Start the container garden of your dreams with this beginner’s guide filled with tips, tricks, and expert advice. “Container gardening is a great way to bring earthly delights indoors all year long,” adds Rebecca Sears, gardening expert for Ferry-Morse. “Many people with large yards also enjoy container gardening simply for aesthetic purposes. They’re great for adding color and life to a front stoop or empty corner of a deck or patio,” adds Andrychowicz. Wiggins says, “Plants with large and extensive roots will eventually require larger vessels to provide them with the soil and nutrients they need.” Repotting is a pain, but it’s doable. This guide will walk you through it. Joanna VonBergen of Gingham Gardens notes that because container gardens are watered more frequently, they also need to be fertilized more often than in-ground plants. When choosing your container(s), you’ll want to first consider the size. Larger containers will hold more moisture and nutrients, but they will also be more difficult to move around as needed. If you’re in a small space, consider focusing on small-scale pots, which will happily house herbs of all kinds. Though keep in mind that whenever you leave town, you’ll need to enlist a friend to water your plants or look into a self-water option. Small containers dry out quickly! When it comes to materials, the options are seemingly endless, from clay to concrete, plastic, wood, and metal. Consider the placement of the container: Will it be on top of a piece of furniture or in your yard? Will you be able to move it? Fiberglass is a good alternative to heavier concrete options. Additionally, Wiggins notes that traditional terra-cotta clay pots allow water to evaporate quickly, while other containers hold water and may need more frequent drainage checks. For a sustainable twist, Sears adds that gardeners can also repurpose existing materials such as a wagon or an old barrel into an innovative upcycled container. If your container is in an area that you want to keep dry, don’t forget to add a saucer underneath the plant to catch excess water. Don’t have a container with holes already? You can carefully drill holes into your planter and it’s ready for its container garden debut. Here are a few more ways to add drainage yourself. “I also recommend adding small dry tree sticks to the bottom quarter of a pot before adding soil,” Wiggins adds. “The dry sticks will absorb and retain water, keeping the soil, and plant roots, hydrated.” She adds, “You may want to add a living wall or aquaponics towers along the sides of your balcony to make use of every square inch.” Daugirda suggests creating a tiered garden to open up more vertical real estate for growing plants, or growing a hanging garden inside and embracing a lush, aesthetic vibe. And Christian has one extra tip, specifically for apartment dwellers looking to garden: “To avoid leaving any holes, use damage-free Command hooks for your hanging baskets, and free-standing living walls or planting towers.” She explains, “That soil is heavy and may compact into something resembling cement when it is put into your containers.” Instead, she suggests using a potting soil mix with a slow-release fertilizer. The fertilizer is critical since plants in containers don’t have the benefit of regenerated nutrients that inground plants do. Depending on your plants, the exact soil needs could vary, but Christian suggests two common recipes: 60/30/10, which is 60% topsoil, 30% compost, and 10% potting soil, or 50/50, a 50% topsoil and 50% compost mix, and amending with fertilizer every few weeks in the growing season. Andrychowicz adds, “The beauty of container gardening is that if you discover your plants are getting too much or not enough sun, then you can simply move them to the perfect spot.” If your garden is outdoors, Christian has an expert tip. She says, “Your established plants need 1 inch of rain or water each week. Check your rainfall, and only supplement what is needed to equal 1 total inch of water each week.”
