Container gardens can create a natural sanctuary in a busy city street, along rooftops, on balconies and around the garden itself. You can easily accentuate the welcoming look of a deck or patio with colorful pots of annuals, tomatoes, fill your window boxes with beautiful shrub roses or any number of small perennials. Whether you arrange your pots in a group for a mass effect or highlight a smaller space with a single specimen, you'll be delighted with this simple way to create a garden. A neighbor down the road placed old car tires out by the driveway, filled them with soil, and planted flowers. Out in the country it looks very appropriate otherwise it cost $7 per tire to dispose of them. They look nice and are totally indestructible.
Container gardening enables you to easily vary your color scheme, and as each plant finishes flowering, it can be replaced with another. Whether you choose to harmonize or contrast your colors, make sure there is variety in the height of each plant. Think also of the shape and texture of the leaves. Tall strap-like leaves will give a good vertical background to low-growing, wide-leaved plants. Choose plants with a long flowering season, or have others of a different type ready to replace them as they finish blooming. Even plants, like a tall grass, that are just green can add a beautiful touch.
Experiment with creative containers. You might have an old porcelain bowl or copper urn you can use, or perhaps you'd rather make something really modern with timber or tiles. My neighbor took her old work boots and planted flowers in them. If you decide to buy your containers ready-made, terracotta pots look wonderful, but tend to absorb water. You don't want your plants to dry out, so paint the interior of these pots with a special sealer available from hardware stores. Don't do this if you plant vegetables, they may absorb toxins from the spray.
Cheaper plastic pots can also be painted on the outside with water-based paints for good effect. If you painted the tires mentioned above they would really stand out. When purchasing pots, don't forget to buy matching saucers to catch the drips. This will save cement floors getting stained, or timber floors rotting. Or you can do as I and put your pots outside. They work as a nice add on to the outside garden. When the weather cools we bring the plants indoors. Always use a good quality potting mix in your containers and don’t forget to fertilize. This will ensure the best performance possible from your plants.
If you have steps leading up to your front door, an attractive pot plant on each one will delight your visitors. Indoors, pots of plants or flowers help to create a cozy and welcoming atmosphere. Decide ahead of time where you want your pots to be positioned, then buy plants that suit the situation. There is no point buying sun lovers for a shady position, they will not do well. Some plants also have really large roots, so they are best kept for the open garden.
If you have plenty of space at your front door, a group of potted plants off to one side will be more visually appealing than two similar plants placed each side. Unless they are spectacular, they will look rather boring. Group the pots in odd numbers rather than even, and vary the height and type. To tie the group together, add large rocks that are similar in appearance and just slightly different in size. Three or five pots of the same type and color, in different sizes also looks attractive.
Here on the farm I have trouble with squash bugs and since I don’t use synthetic they are hard to control. I use a large pot and plant the squash in them. I move the pot season to season so the bugs have a hard time finding them. If you plant your squash in the same place they know. A little extra work but worth the effort. With a creative mind and some determination, you will soon have a container garden that will be the envy of friends and strangers alike. The biggest problem I have is over extending my self and then my plants suffer. Keep this in mind and plant what you can keep up with. Plants get thirsty, hungry, and have feelings too.