Carry on Gardening : Gardening topics : Growing in containers

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Growing in containers
Hanging baskets
The courtyard garden
Gardening on balconies
Why not make a sink garden?

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Containers are useful
Maintenance and position
Choosing containers
Where to get containers
What are containers made from?
Planting up containers
Which compost?
Display idea
Publications

Containers are useful

They can be used in a small space for added interest.
You can put them anywhere - on the windowsill, by the backdoor, on the balcony or patio as well as around the garden.
They are moveable - you can arrange them in different groups and take delicate plants indoors for protection. Some can be mounted on trolleys or castors for easy moving. If you want displays at different times of year around the walls of your house you could also consider hanging baskets.
They are very adaptable - you can create any soil condition you require from marsh to alpine - and position them in sun or shade.
They can be arranged in groups and at different heights - for vertical gardening - and you can find a working height that suits you and makes the most of any space.
They are versatile - you can change the plants throughout the year for maximum interest every season. You can also use them for vegetable growing.
They are small areas for easy maintenance although they do require more watering and feeding than border soil.
They come in very many shapes, sizes and colours.

Maintenance and position

Watering is important - clay containers dry out more quickly than those made of other materials. Gel is available which can be mixed with growing mediums to improve moisture-retaining qualities.
As with house-plants, guard against over-watering.
Food for plants in containers gets used up so they need regular feeding, preferably on a little and often basis with liquid feeds.
Weather conditions can be a problem with the containers e.g. hard frosts may crack clay containers and damage the roots of plants, especially those in clay and plastic.

Choosing containers

The style and shape should compliment other containers when grouping them for display.
The style and shape should compliment the plants to be grown.
The size of the container will restrict the size of the plant. This can be useful for keeping some of the larger trees and shrubs to a manageable size.
You have to get the container home! This is particularly important to consider with the larger containers which may be heavy or bulky. Your garden centre may have a home delivery service, but are likely to charge for this.

Where to get containers
Most garden centres stock a whole range of containers made of all the different materials mentioned above. This is particularly so of the larger garden centres and those attached to the DIY superstores. There are also a large number of manufacturers of containers, many of whom advertise in the gardening press.

What are containers made from?
There is a whole range of materials from which containers are made: plastics, fibreglass, terracotta, stone, Hyper-Tufa, peat and even newspaper.

If you cannot afford to buy containers, then why not make them, or look around for things to plant up. You can make them from anything that will take compost and the plants you want to grow. They will provide you with an unusual feature. For example you could use old oil drums or chemical containers, paint tins, boots, lavatory pans, cisterns, stacks of tyres, tea chests, boxes, etc. Take care to wash out any chemical or paint residue and ensure that there is adequate drainage in the container. Old sinks provide a particularly good container in which to grow alpines. Making a sink garden is detailed in Why not make a sink garden?

Planting up containers
Whatever containers you are using, whether bought or made, care must be taken with the planting up to get the most benefit out of your display.

With used or unusual containers, make sure that they are clean, wash out any old compost, chemical or paint residues. If needed, treat the container with preservative or paint it to disguise its original use. Tea chests look good if they are painted matt black. In using paint or preservative, check the manufacturer's instructions to ensure it won't damage plants.

To help prolong the life of wooden containers - particularly the flimsier types - you can line them with thick black polythene.

Deciding what you want to grow in the container will tell you the growing conditions you will need to create. Unless you are creating a bog garden, the container must have drainage holes. If not, the compost will become saturated and stagnant, killing the plants.

Having created drainage holes, you must find ways of avoiding the compost being washed out of them! This is done by placing a layer of stones or crocks (pieces of broken clay pots) in the base of the container. Over this rough drainage material, place a layer of finer stones or shingle. The depth of drainage material will depend on the depth of the container but as a rule of thumb it should be about one sixth of the total depth.

Which compost?

This, too, will depend on the plants chosen. A general soil-less potting compost will do for most plants and has the added benefit of being light in weight. For containers with more permanent shrubs or trees, then use John Innes No.3 Compost. More specialist compost mixes, e.g. for alpines, cacti and acid-loving plants etc., (ericaceous compost) are available from most garden centres.

When planting up containers, take care not to group the plants too closely. The plants will grow and can get overcrowded. You should always think of the eventual size of the plant so that the container won't end up looking, or being, top-heavy. As there is a very wide selection of plants that will do well in containers it is not worth providing a plant list here. Instead, refer to the many gardening books which list plants for containers.

Display idea
To help give height to your display of containers, why not use a wooden stepladder? Painted matt black this provides an excellent feature on which to stand smaller containers. These can be positioned on the steps and, if planted correctly will provide a cascade of colour from top to bottom.

Publications
Collins Easy Container Gardening, Carolyn Hutchinson, Richard Jackson. 1999. Harper Collins. ISBN 0 0041 40583

The Gardening Which? Guide to Patio and Container Plants. Sue Fisher. 1997. Which? Books. ISBN 0 8520 26099

Window-box Allotment, Penelope Bennett. 2001. Ebury Press. ISBN 009 187789X

The Container Expert. D.G. Hessayon. 1995. Expert. ISBN 0 9035 05436