Want to enjoy the benefits of beautiful blooms but feel that you don’t have the space? Worried about having to manage a large garden? Need a little visual pick-me-up in a corner of your yard that doesn’t get any sun?
Container gardening might just be for you!
Among its many advantages, container gardening allows people with limited space to enjoy a garden without a large planting area. You can create a beautiful container garden with a wide variety of flowers, herbs or vegetables on a small patio or yard.
Container gardens also are more manageable than traditional gardens and they are certainly more portable. That spot for your fuchsia a little too sunny? Try the shadier area a couple of feet away.
And you can truly let your creative streak fly with container gardens because you have an additional aesthetic tool at your disposal: the container.
A container can be a hanging basket, a beautiful pot or a windowsill bracket. For example, at Warner’s Nursery, our selection of pottery and planters is very extensive. Whether your design style is classic, modern, contemporary or anything in between, you’ll find a container that will suit your taste and your needs. Our full line of unique and functional pottery is available in many shapes, sizes and colors.
Here are some tips for those of you starting a new container garden:
- Good Drainage – Make sure the container you choose has a hole or holes big enough for excess water to escape. And if it is a pot that you plan on placing on a flat surface, you might want to elevate it so the water isn’t blocked. This is particularly true of those of us living in an area where monsoons can suddenly flood our potted plantings!
- Good Soil – You will be creating your plant’s environment and key to that is good, healthy soil and a slow-release fertilizer so your plants don’t starve. We have an excellent array of soil and fertilizers at Warner’s and we’ll be happy to discuss what will work best for your container garden.
- Careful Transplanting – When you are removing your plant from the nursery container, take them out carefully. If it’s in one of our multi-packs, you can squeeze the flexible plastic to ease the plant out. If in a nursery pot, try pushing it out from the bottom. Please try to avoid pulling the plant out. Also, if the plant is root bound, you might need to remove the excess root coming out of the bottom holes – and remember to gently spread out the roots before placing the plant in its container.
- Beware of Air Pockets – In a pot with several plants, make sure there’s enough soil between the plants to avoid air pockets that can cause the plant roots to dry out, killing your plant.
- Maintenance and Watering – As we all know, gardening is almost as much art as it is science. Make sure you know the conditions your flowers, herbs and vegetables prefer and water accordingly. Typically “moist, not wet” is a good rule of thumb, but you can ask our experts at Warner’s for tips and hints on making sure your plants will thrive.
Happy Gardening! FBN
Written by Misti Warner at Warner’s Nursery in Flagstaff.
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