Planting Container Gardens
Planting
Container Gardens
Container
Garden Design: Spillers
Container
Garden Design: Thrillers
Container
Garden Design: Fillers
Container Gardens:
Design Tips
Container
Garden Design: Color
Follow a few simple steps, and your container gardens will be off to a solid start, ready to fill your growing season with non-stop, good looks.
Potting Soil
Gorgeous container gardens begin with good soil. For containers, choose
a soil mix that’s light and full of air pockets (vital for healthy
roots), drains well but also holds water, and gives roots a boost of slow-release
fertilizer.
For containers at Greenstreet Gardens, we use Gardener’s Gold Organic
Potting Soil. This organic mix combines 85 percent peat moss with seafood
compost, composted barnyard manure, and perlite. Peat moss and perlite
provide aeration or air pockets. Peat moss also holds water and nutrients,
slowly releasing them to plant roots. Seafood compost and composted barnyard
manure also provide nutrients.
Soil Enhancers
For terra-cotta containers, hanging baskets, coir or moss-lined containers,
or pots in full sun locations, add a water retention polymer, like Soil
Moist. These crystals absorb many times their weight in water and slowly
release that water to plant roots. Add polymers to individual pots. Fill
pots halfway with soil, then add crystals to ensure they’re near
actively growing roots.
Drainage
Every container needs a drainage hole so water can drain away from roots.
If plants sit in water, roots will rot. Enhance drainage and conserve
soil by filling the bottom one-third of your container with inverted plastic
pots, juice bottles, or butter tubs. These materials occupy space, reducing
the amount of soil you need, and also provide air pockets for roots.
Roots
When planting, remove plants from pots and loosen roots around the root
ball. This is especially important when plants are rootbound (roots have
begun to circle the bottom of the pot).
Planting Depth
When you tuck plants into soil, set them at the same depth they were in
their original container. Planting too deeply can cause stems to rot.
