Container Garden Tips

A few days ago I posted on container gardens. Planting several of them yesterday makes me think of a few tips:

Use the biggest, thickest-walled pot possible. They’ll retain moisture longer. Clay pots with a glaze will retain moisture longer than unglazed ones.

If you get a plastic pot, drill holes in the bottom for drainage. Plants die when they become waterlogged.

Buy small plants. They fit into a pot better and they’ll soon be catch up to the bigger plants.

Buy plants at the grocery store or box store. I’ve bought many good annuals there cheaply. Some good potting plants usually available there: petunias, dusty miller, grasses, vinca, geraniums, verbena, herbs, and asparagus fern.

Use seeds if you’re patient. I’ve planted nasturtiums in a strawberry planter for years. Herbs are also good for pots. Even dwarf sunflowers have a quirky appeal when growing in a big pot. But don’t grow disproportionately tall plants in a pot; grow something trailing or compact.

Don’t skimp on soil; get a bag of potting soil. Yesterday, I saw along the street a pile of dirt and a sign that read “free.” I love “free,” but only if the free thing is worth carrying home. Heaven knows what the free dirt contained—weed seeds, nails, rocks, besides perhaps just being poor soil. Who gives away good potting soil?

Don’t use houseplant fertilizer. Houseplant fertilizer has a high first number (nitrogen), which makes lots of foliage. You probably want lots of flowers. This calls for a fertilizer with a high middle number (phosphate).

Finally, move the pot first, then water it.