Container Gardening: Choose your Pot, Plant and Be Happy

The right container enhances any plant, and you can reduce time and effort on your part by picking out one suitable for the job. Here we offer some advice to reduce the work you need to put into the garden:

Choose the Right Planter

Planters can be made of many different materials, and each one offers its own advantages. Whatever style of planter you choose, be sure it has drainage holes to allow the plants to be healthy and prevent rotting roots.

Although they are a long-time favorite of gardeners, terra cotta (clay) pots are porous and tend to dry out faster than plastic or glazed ceramic pots. They are sturdy because of their weight; but this also can make them a challenge to move. Over time, they develop a weathered appearance.

There are many different plastic pots to choose from. They keep moisture in better than clay. Over time, the hard, thinner plastic pots become brittle. These pots are gradually weakened by sunlight and temperature fluctuations. It is a better choice to get a planter with thicker plastic, especially those with UV protection.

Concrete and heavy stone will last a long time and provide some insulation for the winter, but should be planted in a permanent location. You would require a crew of movers and a huge amount of effort to move concrete planters around.

A benefit of planters constructed with fiberglass or resin is that they are typically lightweight, hold moisture, and imitate the look of planters made of stone or concrete. They are a fabulous pick for home gardeners.

Reaching the "false" bottom of the container

Larger planters can require deceptively high amounts of potting mix to fill them Sometimes they can become much to heavy to move. Making a "false" bottom is one way to solve the problem. This allows the plant enough soil to produce a strong root system without making the container immovable.

Space keepers at the bottom of planters included anything from crushed coke cans to Styrofoam peanuts. Kristy Maniscalco, a home-gardener from Illinois, has developed a better and easier solution - the Ups-A-Daisy planter insert.

Maniscalco said, "I couldn't move the larger planters, because they grew so heavy. Every season, I'd go through the exact same routine.

I did not want to use a bunch of potting soil, so I would rifle around the garage for something to put in the base of the planters. I was also getting tired of picking packing peanuts out of the garden when I emptied the planters at the end of the season."

Available from www.ups-a-daisy.com, the Ups-A-Daisy planter insert is a durable disc of plastic made to fit snugly into most containers; it comes in sizes from 10" to 18". This disc should be placed halfway down the container; it will ensure that oxygen reaches the roots and that the planter can be drained, reducing the weight of the planter and making it more mobile.

Time saving planting mix

Different soils can vary the amount of attention you garden container requires.

Cover the drain holes in the Ups-A-Daisy planter with newspaper, a small stone, or a coffee filter before adding soil. This ensures that no potting mix will escape the planter.

Mixes without soil typically include at least two of the following ingredients: vermiculite, sand, compost, tree bark, sphagnum peat moss, and perlite. These are sterilized to protect against pests and diseases.

Time-releasing fertilizer is usually include with soil-free mixes. If not, include slow-release fertilizer like Milorganite GardenCare organic nitrogen fertilizer, but be sure to follow package directions. Each time you water, a little bit of the fertilizer is given to the plants.

To reduce how often you will need to water, look for a planting mix with crystals that retain water. Add water-retaining crystals if the planting mix does not already include them; go easy, though, since a little goes a long way.

You can also mix the same amounts of soilless mix and commercial ( sterile) potting soil, to enable less watering. The soil mixture is made lighter and the moisture is retained by the potting soil.

These pieces of advice will add more enjoyment to your garden container, while reducing the work required to make it grow.