Container Gardening
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When the average person thinks of a garden, the image that comes to mind is a lushly planted plot of land devoted to annuals, perennials, and ornamentals, or perhaps a vegetable garden or orchard. But for millions of gardeners, the idea of what a garden is has been changing in recent years. They are the urbanites residing in condos, apartments, and townhouses with little space, and the suburbanites who have the space but not the time to spend preparing, planting, and maintaining a conventional garden. To their rescue comes container gardening. Container gardening is just that; gardening in a contained space. One of the fastest growing trends in gardening, America’s number one hobby, container gardening is easy, and just about anyone can do it. |
Great Container Plants!
Where is a Good Location?
| Container gardening can take place on a patio, balcony, porch or roof, along a driveway, in front of a window, in a small greenhouse, or even in your basement under lights. The location will dictate the range of plants that can be grown, depending on their individual requirements, in particular exposure to sunlight. Container gardening is affected by the climate zone where you live and the length of the summer, the same as conventional gardens. Indoor gardens are less affected by these factors; however they have their own set of factors, such as heat and humidity. |
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Container Vegetable Garden Circle Mat Collection
What Can Be Grown?
| Given the right conditions, just about anything can be grown in a container; even small trees. Herbs are hardy annual or perennial plants and lend themselves well to container gardening. Annuals can be potted, grown in window boxes or as accents in containers of other plants, but most require significant sunlight to do well. Perennials can be grown in pots both inside and outside and require various degrees of exposure to sunlight. Bonsai is a container gardening specialty. Vegetables are mostly annual plants, with some perennials, and do best in outdoor containers. |
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What about the Containers?
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The containers used in container gardening can be just about anything available, from painted coffee cans to beautifully colored and textured pots and hanging baskets. Among the most popular of the traditional containers are the terra cotta (clay) pots that are available in a large array of sizes from two inches to behemoths of 50 inches or more in diameter. Plants seem to have an affinity for clay and usually prosper in these pots, given proper attention. There are a large variety of shapes and sizes to accommodate shallow rooted and long rooted plants, bulbs, shrubs, and small trees. However, these pots are relatively expensive. A much cheaper version that mimics the shapes and sizes of the more expensive containers are the hard plastic containers, which also have the advantage of being much lighter in weight. Unconventional containers used in container gardening include tiles, hollowed out logs, baskets, fruit and vegetable crates, barrels, plastic tubs, and many more. Be creative and use your imagination! |
Benefits
The benefits of container gardening are numerous, as outlined below:
• Ease of planting and maintenance.
• Mobility – you can move most containers easily to change the environment for plants not doing well, to move plants inside for the winter, and to change the arrangement of groups of plants for visual effect. Also, the containers can be filled with soil mix and planted in one area and then moved to their final location, leaving the mess behind. |
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• Weeds that appear can be easily removed.
• Fertilizer can be applied directly and more efficiently.
• Pests and disease can be controlled more effectively.
• Vegetables and herbs can be grown near the kitchen for easy harvest.
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As you can see, container gardening has many benefits and can be accomplished at a relatively low cost.
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