Plant Beauty in Convenient Packages: Container Gardening

Mary Meyer,Professor,University of Minnesota

Copyright ©  2007  Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.

Containers for plants can be anything!!

As long as it has:

Drainage!!

Drainage!!Drainage!!

Plant containers can be anything that holds soil !!

Remember: DrainageDrainageDrainage

Know your plant’s moisture requirements!

Moisture-loving plants can stand in water: bacopa, peace lily, cannas. Plastic pots are good for these plants.

Most plants cannot stand in water and need oxygen as much as moisture. Double pot these or use containers with several drainage holes.

Dry loving plants require drainage and pots that dry out: terra cotta, or clay. Plastic is worse for these plants.

Container options: terra cotta or clay

• Classic choice because it is great for plant root growth: provides good air or oxygen exchange.

• Heavy• Dries out quickly• Develops mold,

salts etching

Container options: plastic & fiberglass

• Lightweight, maybe too lightweight

• Hold moisture longer, maybe too long

• No staining • Colorful, can be

decorative and attractive

Container options: wood

• Minimum temperature fluctuation: good insulators

• Needs replacing eventually, can last many years

• Informal, natural appearance

Container options: glazed ceramic

• Beautiful• Non-porous and

can be too airtight for root growth

• May clash with plants flowers and foliage Phormium, New Zealand

flax

Container options: metal

• Little insulation: can be very hot or very cold, less of a problem in large containers

• Can be very attractive

Container options: stone, hypertufa troughs

• Heavy in weight and cost

• Harder to find• Moss grows on

containers• Drainage may

be a problem.

Traditional Container Soil Mix:

*1 part garden soil*1 part peatmoss

(wet first: soak in a bucket)

*1 part sand

Use new soil each year.

Most people use synthetic soil.

Lightweight; holds water and air; ideal for plant growth.

Cocc

Coconut fiber or coir is in the ingredients.

Slow release fertilizer is in this potting soil, but in a very small amount.

Container plants need fertilizer. You can use a slow release fertilizer in the soil mix and weekly liquid fertilizer applications for actively growing flowering annuals in containers.

Watering: very important

• Daily in summer• Small and

hanging containers need extra care

• Type of container type makes a big difference

Pouches require lots of water, use a piece of hose in the back of the pouch.

What plants should you use? It depends on:

Site Personal preferenceColor schemePurpose: food, color, hide/cover, frame,

soften, attract attention

Hot Sites call for careful plant selection.

Purple or pink fountaingrass loves sun and warm or hot locations

Shade is easier: Begonia‘Dragon Wings’,great container plant.

Hidcote, England

Fuchsia: likes cool weatherand lots of moisture.

Osteospermum ’Orange Symphony’ likes cool weather; opens with sun

Personal Preference

formal

informal

Color scheme: red and pink

White color theme: featherreed grass ’Overdam’Miscanthus sinensis ’Variegatus’, caladium and Zinnia angustifolia ’Crystal White’

Purpose: define a patio: Sissinghurst white garden

Define a bench: Plectranthus,sweet potato vine‘Margarita’,coleus,supertunia

Fuschia,Carex buchananii, licorice plant,nasturtium,fan flower.

Decorate: Denver Botanic Garden: Up on the Roof

Define or make a new garden with just containers

Place plants where there is no soil access.

Cover a bare wall: use tough plants.

Containers allow you to grow plants where there is no access to the soil.

Highlight a special plant collection: carnivorous plants; herbs

Denver Botanic Garden: a trough for every county, showing their native plants.

Mini-landscape: Trough Gardens; Rice Creek Gardens.

Use containers to feature an area: entryway, walkway, door, bench.

Sissinghurst entryway

Containers can highlight a flower border

Combinations for Containers

• Resources, fun websites: • http://www.plantbynumber.com/

Ball Horticultural, Inc. • http://www.provenwinners.com click

on: Combinations

Proven Winners: A. Lysimachia ‘Goldilocks’ 2 plantsB. Lobelia ‘Laguna Sky Blue’ 3plantsC. Petunia ‘Supertunia Double Purple’ 2plants

“Pennies from Heaven” Proven Winners

A A

B

B

C

C

B

New forms of old favorites

Nasella or (Stipa) tenuissima, pony tails, Mexican Feather Grass; Osteospermum, Angelonia’Angelface Blue’, Argyanthemum ‘Butterfly’

Scirpus cernus,fiber optic grass; vinca,dusty miller,viola

Tibouchina grandiflora, large leafed gloryflower is a South American flowering tree,tropical plant.

Tropical look: Olbrich Gardens, Madison, WI

Use coarse and fine textured plants. A banana shredded from hail at the Arboretum.

Nicotiana sylvestris, flowering tobacco and Hibiscus

Containers for food and horticultural therapy

Use raised beds for elders, children, or where soil is very poor.

Container vegetables require: 1. Full sun 2. Lots of water3. Fertilizer4. Rule of thumb for container size: 3 gal of soil for every 1’ of plant

William Baffin hardy shrub rose, probably some roots in the ground, roots cannot survive above ground winters in Minnesota.

Containers for all Seasons

Containers can providebeauty and interest in winter.

In our zone 4, nothing survives the winter in a container, without significant protection.

Further References:

Best Annuals for Minnesota: http://www.florifacts.umn.edu/St. Paul (USDA Winter Hardiness Z4; Heat Z5; 169 growing days)

Books: Contain Yourself by Kerstin P. Ouellet, 2003. Ball Publishing.

Copyright ©  2007  Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.