Container Gardening, Part 1: Containers
I love love love container gardening. Talk about instant impact with little effort (does not require a digging bar :)
I tried to write just one blog post about container gardening but ended up with over 6 pages—and that's before photos! So I chopped it into 3 parts.
Part 1: Containers, Part 2: Plants, and Part 3: How To.
You're welcome. Now you have time to think and shop!
Years ago when my daughter was a young teen, she got bored one day and decided to count how many containers I had in my landscape. She came up with close to 100. I told her to please keep that information to herself and go find something to do.
(Another time, she tried to count all my plants but got tired and didn’t finish. Typical teen.)
Nowadays, I have so many more containers, she would never even try to count them. And frankly, I do not care how many I have. The number of creations you can come up with for containers and their plantings is endless, and I don't plan to stop.
Mother’s Day gift to my Mom that includes her favorite flower, Zantedeschia sp. (Calla Lily),
and 2 Coleus, Impatiens SunPatiens, placed in morning sun.
Blue ceramic container with Salvia ‘Love and a Wish’, Pelargonium cordifolium 'Caroline's Citrine',
Aquilegia 'Swan Violet and White' (not in bloom), Fuschia (unknown variety), and Heuchera 'Obsidian'.
How big should a container be? I say that where you can go big, go BIG! The container above is 1 1/2 feet high by 2 feet wide and is probably among my smallest containers. I do have some smaller containers, because it is always about "location, location, location" and what fits where. And you have to consider that the smaller the container, the more water it requires.
In my most recent client's project, my crew and I built a raised bed of stucco that is 70 feet long by 3 feet high. We gave it 3 knockouts. Two hold beautiful cobalt blue urn fountains and the other, this stunning square chartreuse container I found during one of my regular trips to Bushnell Gardens in Granite Bay.
FRONT: Ipomoea batatas ‘Blackie’, Calibrachoa ‘MiniFamous Orange’, Cosmo bipinnatus
BACK (red blossoms): Hibiscus 'Summerific' is planted in the raised bed behind the container.
It will grow to 4 by 4 feet and will provide a beautiful backdrop.
(I put it also behind the 2 urn fountains in the other knockouts.)
I absolutely love this chartreuse ceramic container. I love it so much that I tried to find a different container for my client so I could keep it. Didn’t happen.
Ceramic is my "go-to" container material because it is thick enough to keep the soil moist and comes in hundreds of colors, styles and designs.
Container prices are all over the board from one store to the next. However, here are my local "go-to" stores for excellent pricing.
— Lighting Unlimited, Cameron Park
— Highand Nursery, Loomis
— Thompson Building Materials (used to be Silverado Nursery), Sacramento
Aunt Patti used a plastic container for this creation with Zinnias, a mix of succulents and an unknown tall plant.
Plastic containers are inexpensive and lightweight. But if you water a lot because you don’t know any better (eye-roll!) OR if you use MiracleGro Moisture Control Soil (eek!), then plastic is NOT for you. It retains moisture.
If you DO know better and prove it by using a finger every time to check the soil moisture before watering, then plastic may be right up your alley!
Here's another "Aunt Patti Creation," this one, in a hanging basket.
She just dropped a nursery pot inside with Petunia ‘Tumbelina’ and called it a day!
For quality, the best hanging baskets I have purchased are from—believe it or not—Home Depot.
They are properly lined so you do not have to worry about soil escaping. The natural fibers are tightly woven so birds can't peck them apart for nesting material. They are large enough to hold a 1-gallon pot with three 4-inch pots inside.
Now...terra cotta containers. UGH. That’s all I've got to say. They do NOT retain water so use them only for succulents, as succulents like to be dry for periods of time.
As a gift for someone, I created this succulent bowl in terra cotta. Then I decided to keep it. (What can I say? I love my creations!)
Sorry, I do not have a clue about the names of these succulents.
Even a smart person can know only so much. And the succulent genre is way over my head.
As for using wine barrels for plant containers, I will say only this: remember my bamboo post!?
Unlike terra cotta and wine barrels, metal can be GOOD in the garden.
Here is a large metal container with a ledge I built 18 inches from the bottom so I could insert a 2-by-3-foot cheap nursery pot there.
I chose a Pinus strobus ‘Pendula’ here because the weeping branches reach over the hard container edges to soften the look.
Cast iron is my other favorite "go-to" for containers. It is lovely but can be pricey and extremely heavy. I place planted cast iron containers in part- to full-shade because the sun heats them and the soil inside.
I found this gorgeous set of cast iron urns at Antique Trove in Roseville.
No need for plants! Sitting at the entrance to a Wisteria chinense covered pergola, these urns are pretty all by themselves.
If you expand your thinking about garden containers, you'll discover lots of interesting objects that can work nicely for planting.
My husband is always up for a day of shopping with me, especially if it involves lunch with cocktails. We frequent antique faires, antique stores (more about these in future posts), nurseries (of course), and galleries. We stop at any place that looks interesting because you never know what treasure you're gonna find.
I can’t remember where I found this old 15-gallon stoneware crock, but I immediately visualized it looking just right as a container in my garden. I inserted a nursery pot inside planted with Hostas (unknown variety).
Since 1997 my husband and I have owned a construction company, and he brings home some pretty cool stuff he finds in the ground or discarded by other contractors. On order from me, he keeps a look out for items with "garden potential" like these Gladding McBean clay sewer pipes. I painted them red and stood them on end. The holes are 8-inches wide, perfect for 2-gallon pots!
I think sewer pipes is a good place to end Part 1 and say, SEE?! You can make almost anything work as a creative container for plants.
Your assignment for next time is to look around your place or go shopping (don't forget lunch or a cupcake shop). Pick out something fun and creative, and be ready for Container Gardening, Part 2: Plants.
I can hardly wait.
Photos courtesy Sheri Lynn Burke. All rights reserved.
