A benefit of growing plants in pots or planters is that you can move them around to suit your needs. If you rearrange your furniture and you think that one or two pieces would look nicer in the other area, it’s no trouble at all to scoot them around. As long as the lighting remains about the same, your plant shouldn’t mind the transition at all. Another benefit of this way of planting is that you can simulate almost any environment depending on the type of soil you use and where you position things.

If you are trying to make an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of pots and plants, you can arrange the pots at different heights by hanging them from the ceiling or placing them on supports. Hanging them will allow you to make the most of the space you have. This is called “vertical gardening”, and if you pull it off right, you can make a very pleasing arrangement of plants while conserving valuable space. That’s probably important to you if you live in an apartment. Another way to go vertical is to use a wooden step ladder. Paint it with colors that complement your decor and arrange your plants on it in a beautiful cascade of color.

The maintenance of container plants takes slightly more time, since you have to water each of them and do so more frequently. However, contained plants require less square footage than those in an actual garden. Be careful though, because it is really easy to over-water your plants. Doing so can be as damaging as under-watering them.

When choosing containers for your plants, buy a couple more than you need. Then you’ll have extras if you break one or you want to add more plants later. You don’t need to buy the same shape and size, but you might want to stick the same style so they complement each other. Plastic ones are the best and require the least amount of watering. If you want to stick with clay or earthen pots, remember that they absorb water. Line the inside of them with plastic to help them retain water. Remember, pots can be disguised with baskets and wrappings. Buy them for the plants that they will contain.

Remember also that the size of your containers will ultimately constrict the size of the plants. Choose them based on what you plan to grow in each one. If you buy a plant on the internet, search for specifications about the volume of root space it requires. Use this little tidbit of information to your advantage if you want to try a plant that can grow very large. Planting it in a pot that will constrict its growth may allow you to enjoy that plant in a smaller size.

If the benefits of container gardening are appealing to you, let me encourage you to start planning out your container garden today. Write a list of all the plants you’d love to have. Do some research to discover what you can about the shape and size of the containers you should buy or make. Buy your plants and pot them up! Then it’s just a matter of arranging them in ways that enhances your home.

May you find peace in your garden!

I grew up in San Luis Obispo, CA. On many weekends, however, we would drive down US Highway 101 to Solvang, a lovely little Danish American community about 60 miles to the south. That’s where my earliest experiences with gardening and gardens took place. My grandfather owned a lot which was a full block deep. Behind the house, which he built himself, were two gardens. As you faced the backyard, the vegetables and fruits were on the left, and the flower garden was on the right.

My grandmother felt that she was called to visit the sick and elderly, and she always took them flowers, and sometimes vegetables and fruit, to brighten their lives. That’s mainly what the flower garden was for. Before he moved to California and became a carpenter, my grandfather was a farmer in Iowa. The care of the kitchen garden had been an important part of his daily routine, and he simply was never willing to give it up. He told me on so many occasions, “Jerry, people need to get their hands in the dirt to be happy. We all need a connection to the ground.”

He was an incredibly gifted gardener. Anything he planted and cared for just grew wonderfully. Manure from the chicken coop was cooled off in the compost pile, grass clippings from the front lawn never went to waste, and potato peels and unused lettuce leaves went right back into the soil via the compost pile. I learned to love the garden at a very early age.

My grandmother had a little sign she hung just outside the door to the garden. You’ve probably seen it somewhere.

“The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is neaer God’s heart in a garden
Than any place else on earth.”

In the next post, I will write about my Dad, and his giant green thumb. Please come back and join me for the rest of this ride. We’ll have a lot of fun together, and I hope to hear about your gardening influences. Until then . . .

May you find peace in your garden . . .

Jerry

Here are a few other reasons you may be interested in growing a container garden.

• You live in an apartment or condominium. You don’t have a yard in which you can plant a garden. On this blog, I am going to show youi the ways that you can use the space available on your balcony, patio, or front entrance way to grow plants that are beautiful an might even feed you fresh produce.
• You have a house, but it is on a small lot. Perhaps the little bit of yard you do have is covered with brick or concrete, something all too common in urban environments. I’m going to suggest ways to cover those hard surfaces with beautiful plants and decorative containers.
• You have neither the tools or time to dig up sections of a yard, plant a lawn, flower garden or vegetable garden. Large garden plots are time consuming and can definitely require a major physical effort.
• You are physically unable to dig and rake and hoe a large garden plot, but you can put soil in a pot or planter and sow seeds or place bedding plants.

If any of these reasons have prevented you from experiencing the benefits and enjoyment of growing plants. whether flowers or vegetables, even though you have been longing to do so, you have come to the right place. In the coming days and weeks, I am going to teach you how to grow a container garden. You’ll learn about plants, soil, and the best containers in which to grow them. All that . . . and much much more.

Please comeback! Visit often! Comment on what you read! Share you own successes and ideas. We’ll all be better for it!

May you find peace in your garden . . .

Jerry