For all you gardeners who live in a condo or apartment, or just don't have an outside space to grow in, here's a great article for you. Enjoy it, and if you have questions, ask me at: tsmith203@hotmail.com
Colourful containers with beautiful blooming flowers will create an amazing and stunning show anywhere around your home, indoors or out. You can easily enhance your patio or any other area with bright dazzling pots of flowering garden plants grown in containers. Or you can fill your garden troughs and window boxes with beautiful low growing plants or small evergreen shrubs. Use hanging baskets brimming with beautiful trailing flowers such as Fuchsias.
These really do give you a spectacular show. Even if you have a large garden you can extend your container gardening onto patios, or around sheds and garages with pots and tubs filled with lush flowering plants. You can group your pots together to give a stunning effect or in a smaller area just use a single container with one specimen plant that will draw anyone's eye. Containers are so versatile, you can move them around for the best effect or change them to create different moods. As flowers fade just change the plants to ones that are flowering or about to flower, its so easy to have a continuous flowering display throughout the growing seasons. With containers you have so many different choices. You can have containers that compliment the colour of the flowers.
Or you could have them contrasting each other. Either option can give you a special unique display. Its nearly always best to have containers that are similar in colour to each other as it gives the best effect. Use the plants to compliment or contrast with each other. For the best aesthetics its best if there is a tall plant in each container with shorter plants around the edges and perhaps trailing plants hanging over the sides, almost hiding the container. You will have to think about leaf shapes as well. Long broad leaves can act as a back drop to smaller plants with shorter leaves and bright flowers. With containers its so easy to change plants around until you get the effect you want.
Dark green leaves will give a better background effect than light green ones. Especially for bright coloured flowers, which will stand out sharply against the dark green leaves. This doesn't mean to say you cant use light green leaves, if the container is against a dark colour, a dark painted fence or shed for instance, the flowers will stand out against this rather than the leaves. This will give the same effect as using dark green leaves except the light green leaves do not stand out al all. Its always best to try and use plants that flower for long periods, or have plants of a different type ready to replace them as they finish blooming. Or you could grow a container with just one type of plant. A patio tub full of yellow flowering crocus takes a lot of beating in spring.
The choice of grouped plants is absolutely endless, especially in early spring before your beds and borders start to flower. You can use almost anything as a garden container, an old china tea pot or coffee pot or a disused bucket, as long as it will hold compost and is big enough for the type of plants you want to grow in it then it can be used. You could even make your own if you are handy with tools and timber, its real easy to make your own wooden containers. You can of course use commercially available containers which are made from all sorts of different materials. The most common being plastic and terracotta. Terracotta pots are available in all sorts of sizes, shapes, colours and shades. The best ones are glazed on the outside, this helps retain water and gives the pot a somewhat more expensive look.
The cheaper plastic pots and tubs are ideal. They are less likely to be broken than terracotta and they are available in a vast range of sizes and styles and colours. Today's plastic materials are far superior to a few years ago and this is no different for plant containers. They are strong, lightweight but don't look "plasticy" You can personalize plastic pots by decorating them on the outside with paint or stickers. If your are an arty type this gives you great scope of producing your own brand of container, your own personal touch. You can buy saucers to stand your container on which helps retain water, especially in dry weather. They will also prevent unsightly water marks on concrete or wood.
Never ever use garden soil in garden containers. It contains weed seeds and many diseases which would soon multiply in the confines of a container with disastrous effects for your plants. Use a proper potting compost which is especially produced for growing plants in containers. Your plants will thank you for it. A really good place for containers is a porch or veranda where they will make your home more attractive, inviting and welcoming. Stand pots and tubs on your porch or veranda, fit troughs or window boxes to hand rail guards and fit hanging baskets under the roof. This really does change the appearance of your property for the better. It brings it alive and if done well the containers will enhance your home and make all your neighbours envious. You could have containers along each side of your driveway.
This can look really stunning if your driveway is not just a straight line and curves. Just make sure your selection of plants harmonize with each other and enhances the rest of your garden and house décor. For a fabulous night time displays use discrete lighting to highlight the container plants following the outline of your drive. And don't forget all the different types of containers you can have for your indoor plants which not only enhance the plants but, if chosen correctly, will compliment all your décor. There are so many uses for containers in your garden and around the home you could find different uses each and every day.
Just use your imagination and you will be amazed at the difference containers will make. And if you don't get it right first time just move the containers around until they look right and pleasing to your eye. But don't forget plants in containers will be completely dependent on you for water and nutrients. So keep them well watered, especially in dry spells, and give them a weekly shot of a proprietary plant feed.
Colourful containers with beautiful blooming flowers will create an amazing and stunning show anywhere around your home, indoors or out. You can easily enhance your patio or any other area with bright dazzling pots of flowering garden plants grown in containers. Or you can fill your garden troughs and window boxes with beautiful low growing plants or small evergreen shrubs. Use hanging baskets brimming with beautiful trailing flowers such as Fuchsias.
These really do give you a spectacular show. Even if you have a large garden you can extend your container gardening onto patios, or around sheds and garages with pots and tubs filled with lush flowering plants. You can group your pots together to give a stunning effect or in a smaller area just use a single container with one specimen plant that will draw anyone's eye. Containers are so versatile, you can move them around for the best effect or change them to create different moods. As flowers fade just change the plants to ones that are flowering or about to flower, its so easy to have a continuous flowering display throughout the growing seasons. With containers you have so many different choices. You can have containers that compliment the colour of the flowers.
Or you could have them contrasting each other. Either option can give you a special unique display. Its nearly always best to have containers that are similar in colour to each other as it gives the best effect. Use the plants to compliment or contrast with each other. For the best aesthetics its best if there is a tall plant in each container with shorter plants around the edges and perhaps trailing plants hanging over the sides, almost hiding the container. You will have to think about leaf shapes as well. Long broad leaves can act as a back drop to smaller plants with shorter leaves and bright flowers. With containers its so easy to change plants around until you get the effect you want.
Dark green leaves will give a better background effect than light green ones. Especially for bright coloured flowers, which will stand out sharply against the dark green leaves. This doesn't mean to say you cant use light green leaves, if the container is against a dark colour, a dark painted fence or shed for instance, the flowers will stand out against this rather than the leaves. This will give the same effect as using dark green leaves except the light green leaves do not stand out al all. Its always best to try and use plants that flower for long periods, or have plants of a different type ready to replace them as they finish blooming. Or you could grow a container with just one type of plant. A patio tub full of yellow flowering crocus takes a lot of beating in spring.
The choice of grouped plants is absolutely endless, especially in early spring before your beds and borders start to flower. You can use almost anything as a garden container, an old china tea pot or coffee pot or a disused bucket, as long as it will hold compost and is big enough for the type of plants you want to grow in it then it can be used. You could even make your own if you are handy with tools and timber, its real easy to make your own wooden containers. You can of course use commercially available containers which are made from all sorts of different materials. The most common being plastic and terracotta. Terracotta pots are available in all sorts of sizes, shapes, colours and shades. The best ones are glazed on the outside, this helps retain water and gives the pot a somewhat more expensive look.
The cheaper plastic pots and tubs are ideal. They are less likely to be broken than terracotta and they are available in a vast range of sizes and styles and colours. Today's plastic materials are far superior to a few years ago and this is no different for plant containers. They are strong, lightweight but don't look "plasticy" You can personalize plastic pots by decorating them on the outside with paint or stickers. If your are an arty type this gives you great scope of producing your own brand of container, your own personal touch. You can buy saucers to stand your container on which helps retain water, especially in dry weather. They will also prevent unsightly water marks on concrete or wood.
Never ever use garden soil in garden containers. It contains weed seeds and many diseases which would soon multiply in the confines of a container with disastrous effects for your plants. Use a proper potting compost which is especially produced for growing plants in containers. Your plants will thank you for it. A really good place for containers is a porch or veranda where they will make your home more attractive, inviting and welcoming. Stand pots and tubs on your porch or veranda, fit troughs or window boxes to hand rail guards and fit hanging baskets under the roof. This really does change the appearance of your property for the better. It brings it alive and if done well the containers will enhance your home and make all your neighbours envious. You could have containers along each side of your driveway.
This can look really stunning if your driveway is not just a straight line and curves. Just make sure your selection of plants harmonize with each other and enhances the rest of your garden and house décor. For a fabulous night time displays use discrete lighting to highlight the container plants following the outline of your drive. And don't forget all the different types of containers you can have for your indoor plants which not only enhance the plants but, if chosen correctly, will compliment all your décor. There are so many uses for containers in your garden and around the home you could find different uses each and every day.
Just use your imagination and you will be amazed at the difference containers will make. And if you don't get it right first time just move the containers around until they look right and pleasing to your eye. But don't forget plants in containers will be completely dependent on you for water and nutrients. So keep them well watered, especially in dry spells, and give them a weekly shot of a proprietary plant feed.
About this Author
Chris has over thirty years experience in real life down to earth gardening, but especially in propagating all types of gardening plants. You can take advantage of all his knowledge and experience, just visit his free online gardening resource at http://www.freegardeningplants.com/index.html.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3539785
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