Start A Container Garden Using Garden Pots
Starting a successful container garden from scratch is simple if you follow a few guidelines. Container gardening gives you a lot of flexibility and for the gardeners who have them, have their own reasons for starting them. Not only are they beautiful, but they are also interesting and in the case of urban environments, putting all your plants in garden pots may be the only option.
Choosing Your Containers
You should try to have a variety in the size of your pots. A few larger pots (say three or four) followed by a few more medium pots and then several smaller pots. If you pick out a bright colored large pot, this will definitely draw your attention to that area – which is fine if that is what you are trying to achieve.
Location, Location, Location
Depending on the size of your space, start with larger pots that are about two or three feet tall. This will become a focal point to draw your eye in. Use existing focal point to place these large pots such as, a corner, next to a permanent pole, or near an important piece of furniture. You can also achieve the opposite effect to draw the eye AWAY from sore spots, like air conditioners, electric boxes, etc.
Once you have placed all the large pots where you like them (they aren’t permanent so you can move them at any time), take your medium sized pots and place a few around the larger ones. Since they will be pretty close to each other, try and imagine how it will look when there are trailing plants coming down from the larger pots. In most cases, two to three medium sized pots will be enough.
Fill in the remaining areas with the smaller pots. This should be done randomly as there are no set rules to this. Place them where they look good to you!
Prepare The Pots
Seal the insides of any terracotta pots with a good water sealant. Make sure all of your pots have a hole in the bottom for water drainage. If not, you will have to drill them with half inch holes (especially wood containers). To keep all the dirt from falling out the bottom, you’ll need to cover the inside of the hole with a couple layers of newspaper, a small piece of screen or, shards from a broken pot. Place a bowl under each pot if they are sitting on a wood deck or patio.
Selecting Plants
Its best to have up to three types of plants in the larger pots – a trailing plant that falls down the sides of the pot and covers up the top rim, a cover plant that fills in the middle and an upright plant that stands out tall from the rest. Experiment with different types and colors but stick to plants that require the same amount of watering. Have fun and use your imagination!
Chuck Wherty has been working in gardens since his early childhood and has always been interested in educating others on gardening and landscaping techniques. If you would like to know more about garden pot and landscaping, visit AllGardenPots.com