Gardens don’t have to be in the ground to be terrific. These days, with so many people having busier lives and smaller yards (or perhaps no yards at all), gardening in containers can be a great fit!
Let’s look at some of the ways that container gardening can make this spring and summer season more fun and interesting for you and your family.
Bring the plants closer to the fun!
Garden writer Jamie Durie encourages us to think in terms of “outdoor rooms.” Why not make our yards, decks, and patios as comfortable and inviting as our indoor rooms to be? Plants in containers can do just that!
Planting beautiful flowers in containers for your patio, deck or balcony can bring a garden up close to where friends and family relax and spend time together. The fragrance and the color are right there, just an arm’s length away.
It’s easy to increase the eye appeal by “lifting” some pots higher than others, placing them on plant stands or empty inverted pots.
Tagawa’s Annuals Department has thousands of beautiful flowers already in full bloom, with more to come… all you need for beautiful, over-flowing containers.
Have a little gardener in your home?
At Tagawa’s, we’re thrilled to see children fall in love with gardening. Giving them a “garden” of their own in a container is one great way to do that.
Whether it’s a window box full of pansies or a big tub of petunias, marigolds or old-fashioned snapdragons, it’s fun to watch a child take ownership of a garden and see first-hand how good care can help plants grow and thrive.
And for gardeners who aren’t so young…
Getting down on hands and knees to garden can be difficult, or impossible, for anyone with physical challenges. Container gardens can be a great way for these folks to still have the pleasure of “getting their hands dirty.”
Caring for the plants can be easier, too, when they’re in containers rather than in-ground beds. Carrying a few buckets of water doesn’t necessarily require a hose or other large gardening tools.
Have an odd space that could use some color?
There’s a lot of gardening potential in small and oddly-shaped places. Even rooftop gardening is becoming more common!
Gardening on top of structures needs to take some special considerations into account. Is water accessible? Is the roof meant to have regular foot traffic? If those sorts of challenges can be met, container gardens can provide instant color and help create unique “outdoor rooms” with remarkable views!
Herbs and veggies can thrive in containers?
So maybe you can’t grow a prize-winning giant pumpkin in a big pot. You can grow some terrific small ones! And given good support and plenty of water, even full-sized tomatoes will be right at home in a large container or tub.
A lot of vegetables come in “bush” or “baby” sizes if you want your plants to be more compact. And if you’re looking for an early harvest with plenty of pop-in-your-mouth yummy small tomatoes, check out some of the patio varieties in Tagawa’s Veggie Department. Excellent in containers!
Most herbs are great container gardens, too. A large pot full of rosemary or basil just outside the door absolutely qualifies as a “kitchen garden” for cooks who want their herbs fresh off the plant.
Some growing tips and tricks
To be at their best, flowers, veggies and herbs grown in containers have some specific needs aside from proper light, water and temperature. Because their growing space is confined, the plants will need top-quality soil. Tagawa’s highly recommends “Roots” soil by Greenfields.
Ideally, the soil should be replaced every season, especially if there were have been any problems with insects or disease. At the very least, half of the soil in the container should be new, then mixed well with the existing soil.
Containers will need good drainage to keep the plants’ roots from being over-watered. And be careful with pots that are too small, no matter how cute they are. Plants growing in outdoor containers should be at least eight inches wide at the top. Smaller pots tend to dry out so quickly that it’s next to impossible to keep them properly watered.
Fertilizer is important, too. Regular feeding with products like the Age Old “Grow” and “Bloom” will help your container gardens thrive throughout their season.
If you have any questions about what to grow in containers or how to take care of them, Tagawa has lots of great advice and veteran gardeners on staff to help!
