Not all gardens grow in the ground

By Jamie Smith

When I was a kid, my parents had what I would consider a large garden sectioned off with railroad ties. My husband’s family had even more garden space with fruit trees and all kinds of plants.

When we got married, we had the goal of having a garden so we could grow flowers, some of our own food and just enjoy the nature of the whole thing.

Living in downtown Bentonville and renting for the first year of our marriage made this goal a tad difficult. I don’t think our landlord would have cared if we tilled up the ground but we didn’t think it was a great idea to put that much effort to build a plot at a place we didn’t own.

So we created a container garden. I’ve been asked before what that means and it is literally a garden in containers. You can use traditional pots and planters, or you can get creative and even cute. My goal is sometime to have a planter made from an old children’s play pool or a wheelbarrow just because it’s cute.

A container garden is also not just potted flowers—we had at one point blueberries, strawberries, corn, flowers, bell peppers and tomatoes. It was small, but it was ours. And you want to know something ironic? Since we moved into our own home two years ago we’ve been so busy that we’ve not planted a so-called “real” garden yet.

 Why do a container garden?

We created a container garden because of where we live. Living in the city and lacking a yard is one reason to have a container garden.

I can see us having some form of a container garden even if we do an in-ground garden because I’m a person with a disability. People with mobility issues including seniors and people with disabilities can benefit from a raised garden bed or a container garden because it reduces (or completely gets rid of) the need to kneel on the ground. It seems like it would also be a fun way for families with kids to let their children take ownership of some of the plants

A container garden doesn’t force you to keep your garden in one location. So want to grow something that needs shade but also something that needs light? Use containers and place them in different parts of the yard. It also makes it easier for when you want to grow plants that require a different soil type than other plants.

 You know another reason to do a container garden? It’s fun. It allows for creativity.

 
A few tips for a container garden

I don’t claim to be a gardener but we did learn a few things in our three years of having a container garden.

 

• Always make sure there are holes in the bottom of the container. Even if you purchase planters designed for plants, check to make sure the drainage holes have been punched.
• Most containers can be used including wheelbarrows, plastic pools, pails and even old storage containers (I had a giant green storage bin that had its lid break so we converted it to a planter).
• Use nutrient-rich planting soil. It costs more than topsoil but it will protect your investment in the plants. However, if you have a large deep container, you can use the cheaper top soil to build up the base then use the nutrient-rich soil at the top where the plant roots actually are located.
• Know what kind of soil the plants need and consider placing some plants together that can have similar or complementary needs. For example, we grew Roma tomatoes and blueberries together in the same planter. Something about their soil needs were complementary and they grew like gangbusters.

 Do you have a container garden? What do you grow? Offer your tips in the comments!