I have been an avid container gardener for several years now. I have learned a great deal about container gardening principles and practices but despite my progressive container gardening knowledge I have to say that there is one thing I continue to struggle with each year; starting. I have had trouble getting my container garden started each and every Spring since it’s creation. Even the assistance of my handy little garden diagram which I draw each year to help plan the upcoming year’s container garden is of little to no help when Spring actually arrives. One single trip to the garden center or nursery leaves me paralyzed. Too many flowers plus too many containers equal too many choices and a feeling of overwhelming anxiety sets in. The lighting conditions on my container garden is varying degrees of shade which significantly narrows down my selection of plants, but this still does little to reduce my anxiety. If there are fewer plants for me to choose, I then begin to stress over which plants to combine. I know, so much drama for no reason. Just writing about my craziness is exhausting, so to alleviate my axiety I am committing to creating one container at a time. This will prove especially helpful to those that are completely new to container gardening. It is easy to see container gardens in magazines, books or even someone else’s container garden filled with dozens of beautifully blossoming plants and become a bit anxious and/or even jealous. This gut reaction is what often causes me to swing into action and become overwhelmed. I propose that we must resist this urge in order to keep container gardening a pleasurable experience.
So how do you create one container at a time? Let’s first cover the bare necessities that you will need to create your very first container (ONE CONTAINER!)
A container (Make sure there is at least one drain hole in the bottom, otherwise you will have to drill one)
Potting mix (Do not choose any type of soil, the mix is lighter weight and keeps container plants healthier)
One or more plants or transplants (Coordinate your plants with the container and/or with each other. Choose plants with similar, soil, lighting and watering requirments). If you want that instant full and overflowing container look that you see in pictures make sure you choose larger plants and/or tansplants other wise you may be dissapointed after planting.
Gardening Gloves (Always use gardening gloves when using potting mix as the package indicates to avoid disease)Trowel
I truly believe that this is all you need to create your first container. Pretty simple right. If you do not know which plants to pair together remember you can always plant one per container. Additionally if you want to try mixing different plants look for inspiration in books, magazines and the Internet and choose one container idea at a time to implement. If you take your time with each in every container before you know it you will have create your the container garden that you have been longing for.
Tennille
Today’s Reminder: Enjoy the ride
Today’s Quote: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step – Confucius
A very sound approach …. one container at a time …. cheers! ~ bangchik