AARP Preesentation April 8, 2011

CONTAINER GARDENING: It's all about the senses: style, color, fragrance, texture and sometimes even taste. But there are other things to consider:

OUTDOOR CONTAINER GARDENING ~ THINGS TO CONSIDER

1.Identify the growing conditions of your site-- Is it shady and protected or sunny all day long? Or is it a combination of those conditions?-- Is your site exposed to wind or heavy rain?

2.Choose a container garden style or theme

---Container garden styles can be based on a specific combination of plant colors, or a single color, or a type of plant, for example, annuals, herbs or even shrubs; or a single favorite plant such as geranium or lavender. I tend to mix annuals, perennials, herbs, tropicals, etc.

3.Now consider the plants for your container garden: Stand back and imagine your container garden plants after a month, two months...their eventual height, shape and growth habit. How full do you want your container garden to be. What height would be pleasing in your site. Consider plants exhibits three forms: upright, broad or trailing—THAT’S: Thrillers, Spillers & Fillers.A common approach is to combine the three forms, upright, broad and trailing, in one pot. Start with a tall, upright plant, such as spiky New Zealand flax or a fancy-leaved canna lily, OR EVEN THE TRIED AND TRUE SPIKE (D, indivisia). Add one or two broad, mid-height plants such as heliotrope, coleus dwarf dahlias, or the newer PETUNIAS. Then select a trailing form such as ivy geranium, bacopa lobelia, or ENGLISH IVY.

4. Include something for all the senses: In addition to being a visual pleasure, your container garden can provide enjoyment in so many ways. The delight of fragrant flowers, shrubs and vines can make a visit to your garden, small or large, a memorable treat—Try a CITRONELLA for fragrance and get mosquito control as a bonus!. The gentle rustling of tall grasses on your balcony with a warm summer breeze can soothe tired nerves. The sound of hummingbirds making a quick visit to your hanging baskets will be a thrill—both the sound and the sight! And the pleasures of a herb or vegetable container garden, or edible flower like Nasturtian in a floral display, extend all the way into the kitchen.

After considering the above, and deciding which plants you are going to bring into the garden, here are the final considerations when planning, planting and maintaining plantings outdoors:

1. The Container–-This is your call as anything can serve as a container,
IF it meets this criteria: Drainage, Drainage, Drainage!!!
--Saucers are great, if run-off water is a concern, but pot feet are better (allows the drain hole to work without becoming clogged)

2.The Soil –--Any GOOD potting soil will suffice,
IF it meets this criteria:
Structure,
Structure,
Structure!!!
-–I am NOT a fan of so-called moisture controlled soils on indoor plantings because my plants want to get dry between thorough watering and they will do that naturally, if not hindered by the water-holding gels incorporated into some of the newer mixes, but I do use them in outdoor plantings of annuals. I AM a fan of incorporating slow-release fertilizers into the mix, but I also fertilize AT LEAST weekly with a well-balanced plant food (fertilizer like Peters, Miracle Grow, etc) through the growing season.

3.Water-–Containerized plants (excluding cacti and other succulents) need DAILY watering and WEEKLY fertilization. DO NOT count on the rain, after all, we have these guys crammed into pots and their roots are filling those containers!!! Rain doesn’t always (or even usually) aim at our creations and what rain doesn’t get into the container (and most of it doesn’t) is not available to our plants –Since we need to water daily, we also leach out, a little at a time, the fertilizers we’ve added before the roots can take the nutrients into the plants. That’s why we must fertilize every week.

4.Plants–THRILLERS, FILLERS & SPILLERS!

--It’s all a question of preference; as long as sun-lovers are kept with other sun-lovers and shade plants with shade plants, and succulents kept to themselves, anything goes!!!