Container Gardening

Picture of the Week

Leptospermum 'Patricia Ann' Ball Horticultural Company

Photograph © Kerry Michaels

Diamond Trellis from H. Potter

When you are planning your gardens, for drama and for increased gardening acreage, don't forget to think up. A beautiful trellis in a container garden can be gorgeous. It can add interest on it's own, or be used as a backdrop for vines or tall plants. It can be useful as a screen for an unsightly feature. I regularly grow vines on a trellis in front of the hideous electric meter, which is right by the door and drives me insane.

I also spray paint bamboo in cool colors to make tipi trellises.

I love these trellises from H. Potter. Imagine how cool they would look if you put them in three large containers grouped together.

Here are some more vertical gardening ideas.

And a book review, Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces

Great flowering vines for container gardens.

Photo © Kerry Michaels

I'm a little obsessed with planting tiny containers. There's just something really cool about them. Fairy gardening and true miniature gardening is very hot right now, and I don't know if planting tiny stuff really counts as miniature gardening, but regardless, I put up a picture gallery of some of the small containers I've done over the years.

Enjoy!

Mini Garden Ideas and Pictures

Succulents at Snug Harbor Farm

Photo © Kerry Michaels

Tomatoes from Burpee Home Garden

Watch out, East Coast. The Burpee Food Truck is on the last leg of it's circuit around the country and it's heading up the East Coast (though sadly, they aren't making it all the way up to Maine). The food truck is part of the Grow Anywhere Tour, which has wheeled it's way into food deserts and cities all over the US. They are giving away 30,000 pounds of fresh vegetables and 13,000 vegetable plants to people who live in areas where fresh food is scarce.

Bravo Burpee!

For more info and a schedule of stops, check out:

Burpee Home Gardens Grow Anywhere

Container Garden by P. Allen Smith

Just back from a truly inspiring trip to P. Allen Smith's Garden2Blog conference. I have come back with lots of pictures, ideas and thoughts from my trip, which I'll be posting about in the upcoming weeks.

The first thought I want to share is one that I find I'm putting into practice more and more, which is putting a single variety of plant in a beautiful pot. Besides being simple and elegant, the right plant in the right pot can be stunning. It's also a great way to design with multiple pots. If each has a single plant, they can be grouped and moved as the season progresses and some plants begin tower over the rest.

While I still love mixed containers, and creating them, I love the challenge of pairing a single plant with just the right pot.

Choosing a Container

Agave Container Garden at the P. Allen Smith Farm

Photograph © Kerry Michaels

I am ridiculously excited that I am off to the third annual Garden2Blog event, hosted by P. Allen Smith at his farm in Arkansas. Allen brings garden writers and bloggers in from all over the country for this extravaganza and, as one might hope and imagine, he is an amazing and generous host. His property and gardens are spectacular and his container gardens, which are everywhere, totally rock.

To be sure, I will take lots of photos while I'm there and will blog, tweet and Facebook about what's going on.

I have to admit that I'm kind of a worm wimp, however I love worm compost and compost tea, so about a year ago I set up my Worm Factory 360. This fall, when temps plummeted, I decided I would try to be worm-friendly and house them in my basement. A fruit fly storm later, I moved the bin out to my unheated garage, leaving the red wigglers to their chilly fate.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I went to see if there were any worms who had survived the winter. I imagined a few hearty souls shivering in the corner, waiting for kinder temperatures. To my great surprise, there were worms galore.

My husband teases me about my small-scale adventures in vermicomposting because he has two compost bins outside which each have millions of worms.

Succulents at Snug Harbor Farm

Photo © Kerry Michaels

Photo © Kerry Michaels

Well, my annual plant drag has begun. This year I have gone bulb crazy, starting begonias, dahlias, and butterfly weed, to get a jump on the season. To shelter tender plants and bulbs from the cold nights, I fill up a fleet of wagons, collected from yard sales and neighbors whose kids have outgrown them, and drag them out of the garage in the morning and back in to stay warm for the night. I'll also harden off my plants this way.

Our last frost date isn't until the end of May, so I'll be dragging the plants that won't withstand a frost, or simply don't like the cold (tomatoes and basil for example) until then.

I drilled holes into the plastic box for drainage and started non-edible plants in it. I try not to grow edibles in any plastic that isn't 'food grade' because there is potential for toxins to leach from the plastic into the soil.