Planting and Growing Container Flower Gardens

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Annuals in pots and other containers look great on decks or patios, or placed around the yard.  Best of all, container gardening isn’t difficult, and can be very rewarding.

To begin, select the containers you would like to use.  Plastic or ceramic pots work well, and you can use your imagination – old wooden barrels or metal containers look great, too.  Try using an assortment of containers in varying shapes and sizes.  Make sure your containers have holes in the bottoms, so excess water can drain from them.

Next, when selecting plants, consider where your containers will be located – mostly sun or shade – and choose a wide variety of different types of plants that you like.  To incorporate visual interest into your arrangement, mix a variety of colors, textures, and heights within a single container.  For example, you may plant a spike plant in the middle of the container, surround it with petunias, salvia, marigolds, and zinnias, and add a few English ivy plants that will trail out of the container.  Or, use blue fescue for the centerpiece, plant an assortment of violas, dusty millers, geraniums, and begonias around it, and use bacopa plants as trailers.

When you are ready to plant, gather your materials: containers, plants, and potting soil.  For deeper containers, in order to keep costs down, you can fill the bottom portion of your container with extra soil you may have in your yard, or with inexpensive topsoil.  Even the soil in which the plants will grow can be of the less expensive variety – you might use cheaper potting soil as a “base”, and mix in some more expensive soil, perhaps some that has fertilizer mixed with it already.

When planting, make sure to handle your plants carefully, and use plenty of soil to cover their roots.  Water your container thoroughly after you have finished planting.  Don’t worry if there are bare spots, as the plants will quickly grow to fill in most of these areas.  If after a several weeks you still have bare places, you can add more plants where needed.  If you are planting early in the season, when your area might still see some frost, watch the weather forecast so you can cover or bring your containers indoors overnight if necessary.

Consider placing several containers of various heights and types together, as this will maximize the visual impact of your arrangements.

Water your containers frequently; every other day is a good guideline, but you may need to water more often, especially if the containers are in direct sunlight all day.  Watering early in the day may help prevent fungus from growing on and harming your plants.  Apply a good quality fertilizer every few weeks.

In order to encourage more and stronger blooms, remove flower blossoms as they dry out and die.  In addition, you may find that over time some annual foliage starts to become long and spindly, rather than compact and bushy.  Trimming approximately 1/3 of the growth from these plants may help them to remain more neat and full.

With care, your container gardens will bring visual appeal to your yard through the entire summer.  Pay attention to which plants do especially well in your containers, and which ones you really enjoy – you may want to write down the names of the flowers and plants you want to include in next year’s container gardens, so you don’t forget them.  Time and experience will help you to fine tune your skills, and each year’s gardens will be more beautiful.  Good luck, and enjoy!