Garden Tips for Creating Container Gardens

Step One: Decide On The Location

It is important to know this first, because many important decision depend on it. For instance, you need to know what color and style of container will fit the spot. The style and color of your home should work well with the style and color of your pot. It doesn’t need to be the same or similar color, as a contrasting, but complementary color is often very beautiful. And though mixing styles often works, you wouldn’t want to put a rustic Mexican pot in front of a white colonial home, it is just out of place.

The second reason location is important, is for plant selection. The palette of plants you would use in a full-sun location would be quite different than those used in a full-shade location. Is there a hose bibb nearby to water? If it will be difficult to water, you may want to go with a xeric or even cactus & succulent garden, as they require much less watering.

Step Two: Decide On The Container

You can use almost anything for a container, from an old shoe to a whiskey barrel. Even a large hanging wire moss basket makes a great container!

We recommend the Asian Glazed Pottery, because it is very high-fired which means that it is completely durable in any Texas weather. It also comes in a vast array of incredibly beautiful colors and styles. And you can mix the pots in a display, using many different styles of one color, or mix it up with two or more complementary colors.

Step Three: Plant Selection

Picking from you’re favorites form a list of plants that will work in the location you have planned, pick out three to five varieties of plants (depending on the size of the planter and your personal preference). There is a trend in container gardening to go with fewer varieties, because if you go with too many, it tends to look busy and washed out from the street. Now impact is important, because you really want each element of your garden to stand out. One of the best ways to do this is to try to mix the following elements: color, texture, size and shape.

Color is important to draw the eye and to “echo” other colors in your composition. Color can come from foliage or flowers. Foliage is often overlooked as a way to get season-long color even in shadier areas. White variegated foliage brightens up the arrangement and can be accented with white flowers or silver foliage, which acts like white in a design. You can echo the color of the container in your flowers and foliage if you’d like, or go with a contrasting or complementary color.

Texture defines how coarse or fine the leaves and flowers feel. Think of the velvety leaves of a Rex Begonia or the softness of creeping Thyme.

Size refers to the actual size of the leaves and flowers. Mix the large leafed “Kong” Coleus or Caladiums with the smaller leaved dichondra ‘Pony’s foot. When you place them side by side, each element contrasts and stands out against the other.

Finally shape is, well, the shape of the leaves and foliage. Achieving impact through the use of shape can be as easy as having something “spiky”, something “bushy”, and something “trailing” in your design.

Step Four: Soil Selection

For most container gardens, you could use a good-quality potting soil. It should be light-weight, in case you ever have to move your container garden, and it should have good drainage (unless you are doing a bog garden or water garden). There is a product called “Terra-sorb” that can be added to your potting mix, that actually swells when wet, and stores water so that you won’t have to water as often. Be sure that you get the product completely soaked before you mix it with your soil, otherwise you may have a “volcano” of gel after your first watering.

We offer a fiber pot that can be used to plant up your garden, and easily dropped into your decorative container. We will be offering these for sell, either empty or already planted up, for your seasonal container change-outs.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask someone on our staff!

Plants to consider

For drama, the spiky Phormium, or New Zealand Flax is wonderfully colored in shades of pink, yellow and bronze.

For a strong growing plant with vigorous leaves and bright colors, try Coleus, especially the new, extra-large leafed series called “Kong”.

For a tropical look, try the dwarf Cannas or Gingers.

If you are looking for a bold ivy for shade, try Plectranthus madagascariensis, or Ipomoea, the sweet potato vine.