Container Gardening: Part 1

Container gardening is a great way to bring life and character to indoor spaces, patios, gazebos, and landscapes.  Whether you bought online pots, barrels, or boxes, any container that is filled with flowers, a tree, herbs, or vegetables adds a charming appeal to the surroundings.

Container gardening is not only about aesthetics – it serves a practical purpose as well. If you lack the space for traditional gardening, purchasing an online pot is the ideal solution for balconies, small yards, windowsills, and hanging baskets. Containers are versatile bringing colour and function to your environment.

There are so many different uses for online pots, which can be grouped in clusters or arranged as an individual focal point. Small and large containers can be placed on terraces, stairways, in kitchens, or out in your garden to display a stunning array of edible and ornamental plants.

The possible combinations of what you can plant in a container is unlimited, but the most attractive mixes will come from plants that produce flowers and greenery over a long bloom season. A great tip to remember when selecting plants for your new online pot is to go with the phrase, ‘a thriller, spiller, and a filler’. This means you can include a focal plant (the thriller), and a couple of plants with foliage that spills over the edge (the spiller), and the filler is made up of small flowers and leaves that utilize the spaces in between. Adding something to increase height will also improve the overall design.

Container Sizes

It goes without saying that growing plants in larger containers is easier than using small ones. You’ll find that large online pots can hold more soil, giving depth and space to the plants. There are a couple of factors to consider when selecting an online pot. Look at the shape and size and growth rate of the plants you want to establish as their root system is a deciding factor on the depth and width of the container. As a guide, you can estimate having up to six plants in a container size between 45 to 60 cm.

Large pots that are filled are heavier and harder to move around so this should also come into play when choosing a permanent location that will be able to support the container.

Container Drainage

When looking for suitable online pots, remember they must have drainage holes. This is essential to prevent the soil from becoming waterlogged, which will attract diseases and cause root rot that will eventually kill the plants. Drainage holes don’t need to be big, but they need to allow for excess water to drain out. If you do find an online pot that you love but it comes without drainage, you can drill the holes yourself or use it as a cachepot.

A cachepot is a decorative container that’s used to hold other pots. For example, you can use a plastic or unsightly looking container for your plants, which have drainage holes but then it’s placed inside the cachepot.

It’s not critical to cover drainage holes with gravel or stones before adding a potting mix but if you want to prevent the soil from washing out the bottom, use newspaper as a lining. In very deep containers, you can add gravel to minimize the amount of soil needed to fill the container.

 

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