How To Do: CONTAINER GARDENING

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Container gardens can create a natural sanctuary in a busy city
street, along rooftops or on balconies. You can easily accentuate
the welcoming look of a deck or patio with colorful pots of
annuals, or fill your window boxes with beautiful shrub roses or
any number of small perennials. Whether you arrange your pots in
a group for a massed effect or highlight a smaller space with a
single specimen, you'll be delighted with this simple way to
create a garden.

Container gardening enables you to easily vary your color scheme,
and as each plant finishes flowering, it can be replaced with
another. Whether you choose to harmonize or contrast your colors,
make sure there is variety in the height of each plant. Think
also of the shape and texture of the leaves. Tall strap-like
leaves will give a good vertical background to low-growing,
wide-leafed plants. Choose plants with a long flowering season,
or have others of a different type ready to replace them as they
finish blooming.

Color Scheme, Shape & Texture 

Experiment with creative containers. You might have an old
porcelain bowl or copper urn you can use, or perhaps you'd rather
make something really modern with timber or tiles. If you decide
to buy your containers ready-made, terracotta pots look
wonderful, but tend to absorb water. You don't want your plants
to dry out, so paint the interior of these pots with a special
sealer available from hardware stores.

Cheaper plastic pots can also be painted on the outside with
water-based paints for good effect. When purchasing pots, don't
forget to buy matching saucers to catch the drips. This will save
cement floors getting stained, or timber floors rotting.

Potting Mix

Always use a good quality potting mix in your containers. This
will ensure the best performance possible from your plants.

If you have steps leading up to your front door, an attractive
pot plant on each one will delight your visitors. Indoors, pots
of plants or flowers help to create a cosy and welcoming
atmosphere.

Location 

Decide ahead of time where you want your pots to be positioned,
then buy plants that suit the situation. There is no point buying
sun lovers for a shady position, for they will not do well. Some
plants also have really large roots, so they are best kept for
the open garden.

If you have plenty of space at your front door, a group of potted
plants off to one side will be more visually appealing than two
similar plants placed each side. Unless they are spectacular,
they will look rather boring. Group the pots in odd numbers
rather than even, and vary the height and type. To tie the group
together, add large rocks that are similar in appearance and just
slightly different in size. Three or five pots of the same type
and color, but in different sizes also looks affective.

With a creative mind and some determination, you will soon have a
container garden that will be the envy of friends and strangers
alike. How to Do: Herb Gardening

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