Container Garden Designs

Container garden designs can be as elegant or as simple as you want them to be. Choosing the right container, plants and location for your container garden adds style and curb appeal to your home.

See some examples of container gardens.

Container Gardens

Container gardens are simply plants grown inside a container. Container gardens have always been popular, particularly among city dwellers who enjoy a cheerful pot of flowers on the balcony or stoop.

Types of Containers

Gardeners employ great creativity when they plant container gardens. You needn’t spend a fortune on fancy pots or special containers. Some ideas include:

• Plastic pots: Found in most home and garden centers, plastic pots have many advantages. They usually have pre-drilled holes in the bottom, allowing extra water to escape and keeping a balanced amount in the pot. They’re lightweight, easy to clean, and store well. Many are now available with decorative rims that make them look more like cast stone or terra cotta from a distance. Best of all, they’re the most inexpensive option.
• Stone containers: Stone containers provide a regal, elegant air. From natural gray cast concrete to other types of stone, these containers add a rich look. Depending on their size, they can be very heavy, so be absolutely sure where you want them before filling them with soil; they may be impossible for you to move once they’re planted with flowers.
• Terra cotta pots: The traditional flower pot materials is terra cotta, a reddish clay. These add a sweet, country-style decorative touch to the garden. They are relatively inexpensive and come in many sizes. Terra cotta allows for some water evaporation, so in addition to the drainage holes, the porous nature of the pots may make the container garden dry out more quickly. They also need to be taken indoors and stored out of the elements in the winter time, or else the freezing and thawing may cause the material to shatter.
• Whiskey barrels: Whiskey barrels or half barrels are actually wood barrels used to make whiskey. Once the beverage is fermented, the whiskey manufacturers sell the left over barrels to the garden center industry. Whiskey barrels are quite popular for container garden designs, especially half barrels. The barrels will retain some of the whiskey smell, but this won’t harm the plants. The main drawback with using whiskey barrels as planters is that the wood will rot over time, forcing you to replace the container.
• Window boxes: An old-fashioned window box with vinca vines and bacopa spilling over the sides, crowned with shocking pink geraniums, is an eye-catching sight. Window boxes can be mounted on any surface, and some are made with brackets to hang over a porch railing. These container gardens add wonderful charm to older homes.
• Watering cans: Many gardeners recycle old watering cans into decorative container gardens. Old metal watering cans add a whimsical touch to the garden. Drill drainage holes inside, fill with soil, and plant them up for a fun garden touch.

There are hundreds more choices of containers for container gardens. Old livestock watering troughs, recycled bathtubs and sinks, buckets, wheelbarrows – you name it, someone has probably planted a container garden in it. The key elements to consider when selecting containers for container gardens is to ensure good drainage, so add holes to the bottom of any container.

Container Garden Designs

The first step in container garden design is to select the container. Once you’ve chosen your container, next decide which type of container garden you want to create. Do you live in a hot, desert climate? Then choose low-maintenance, low-water need succulents, cacti and other relatives. Do you plan to add your container to the porch or deck where you spend most of your summer evenings? Plant light colored, heavily scented flowers. The light colored flowers seem to glow in the evenings, and you can enjoy the scented flowers as you sit near the container.

Sources of Container Garden Design Ideas

There are as many variations on container gardens as there are gardeners. For some ideas to spark your creativity, visit the following websites:

• Garden Ideas: From window boxes to porch planters, Garden Ideas provides detailed plans, instructions, and suggestions for you to create the perfect container garden to compliment any décor.
• Gardening Guides: A treasure trove of ideas and resources, Gardening Guides helps novice and experienced gardeners alike create their dream container gardens.
• Container Garden Design: The name says it all! A complete website devoted to container garden designs, covering plan selection, container selection, design tips and more.

Container gardening provides even the most brown of thumbs with the chance to play in the dirt. Find a pot, grab some soil, buy a six pack of annuals, and create your very own container garden! Bold text

• Winter Squash Plants Photos
• Sugar Maple Tree Picture
• What Plants Grow in Winter

• Gardenia Plant Care
• Jasmine
• How to Build an Outdoor Fireplace
• Honeysuckle
• Maple Tree Diseases

• English Garden Flowers
• Butterfly Nectar Plants
• Main Page
• Water Garden Container
• Designing Home Container Gardens