No time to garden? No place to garden? There’s an easy solution – plant your garden in containers.
There are a variety of benefits to container gardening as well as many options. Figuring out what’s best for your available space can be challenging since there are so many different types of containers and plants from which to choose.
But the advantages of using containers are many, according to Cathy Haas, who recently retired after many years as head of the ornamental horticulture department at Monterey Peninsula College in Monterey, California.
“For one thing, containers are great if you don’t have soil to grow things in,” said Haas, who notes that it’s a way for apartment dwellers and others with limited outdoor space to be able to garden. Even a tiny condo balcony can hold a few pots with green or flowering plants, or zucchini and strawberries, if you want to grow your own edibles.
But even for homeowners with an enormous yard, containers can still prove useful. As a smaller, more manageable type of gardening, container plantings give the gardener more control over soil quality and the amount of garden that has to be tended.
Containers can be just about anything that will hold a plant, from glazed pots to huge urns to hanging planters, and even raised garden beds are a type of container, Haas points out.
Container gardening is also a nice option for elderly people or the disabled, as long as the container is high enough for easy access. Haas volunteers in the gardens at the Villa Serra senior community in Salinas, where the raised beds are built so that residents don’t have to stoop to get to the beds.
In addition, containers are great for people with busy lives and little time or energy to care for a large garden, but still want a few plants around.
Containers are also ideal if you live in an area where the soil is lousy or there are ravenous pests, like gophers, that want to eat your plants. Containers and pots give you perfect control over your soil conditions. Nothing gets into the container unless you put it there.
Containers can lend visual interest and color to your yard. It’s a way to please the eye with varying heights and textures; containers and pots can also give a stamp of individualism to your garden.
Just about any kind of plant can be grown in a container, even vines on a trellis, Haas said: “You can be really creative.”
Also, Haas said, the fact that many containers can be moved gives you the opportunity to change the layout of your garden with ease: “It’s like rearranging the furniture.”
However, there are a few rules for successful container gardening that should be followed:
• When choosing containers, opt for high-quality materials, Haas says. For instance, cheaply made clay pots may look all right at first, but will deteriorate after a few years outside. “You’ll want to get something of really good quality because you’ll have it for a while,” she said.
• Most plants will do well in containers – even shrubs and trees in the larger-sized ones. However, occasional repotting and root trimming may be necessary for bigger perennials to do well over time.
• Haas recommends using a 50-50 mix of potting soil and planting mix, which she says gives the plants more bulk for good rooting. Potting soil is formulated to be lighter in weight than planting mix.
• Another potential problem is the buildup of salts in the containers from use of tap water. Make sure the pot has adequate drainage, Haas said, and use of “feet” or something else to elevate the pot from the surface it sits on is helpful, providing better aeration and drainage for the pot.
• You may want to water your container plants daily, depending on weather conditions, because they do tend to dry out more quickly than conventional gardens. Some people with a lot of container plants may want to install a drip system just for those plants to save on all that handwatering.
• Special attention to fertilizing is also a must. You need to fertilize to get proper nutrients to the plants, but overfertilizing can burn roots and kill the plant. Haas recommends “fertilizing lightly” and to be especially careful when applying nitrogen fertilizer.
• And of course, the plants will still need pruning and to be checked for pests from time to time.
• When planting in a container, think of it as being a miniature garden, said Haas: “Choose plants of different textures and heights … you might also have some that cascade around the base so it looks like everything goes together.”
Sources:
Interview with Cathy Haas, October 2011
Personal experience