Thursday, May. 14, 2009

Container gardening tips

Bring your imagination to containers

Container gardening is a distinct form of gardening that continues to expand every year. Without a major investment in time, labor or money, you and your imagination can run wild enlivening your landscape. Container gardening is an efficient way to try new plants, add instant color, fill empty space, dress up a doorway, decorate a patio, create a focal point, inject whimsy and the list goes on.

Standard terra cotta pots are compatible with almost every style of home and garden. Light weight pots formed from man-made materials are often convincing, easily portable replicas of their heavier counterparts in glazed clay, cement, metal and wood. Beyond pots, a suitable container is any vessel that holds soil and provides drainage.

When you select plants for a container, consider that the first thing the eye notices is color. Color comes from blooms, foliage or a combination of both. When used together, contrasting colors like red and green, blue and orange, and violet and yellow, intensify one another. Harmonious combinations like orange-red-purple, orange-yellow-green and red-violet-blue make pleasing displays. Keep in mind that all but the brightest colors wash out under the bright summer sun, while white and light colors are more visible than darker colors at dawn and dusk.

The growth habit of a plant adds a certain feeling to your planter. Tall vertical plants add excitement for the eye; strong horizontal growth brings calm; and weeping or arching plants add elegance. These three elements, commonly called thriller-filler-spiller formula, together create a pleasing balance. If you are adventuresome ignore guidelines and go with your imagination. Put your personality into your container garden.

Container planting and maintenance:

Select plants that are suited for the amount of sun they will receive at the site you've selected.

For a multiple plant container select plants that all need the same amount of sun, water and fertilizer.

For ease of maintenance select drought tolerant plants.

Make sure your container has drainage holes at the bottom.

Use a good light potting mix.

Add slow release fertilizer granules if not already part of the mix.

Water the mix to settle it before adding plants.

When you position your container, make sure it is elevated off whatever the surface so that water can freely drain out.

Use an application of bloom booster early in the season.

Remember to add slow release fertilizer again after three months. Container plants consume more nutrients than the plants in your garden.

Deadhead blooming plants regularly.

Pinch back or prune plants as necessary to maintain their shape.

Water regularly. That may mean every day or even twice daily for a small container in the hottest summer sun. Remember that containers dry out more quickly than your garden.

Rotate containers as necessary if one side becomes leggy reaching for the sun.

If a plant passes its prime or dies, pull it out and replace it.

You can easily update your container as the season progresses. Have fun with it.