Growing plants and vegetables in containers is an attractive way to have a garden in a small space or add height and variety to your landscape. The keys to an effective container garden are using the right size containers and providing sufficient drainage.
Growing plants and vegetables in containers is an attractive way to have a garden in a small space or add height and variety to your landscape. The keys to an effective container garden are using the right size containers and providing sufficient drainage.
Before you go out and buy containers, find a space that provides enough sunlight for your potted plants. This could be on a balcony or patio if you live in an apartment, or some section of your yard if you have a larger landscape to work with. Depending on the available space, choose different sizes and shapes of containers to make an interesting garden. aim for one plant per container.
When shopping for pots, look for ones that have drainage holes in the bottom. Some purely decorative containers do not have holes. If they are made of plastic, you can probably drill drainage holes, but cement or ceramic planters should use a liner inside that has drainage holes. Remember to dump drained water out of the decorative planter frequently.
The main cause of death for container plants has to do with water. Not enough water will cause the roots to dry out and die, and this can happen easily in a container because they do not have the same moisture retention properties as soil in the earth. Using the right kind of soil can help with maintaining moisture. Too much water is the other problem, generally caused by poor drainage which rots the roots.
If you look out for these few things, you’ll find container gardening to be a rewarding hobby, allowing you a variety of plants even in small spaces.
Leave a Comment