facing position, you will need to routinely rotate the pots and garden planters so that the foliage and of course the flowers don’t face away from the sitting area where they can be seen. If you place your containers and pots right against the south facing wall, then you will not need to turn them frequently, however there are other considerations for keeping your plants happy and healthy.If you are not at home during the day, it would be best to find a spot for your plants where they can receive some afternoon shade. Plants in afternoon shade won’t suffer from the heat as much and will be less likely to need watering in the afternoon. Deck and Patio areas that are exposed to the morning sun do better than those exposed to sun all day. The ultimate is to have morning sun and afternoon shade. You will want to seek out a site that has some afternoon sun to give the annuals the heat they crave if you live in an area where summers are cool and wet. We can take other certain measures to ensure Happy Plant Containers no matter what the conditions. (more…)