There are many advantages to container gardening such as lack of room or space for a full-size garden, apartment living or just to decorate your patio area. Container gardening is also ideal if you have very poor soil in your garden, as growing plants in a container can be controlled and easy to tend.
Before you start your container garden there are a few tips that will help to ensure your plants grow healthily. Firstly, although almost any container can be used for container gardening, it must be a container that has sufficient drainage to allow surplus water to drain away from the roots of the plants.
Choosing your container is only limited by your imagination. You may opt for a traditional wooden garden planter or large plastic garden pots. But you may choose something a little more unconventional such as a garden sink, an old stockpot, buckets, or even an old toilet. It all depends on the look you want and how much of a talking point you want your container garden to become. Most garden supply stores and garden nurseries sell a variety of containers.
If you wish to make the most of your container for the whole year, consider planting bulbs for the spring and then refilling your container with summer plants. A container filled with daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths will not only look beautiful but smell fragrant too. Other container gardening ideas for the Spring are bowls full of sweet perfumed Iris. They have beautifully formed blooms that range in color from yellows, blues, purples, deep reds, and browns. Pansies and daisies are particularly good for an outdoor display of color at this time of year. These are also suited to a hanging container. A shallow container of crocuses can look stunning if tightly planted.