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Planting & Maintaining Container Plants or Gardens

A guide for planting and growing plants in containers.

Sage advice on choosing pots and planting patio gardens in containers.

Container grown plant care tips included.

Various Container Gardens- CC license - photo by ryarwood

Container gardening is be desirable for several reasons in a patio environment:

The patio is not dirt based - You have no where to plant.
Cold weather - You can move plants in during cold weather months.
Design - The look of your patio can be changed with the movement of potted plants.
Poor soil - You can compensate easily for poor soil conditions.

Choosing Your Pots For Container Gardening

Here is some advice on choosing pots for your container garden. You want to look at the design aspect of your patio garden when choosing your pots. The containers you choose to plant in will help set the type of design you follow as you develop your patio space. So pay special attention to the look of your pots as well as these factors:

You need to be sure and choose pots that are large enough for at least a 2 year growth period of your plant. Most plants need repotting after 2 years, this is assuming you are planting plants that are not annuals.
Clay or terra cotta pots are excellent long term planters although they are porous and loose moisture quicker than other pots so more watering is needed. Don't forget here that clay and terra cotta pots can be painted.
Glazed pots plain or with design are beautiful and can really set a design off.
Plastic pots are inexpensive and hold moisture well but do not hold up to the sun or frost well. Also be aware of the petroleum base used in plastics if planting edible foods!
There are also wood, metal... even old porcelain kitchen sinks can be used as a container!
I would stick with clay pots for planting any thing I planned to eat. If using wood containers be careful of pressure treated wood use for pots with edible plants.

You are limited only by your imagination when it comes to picking pots to plant in. Remember except for plants that you plan to eat the sky is the limit on what you can plant in so use your imagination.

Choosing A Potting Soil For Container Gardening

The type of potting soil you use will be important if growing certain types of plants. For most plants a general purpose potting soil will do. If you plan on planting shrubs or trees (long term plants) you may want a heavier soil based mixture. Acid loving plants will need a special compost to grow properly so look at the growing tags on all plants before you plant them. You may also want to add some organic cow manure compost to each pot that you plant.

As far as using the proper soil for your plants, I would consider the plant's original soil type for starters and mimic that. For instance add some sand to your potting soil when planting a cactus. Most plants will adapt to the commercial potting soils being sold today, so unless your plant is an exotic you should be alright with a quality store bought potting soil.

How To Plant Your Plants in Pots or Containers

A lot of planting pots come with just one drainage hole or the holes are small. To improve the drainage for your plant you can place broken bits of clay pots or rocks in the bottom of your pot. This will keep the potting soil from collecting around the holes and causing a drainage problem. Another drainage issue can occur if a pot is set directly on the patio or any paved area. This can be resolved by placing the pot on terra cotta feet or bricks to elevate it off the ground.

Fill your container with potting soil up to the bottom of the largest pot of one of the plants that you plan on planting. Remember that you want to leave a 1 inch clearance from the top of the container.

If you are doing a multi plant planting then arrange the tallest plants around the middle with the smaller or trailing plants around the edge of the pot. A tip is that if your center plant is a permanent or perennial plant and the perimeter plants annuals you may want to leave the annuals in their pots for easy removal when they are done. Once you are happy with the look of your multi plant arrangement, remove the plants from their pots and plant them filling in any gaps with soil and pat soil firm with your hands. I usually put a layer of organic compost over the top 1 inch or so of soil. Water well and make sure there are no air pockets.

In early spring you will want to replace the top layer of soil with fresh compost or potting soil. Remember to check your plants for need of water as the weather warms, the water requirements go up.

Just look at this colorful multi plant arrangement here to the right. Of course you do not have to put more than one plant in a pot if you choose not to. The same planting directions apply.

Wintering your Potted Or Container Plants

When the time comes to move your container grown herbs and other plants indoors for the winter, you should follow this process to acclimate them to the indoors. In the early fall start by moving your plants indoors for a few hours at a time everyday for a few weeks. This will help the plants adjust to the differences in lighting and temperature.

Plants grown indoors have different care requirements than when they were outdoors. First of all they do not need as much water so water only when the soil is dry. Light is another issue for indoor plants. To keep them from getting spindly or dying they need to be in the sunniest location possible. Another option to provide light for plants is to put them under fluorescent lights or use "grow" lights.

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