Container TLC
Growing plants in containers is one of my favorite forms of gardening. Come August, however, I've had it with deadheading and lugging watering cans. Last spring, when I was preparing to pot up my containers, the memory of spent, sticky nicotiana ... [... more]
Fine Gardening |
Think Outside the Window Box
There comes a time when a garden needs a jolt of novelty or a finishing touch to bring it together. One way to do this is to add window boxes to your home. These details fuse indoors and out and make the house and garden whole. I have them ... [... more]
Fine Gardening |
Wonderful Winter Containers
During the cold months of January and February, when the setting is bleak and the sky is gray, winter containers can cheer up the soul and provide a colorful punch to the landscape. Many gardeners give up on their potted creations in the fall, ... [... more]
Fine Gardening |
Thrillers, Fillers & Spillers
One of my favorite garden pastimes is cooking up new ideas for planting containers. I've never bothered to count just how many pots I plant each year, but the number easily tops 100. But no matter how many pots I display, I've come to realize ... [... more]
Fine Gardening |
Enter the 2008 Container Design Challenge
This year's contest asks you to embrace the versatility of container gardening: A pot-or anything that holds water-is an easy way to create an instant water feature. Explore the variety of plants that can grow in these conditions while creating ... [... more]
Fine Gardening |
Three Ways to Design with Containers
Planting in containers is a lighthearted way to garden. It has everything going for it-and anyone can do it. Container gardening requires less time, space, and energy than inground planting and is just as much fun. In terms of plant material, the ... [... more]
Fine Gardening |
Tips for overwintering plants in containers
When the air turns chilly in fall, gardeners often discard, propagate, or find a home in the ground for their outdoor potted plants. It's a pity because much of this is a waste of effort and plants. Many perennials and shrubs can live for several ... [... more]
Fine Gardening |
Soil in Containers Should Be a Good Mix
One of the most important things a potting soil needs to do is provide roots access to air by letting water drain away from them. In the ground, the soil is usually deep enough to let excess water drain beyond root zones. In pots, however, water ... [... more]
Fine Gardening |
Make Your Own Hypertufa Container
Stone troughs are not easy to come by, and when I do stumble upon one, I can't justify spending hundreds of dollars to buy it. Instead, I make my own out of hypertufa. Containers made from this substance are wonderful for displaying rock-garden ... [... more]
Fine Gardening |
Staging a Container Plant Display
I have a passion for plants in pots. I grow them by the score in a sprawling garden of containers arranged like a border on my patio. By early summer, my garden of 50 or so pots of annuals, tender perennials, and the odd hardy plant has become an ... [... more]
Fine Gardening |
Celebrate Spring
Spring doesn't suddenly burst into bloom just because the calendar says it's March. In the North, winter can linger for weeks or even months, while in the warmer regions of the country the jump from winter into spring can be as quick as a few ... [... more]
Fine Gardening |
Using Containers as Elements of a Design
Looking out the window at my garden, I find it hard to imagine it without containers. Sixty of them, strategically placed throughout my garden, provide design solutions for difficult places. I use containers as major structural elements to help ... [... more]
Fine Gardening |
