Gardening-How-To.com

Welcome to Gardening-How-To.com

Article

Container Gardening Indoors and Outdoors
Mary Hanna

Container Gardening Indoors and Outdoors By Mary Hanna Copyright 2005

For years people have been gardening in containers, mostly because they lacked space. For some it was because they lived in climates that wouldn't allow them to grow year round. Container gardens afford you the option of planting outside until the cold forces the container inside, next to a sunny window.

Most container gardens were planted by people that lived in apartments but still wanted the addition of color and the feeling of accomplishment when seeing their plants grow. Big, beautiful showy flowers have a tranquil effect that soothes you at the end of a long day. Container gardening need not be limited to apartment gardening, everyone should have their own. Most certainly you don't have to stick to flowers in containers. You can grow vegetables and herbs in pots.

By adding garden pots it allows you to put spots of color around green shrubs or trees to brighten any corner of your yard. Placing containers filled with your favorite flower adds loads of appeal to a walkway or paved patio. The fun part of that is you can rotate the pots to different locations adding a new looks or colors with every move. Putting autumnal colored Mums in pots or spring tulips in a container allows you to landscape by season keeping your garden bright and interesting.

Your container can become a mini garden. For example when we lived in Pennsylvania our front yard screened us from the road with 10 feet tall evergreens. Although it was good for privacy, it made it very hard for guests to find our house. To fix this problem I purchased a half of a whisky barrel painted our name and street number on it and placed on the lawn at the end of the driveway. Then I filled it with some organic matter, planted bright red geraniums in the center and placed trailing ivy along the outer edges. Not only did it help our friends find us but the whole neighborhood used it when giving directions to their friends and family. Everyone would come up to us and say, "Never move that pot of flowers, it's our favorite landmark."

Don't limit yourself to a barrel, anything can be used, a watering can, an urn or big boldly colored ceramic pots, even a wheelbarrow. Use your imagination when it comes to the containers you will plant. A friend of mine would go to the Italian restaurants around town and ask them for their used large olive oil cans. She'd take them home and plant a bunch of mini gardens. This created an interesting and colorful spot unlike any in the neighborhood. She would plant herbs in some of them so this little garden had two uses.

For container gardening use a fast draining potting soil mixed with a little coarse sand. I always use pots with holes in the bottom to ensure good drainage. You may know exactly how much to water the plant but if you have a rainy spell it could be the demise of the mini garden that has no drainage system. Fertilize well and often, nutrients in a container can leech out.

Repotting will be necessary as the plants will become root bound as they thrive. Just go to the next size container and plant a new flower or herb in the original pot.

Go to your garden nursery center and look thru the selections. Choose plants that will harmonize and colors that go well together. Container Gardening is fun and easy and a great way to show off your handiwork.

About the Author

Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives full time in Central Florida which allows her to garden and grow flowers, vegetables and herbs inside and outside year round.

Contact: mary@gardeninglandscapingtips.com or visit her garden site http://www.gardeninglandscapingtips.com

Gardening Help Best products

Gardening Help News

gardening help

These flowers can easily be called the poor gardening woman's angels as they can be grown out of nothing! It was a year when the most awesome illness twined around me like a rattle snake, but also when an almost never ending sky blue heaven of ...

The BREAKFAST Blue ANGEL - Deccan Herald

A scheme which includes walking, gardening and activities to enjoy the natural environment in Merthyr Tydfil has been launched by Health Minister Edwina Hart to help improve the health and well-being of people living with mental health conditions ...

Planting The Seeds For Better Mental Health - eMaxHealth.com

WALLA WALLA — Do you have a green thumb or want to learn more about gardening in the Mid-Columbia? Do you like to help your community? Consider becoming a Washington State University Walla Walla County Master Gardener. You don’t even have to have ...

GARDENERS: WW Extension wants few good volunteers - Tri-City Herald

An exciting gardening project made possible through Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse of North Springfield, work by the Missouri Extension Office and Head Start staffers will give dozens of children hand's-on experience right where they go to pre ...

Volunteers give sprouts their chance at gardening - News-Leader.com

Used books about gardening, crafts, cooking and health are hot sellers at Friends of the Chandler Library sales. But the organization is running low on donations and is asking residents for contributions, said Suzanne Kinsinger, library gift shop ...

Chandler Library seeks books for fundraising sale - AZCentral.com

Young people in Bath who are part of the criminal justice system have improved a city allotment so that local disability groups can enjoy gardening. The Youth Offending Team's "Verge Project" has brought the allotments up to the standards required by ...

Youth offenders improve allotment - BBC UK News

Perhaps the biggest chore with the onset of fall is the raking of leaves from your area. We need to use this time to especially rake up all those pecan leaves and shucks. They could easily be heavily infested with the larval stage of hickory shuck ...

Gardening in Cooler Times - Informativepost.com

Beautiful colour and wonderful perfume can be lacking at this time of year but, even if you don’t rate your gardening skills, there are some amazingly easy ways to create vibrancy and life indoors right now. You can grow certain bulbs such as ...

Easy gardening steps to indoor colour - Daily Mirror

A draft law is being prepared in the Federation Council to legalize foreign workers employed domestically . Russians who hire foreign household workers will be required to obtain a license for their employment, which will serve in place of a work ...

Foreign Household Help to Be Licensed - Kommersant

Pink has confessed to having green fingers around the garden. The 'So What' singer said she likes to "get out there in my wellies". She added that she thinks the pastime is "very punk rock". "I have an organic vegetable garden with four raised beds ...