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Design a Portable Garden with Garden Containers Flower Pots and Planters
Many people use garden containers, planters and flower pots as a portable garden or for easy rearrangement during the seasons. Apart from choosing the right container for the effect that you want however, and making the right choice of plants, it is also necessary for you to be aware of how to prepare a container or planter for the actual planting.
Natural stone and terracotta containers should be well soaked before use. You should then make sure that you have sufficient drainage since many plants do not like being waterlogged. You can use small stones, pieces of ceramic such as broken crockery or smashed ceramic flower pots at the bottom. It is often a good idea to place a layer of coarse porous material over the ceramic pieces to maintain the drainage, since otherwise it could easily be packed with soil or compost. Buckram is ideal, or any other coarse fabric.
Some gardeners prefer to start of with large stones and add increasingly smaller sized stones on
top. It is important that the spaces between the draining materials are kept free to prevent the roots being permanently under water.You should then add soil, the thickness depending on the plant. Pack the soil around the roots to firmly embed the plant, though keep it loose enough to allow root growth.
Fill with soil or compost to about an inch below the top of the planter to allow room for watering then water the plant and check how fast the water passes through. If this is too fast then the soil will need packed down a bit harder so that water can still pass through, but does not run freely. The idea is for the soil to retain moisture but not to become waterlogged. There is no hard and fast rule, and most gardeners know when it is right.
When you have to repot or replant larger shrubs or trees as they grow, make sure that the soil is moist before moving them or you might damage the roots as you try to pull them out. When planting newly bought plants, try to preserve the root ball as supplied. The condition of the roots is critical in how long it takes your plant to recover from transplanting. Finally apply a layer of mulch to help retain moisture. This is especially important in drier climates where the soil can rapidly dry out.
Planters and containers will generally require a lot of watering, even if kept outside. There is normally insufficient rainfall each day to keep them properly watered and you will likely have to water them at least once a day. How frequently depends on the efficiency of your drainage. The benefit of growing plants this way is that you can organize your garden as you like, and change it as often as you want.
Most plants can be grown in garden containers and flower pots, though the most suited are the annuals. These can be changed to provide a different display each year, and you can shift your colors around the garden to suit whatever theme you want to introduce. Annuals such as alyssum and lobelia (the annual species) provide a good contrast in color, while petunias, periwinkle, snapdragons and marigolds produce a riot of color in the summer when planted together. Annuals can be planted closely together to provide a wonderful show of blooms.
You can also grow flowers for cutting, such as zinnias, delphinium and lilac, and either single stem or cluster flowers are suitable for container planting. Some containers come with a trellis to help keep the longer plants upright and the beauty of containers and pots is that you bring them into the conservatory when it gets too windy for them.
Your choice of container is also important, not only the design but also the material of construction. For example, if you live in a hot climate, natural terracotta or stone containers can dry out quickly in the sun and you are better off with plastic or some other non-porous material. Even painted wood would be better. Weight might also be important to you, and if like moving your planters around the heavy stone or metal planters would be better replaced with fiberglass or light plastic.
Planters for vestibules and conservatories are frequently of hardwood and there are many attractive designs in cedar and oak that look more like furniture than garden containers. If you like the clean look of stainless steel, keep in mind that they can be corroded by chemicals in compost, so make sure you line them. Many people think that stainless steel does not corrode, but they are wrong.
Garden containers, planters and even flower pots look great when used in the garden, and gardens that are designed exclusively round them are truly portable and very easily changed to suit not only the changing seasons but also your changing moods.
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