5 Top Container Garden Tips

Having a container garden has many practical advantages. It isn't a particularly new idea, but one that is often overlooked when it is really the best answer. Containers can be used in conjunction with a traditional gardening arrangement, or they can be the garden. This is especially useful if you are limited for space. We are all familiar with the humble window box. This is the same basic idea, but usually the idea is extended to mean pots, a box, urn or half barrel at ground level containing herbs, plants or flowers.

If you are happy with your garden as it is, then stick with it. But if you can see the advantages of having everything growing in containers, then this article may be of interest to you. There is still a lot of work to do, but because things are better contained, you tends to have better control over the entire arrangement. Gardening becomes easier in many ways and arranging it all in an attractive manner becomes easier too. With that in mind, here is 5 top container garden tips - a quick guide to container gardening, if you like.

1. The quality of the soil in your garden is of the utmost importance. Dealing with disease in an open yard is not easy, It is of course possible to replace all the soil, but there is likely to be a considerable amount of hard work involved as well as time and expense. Replacing the soil in a container, should disease be discovered, is easy, fast and cheap. Additionally, the disease need not spread, or at least it can more easily be contained.

2. Easy access is another consideration for this type of gardening. If you are disabled, or elderly, or if you just don't like all that bending down, having your flowers and plants in pots can help enormously. You can have them on a higher surface, such as a table, for working with. Those who have to be in a wheelchair will appreciate the convenience of this. You may need the help of someone able bodied to place the pots back down again, however.

3. It is easier to feed your plants with extra nourishment when they are arranged as a container garden. Fertilizers and other plant foods stay where you put them, alongside the plant.

4. You can extend the growing season more easily with this method of gardening. If you insulate the terracotta pots when the cold starts to creep in, they will stay warm, unlike their counterparts in the yard.

5. You will effectively have a mobile garden - even if it's only on your porch or patio. You will be able to rearrange everything easily and quickly at will. Add a few hanging baskets where you can and the effect can be quite stunning!

By: William Hardy

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