Color at Your Doorstep

Cultivating Container Gardens

pups and plants By Hiro on Substack

Dear Readers, Gardeners, plant enthusiasts, how are you doing? Is your weather cooperating? Did you approach spring tasks with optimism and good cheer? Are you entering new territory in garden-making? Attempting new skills? I’d love your comments and questions — successes and challenges. After many years of horticultural practice and a gardening services business, I had to give up the hard physical work when I had a stroke 15 years ago. But my interest remains, and I hope to hear from you!

I’m pleased to share my advice for cultivating container gardens.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Be imaginative in choosing your pots and containers.

Tip: If the pot or tub you’ve chosen has no drainage, like the kettle in the image, and you don’t want to drill a hole, don't plant directly in the non-draining container. You can either plant in a clay pot with a drainage hole, and set it on an upside down pot on a layer of small stones in the larger non-draining vessel; elevating the potted plant to the light, and keeping out of standing water. Or, If your containers are close in size, place the smaller planted pot with the drainage hole on a layer of stones in your decorative vessel. Check periodically, or after rain, that roots are not submerged — unless you want a water or bog garden :) On your deck might be a good place for one! Maybe you want to grow papyrus plants or water irises, for example. How about a few goldfish?

Idea: Create a water garden in a tub for your deck. Add a few goldfish and oxygenating waterplants. Photo by Jonathan J. Castellon on Unsplash

Gardening in pots can be both satisfying aesthetically and grounding. Whether or not you have a landscape, have fun assembling containers and selecting plants. Display your creations near your front door, on your deck or patio, or along the path to your entrance. Enjoy!

The link above goes to a flipbook I created for fun, and the source of the 3 panel images. The link below is to an article about shade plants for containers which I thought you might find useful.

Thank you for being here!

Images: Bougainvillea and Bodhittsatva, and my handmade hypertufa trough with succulents.