Pots, baskets hold garden options
Pots, baskets hold garden options

By Rodd Moesel

Published: June 19, 2008

Container gardening has been around for centuries. It was widely used in the Roman Empire, at the famous hanging gardens of Babylon and even in Mayan ruins.

Popular Roman urn planters still are seen at front entrances, by pools and on patios. Today we have numerous choices in containers and plants to accent or add contrast to our landscapes for our homes or businesses.

Retail sales of prepared container gardens rose 8 percent from 2004 to 2005 to exceed $1.3 billion. That is the most recent year for which data is available, but the trend is growing yearly, and the figure doesn't include plants people buy to plant in new containers or to replant in existing containers or pots.

Many people replant their containers, planter boxes or hanging baskets each year and add one or more new containers to their collection. Anyone can participate in container gardening, whether you live in an apartment or own a large estate.

Here are some tips for container gardening:

- Select containers with drain holes, add your own drain holes or, on really large containers, you can add a significant layer of gravel or pieces from broken pots in the bottom of the container.

- Fill the container with a good quality, well-drained soil mix. You can use a prepared, soilless mix, or mix your own soil with about one-third loamy soil, one-third sphagnum peat or composted pine bark and one-third a combination of vermiculite, perlite or calcined clay. You may want to add polymer crystals to the media to help hold water and reduce watering by about half.

- Select plants based on their exposure to sun, shade and wind.

- Container gardens are usually most interesting when you combine taller upright plants with cascading plants. They are easy to care for as long as you water them regularly.

- Remember that smaller containers and hanging containers will dry out more often, while larger containers will hold more water and go longer between watering.

- As with regular flower beds, container gardens will benefit from a 1½-inch to 3-inch layer of top mulch, natural bark or hulls. Mulching reduces weed problems and watering, and keeps soil temperature more consistent. Mulching is one of the best sustainable gardening practices in Oklahoma.

Container gardening allows you to move your plants to areas where you are entertaining or want to make a special show. It allows you to create focal points, to change your design more often than permanent plantings and to add excitement to your landscape.

I recently was at a large greenhouse conference in Arizona, and participants were talking about the new trend in "staycations,” where folks are staying at home instead of taking distant vacations because of concerns about fuel prices and the economy.

Many people are spending more time in their yards to grow vegetables, berries, flower beds and container gardens or to develop an outdoor kitchen or living area. This is a great opportunity to discover the joy of gardening or to expand your gardening efforts.

Rodd Moesel, former president of the Oklahoma Greenhouse Growers Association, serves on the Oklahoma Horticulture Industrial Council. E-mail garden and landscape questions to rmoesel@americanplant.com.

Comments