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!
I love containers! They’re great for adding a little color to a porch or patio, or to put a punch of color in parts of your yard that contain mostly green plants, but don’t have room for new in-ground plantings. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! Yes, I love containers for that purpose too. Another one I didn’t touch on in the blog is, if your plants get a disease it’s easier to contain (pun totally intended).
Thanks for sharing! I’ve been wanting to start a container garden for a while. My ultimate goal is to have a ground garden filled with all types of edibles. But right now I rent, so a container garden seems more logical.
Yes, a container garden would be much more practical for you. Not only does it not mean tearing up land you don’t own, you can easily take your hard work with you when you move.
Until we bought our house, I have had container gardens. I have used things like fabric bins (the ones made for files/storage that either got stained or were no longer needed. Canvas can make great containers for plants. Also old jeans etc. I have even seen some people use large diameter PVC pipes (which I have been contemplating for next year for herbs) to maximize vertical space. I also like to use some crushed rock/gravel/pebbles in the bottom of the bins first for better drainage. Also containers are smaller than heat up faster than in-ground plants so make sure you water them and pull them into shade if necessary when it gets very hot (I fried some pepper plants because they were on a cement patio 2 summers ago, very sad but a good lesson learned) I say don’t be afraid to experiment, and if you plan on doing this year after year you should replenish the soil every year (to keep stuff like fungus, mold etc out plus it is the nutrients that the plants need to thrive)
Hello, Jaime!
We do some container gardening. I have several plants that cannot tolerate our winters, such as ferns and a bay leaf tree. We put them in containers to bring them indoors when it’s cold out.
Also, I like having a pretty yellow chrysanthemum in a bright yellow flower pot, to add punch to the front porch during the drab days of fall.
Lastly, I love to start plants from cuttings off mine, in containers to give away. I have those everywhere, it seems. 🙂
I need to be on your “giftie” list:)
The plants you can do cuttings from are the best, aren’t they? When I was growing up we had a plant that started a as a single plant but we put cuttings all over the house. The plant’s name was Mathilda 🙂
Wheelbarrow planters are so cute! And I love strawberry pots. We got a strawberry pot last year, but haven’t grown anything in it yet. 🙂
What do you mean by a strawberry pot? One of those things that come with the strawberry plant already planted? I’ve been wanting to do one of those hanging tomato basket things just because I would be entertained by having tomatoes hanging upside down.
That’s a type of planter — a strawberry pot. I’m sure you have seen them. They are usually urn shaped with small openings all around the outside — sorta’ like little half cups.
I live in a place now where I can plant into the ground but the sun is so sporadic throughout the day that I am contemplating putting all mine in containers otherwise I will lose it all 🙁
Great tips!