Container Gardening Explained, Pt. 1
Plus: Sign-up for a garden interview!
First off, a Table of Contents, because there’s a lot going on in this first official edition of Garden Study!!!
Container Gardening How-To, including Fillers, Thrillers, & Spillers
Specific How-To For a Medium-Sized Container
How to Have Your Garden/Garden Joy Featured Here
How We’re Going to Do Commenting (Zones!!!!) and How to Upload Photos to Comments
Future of Garden Study Poll
Quick and Dirty Glossary of Terms from this edition
The Glorious Comments!!
If you know someone who’d like Garden Study, please forward this their way — but make sure to guide them to the specific way to *opt-in* to Garden Study emails, which you can find here. And I’m so, so happy you’re here.
When we bought this house (on an island of Washington State, Zone 8a) there were bountiful pots filled with Home Depot plants. They were gorgeous, in that moment, but as I’ve written about before, they were planted to sell the house, not to be with the house. I didn’t really know how to care for them other than to water every few days, and that’s what I did…until the next Spring, when I realized I had a whole bunch of pots (probably 15?) of various quality and no idea what to put in them. Thus began my container gardening self-education.
This is my third summer of pots, and I’ve had some real beauties and some totally hilarious experiments. But “how do I start container gardening” is one of the questions I get most often, so I’m going to start by sharing some real basics of what I’ve learned and am continuing to learn (and as is our custom here at Garden Study, we’ll use the comments section for even MORE learning).
**I’ll put a brief glossary of terms as the end of the piece; if there’s a term used below that you don’t know, don’t be afraid to ask what it means — those questions are exactly what this space is for.**
And just an FYI: I link to a lot of Lowe’s and Ace because they’re my preferred garden centers, but a lot of these items can be found in some variation pretty much anywhere that sells garden supplies. (I buy the vast majority of my plants from local nurseries, but the vast majority of my supplies from garden centers). I don’t use affiliate links and have no plans to in the future.
1.) The Container Matters
You don’t have to have an expensive pot. You can garden in $14 plastic ones from the hardware store or $1000 ceramic beauties from, I dunno, Anthropologie. I put plants in old watering cans from the thrift store and also in the big stone nearly immoveable planters that came with the house (and probably cost $300-400 a piece).
What matters is that the pot has drainage, so your plants won’t get soggy sad roots — and, depending where you live, that the pot won’t freeze and crack over the winter (and thus necessitate a new pot).
To Create Pot Drainage: Some pots come with a single big hole in the bottom to serve as drainage, and that works, but I personally drill 5-6 holes in everything. (How do you drill a hole? If it’s not stone or ceramic, get or borrow a drill, then buy a flat drill bit (cheap!) to drill through). Some pots also advertise that they have holes you can “knock out” with a hammer and a nail (but I still drill those, lol, because drilling is not-so-secretly fun).
To Prevent Freezing/Cracking: Look for pots that say “freeze-proof.” You can give the classic terracotta pots a go, but I’ve had terrible luck with them. These resin pots from Lowe’s come in a whole bunch of sizes and have weathered really well over three seasons in the harsh wind, rain, and snow on the coast of Washington where I live.
I’m also a huge fan of these composite planters (here, here, and here) which have also weathered well, with no cracks, and look like they cost a lot more than they do (plus they’re lightweight). I also have a few of these wooden barrel planters; you can find variations everywhere.
(We can do a whole newsletter on hanging baskets and window boxes, but my general preference is the basic coconut liner style, which you can replace as needed.)
2.) Soil Matters
Each of my containers has an 1-2 inch thick layer of rocks at the bottom. I get my rocks from my yard, but you can also buy bags of midsize rocks if you’re desperate. Some people put plastic containers in the bottoms of their containers so they don’t have to buy as much soil, but I find it stunts any perennials you want to have a home there.
Next, I add basic potting soil, maybe with a little bit of compost mixed in if I have it around. The potting soil has a bunch of airy stuff in it (sorry I don’t know the technical term) which means that it’ll settle and probably lower a solid inch the first time you fill the container. I’ve tried to deal with this by filling it to the tippy top; tell me your secrets in the comments.
3.) New Soil Also Matters
I think about it this way: you have a pot filled with soil, and then you plant a whole bunch of things in it, and the plants feast on the soil all season. You can add some nutrients back to the soil by putting a bed of leaves on top over the winter, but the pot might also just need some fresh soil. I never replace the soil entirely; I usually take out any clumps that feels totally filled with old roots, then fill it back up with potting soil and a few handfuls of compost.
4.) Placement Matters
Is this going to be a full sun pot or a shade pot? Do you want to plant something that can grow up a wall, or fence, or trellis? Figure out where you want the pot to be, and then you can figure out what goes in the pot.
5.) Find Your Thriller, Filler, Spiller
That’s the rule of thumb when it comes to planting a container: you want something that thrills (aka goes up and gives your container some depth and dimension), something that fills (spreads a lot and makes the container look full) and something that spills over the side and looks cool.
Here are some of my favorites in each category — please add your own in the comments, just make sure to specify where and how it grows
Thrillers:
Grasses! For big wide pots, I like feather grasses (Eldorado Feather Grass is a real winner). For smaller pots, I’m a huge fan of Mexican Feather Grass. Most grasses want full sun to partial shade, and they’re perennials if you can protect them from the super harsh elements
Upright/Standard Geraniums (Full sun to partial sun; annual; deadheading required)
Speedwell (also known as Veronica) which comes in a ton of different colors (Full sun; perennial; periodic deadheading only)
Zinnias (Full sun; annual; deadheading required)
Compact dahlias (Full sun; can dig up the tuber and use it as a perennial)
Dusty Miller (Supposedly full sun but I’m growing it right now in partial shade; will make it through the winter in zones 7-10)
Nicotiana (also known as tobacco plant; full sun annual; does best with deadheading)
Climbing Black Susan (Full sun annual; grown on a small trellis or garden obelisk)
Cosmos (Full sun annual)
Upright Leafy Begonias (shade annual)
Coleus (shade annual)
Hostas (yes, you can grow them in pots; shade perennial)
Fillers:
Upright fushias (shade annual)
Upright petunias (full sun annual; I generally think of petunias in categories of big spillers (generally Wave branded) and big fillers) Deadheading required.
Personal fav Bacopa, a workhorse of a filler that also does a little spill action (full/partial sun annual )
Sweet Alyssum (full sun to part shade annual with mild spillage)
Upright Lobelia (full sun to part shade annual)
Container Euphorbia (full sun to part shade annual, forms a big puffy airy mound)
Creeping Zinnia (full sun annual; deadheading required)
Other personal fav Calibrochoa, also known as million bells, which is like a baby petunia that you don’t have to deadhead (and available in a million colors). Full sun annual that’s also a great spiller.
Impatiens (shade annual)
African Impatiens (more robust shade annual)
Upright Flowering Begonias (shade annual)
Dead nettle (a lot prettier than the name suggests; partial shade perennial)
Oxalis (also known as fancy clovers, available in so many shades. Full sun to partial shade perennial)
Violets (full sun to partial sun perennial)
Spillers:
Creeping Jenny (I find it likes partial sun the best and will crisp up in full sun; will come back if you let it)
Nasturtiums (one of the easiest spillers that will also go up if you let it; full sun to partial shade annual)
Vinca vines (full sun to full shade perennial)
Creeping Charlie (this one’s controversial because it’s invasive in a lot of yards in the Midwest; I only plant it in my container. Full to partial sun perennial)
Sweet Potato Vine (will take over your entire planter if you let it; full sun annual)
Trailing Lobelia (a real winner in my containers this year; full to partial sun annual)
Trailing Flowering Begonias (playing around with these this year and they’re so fun and lush; shade annual)
Trailing fuschias (one of my favorites to grow; partial sun to shade annual)
Ivy Geraniums (full sun annual, but like all geraniums you can take it inside as a houseplant for the winter)
Japanese/Fancy Oregano (huge fan of this full to partial sun perennial)
So that’s a start. Now you might be asking: How do I put them together? How many do I need? We’ll do more complex container arrangements in the next issue, but for now, here’s a how-to on a very simple container I put together earlier this week from plants from the Lowe’s Clearance Shelf.