Container Gardening For Those Will Little Space.

Before we had room for an in the ground garden we gave container gardening a try. When the conditions aren’t just right where they are.

Container gardening  really gave us the opportunity to grow flowers and vegetables without having yard space. Even though we now have a large property and lots of gardening space we still do the container gardening thing because we like it.

Container Gardening On The 11th Floor

When I lived in Toronto my home was on the 11th floor. Not much garden space but I made great use of the balcony and containers.

We even have containers with both vegetables and flowers growing around our little patio. It’s so cool to reach over and pluck a strawberry or tomato while I am playing my guitar outside.

This year we are going to have a few window boxes as well. I think they will make a great herb garden that I can access directly from the kitchen window. Now that will be very cool indeed.

Container Gardening Configuration

We don’t usually group our containers as we did when we didn’t have much room but I have seen some yards that have beautiful configurations of flowers in containers. I may give that a try this year and see how we can do with a themed container garden.

A container gardening tip that works for us is to just remove the plants that have finished blooming and swap them out for another plant that is just starting to bloom. Keeps your container garden looking fresh all the time.

I have to admit that I am no designer so I have to learn from what others do. I can look at an arrangement and like it but I find it hard to create it myself. One thing I have learned is that varying heights work but never put the tall plants around the short plants so that they don’t get sunlight. That doesn’t work well in the long run.

Choose plants with a long flowering season, or have others of a different type ready to replace them as they finish blooming.

Container Gardening Containers

Experiment with creative containers. You might have an old porcelain bowl or copper urn you can use, or perhaps you’d rather make something really modern with timber or tiles.  If you decide to buy your containers ready-made, terracotta pots look wonderful, but tend to absorb water. You don’t want your plants to dry out, so paint the interior of these pots with a special sealer available from hardware stores.

Cheaper plastic pots can also be painted on the outside with water-based paints for good effect.  When purchasing pots, don’t forget to buy matching saucers to catch the drips. This will save cement floors getting stained, or timber floors rotting. Always use a good quality potting mix in your containers. This will ensure the best performance possible from your plants.

If you have steps leading up to your front door, an attractive pot plant on each one will delight your visitors. Indoors, pots of plants or flowers help to create a cosy and welcoming atmosphere.

Decide ahead of time where you want your pots to be positioned, then buy plants that suit the situation. There is no point buying sun lovers for a shady position, for they will not do well. Some plants also have really large roots, so they are best kept for the open garden.

If you have plenty of space at your front door, a group of potted plants off to one side will be more visually appealing than two similar plants placed each side. Unless they are spectacular, they will look rather boring.

Group the pots in odd numbers rather than even, and vary the height and type. To tie the group together, add large rocks that are similar in appearance and just slightly different in size. Three or five pots of the same type and color, but in different sizes also looks affective.

With a creative mind and some determination, you will soon have a container garden that will be the envy of friends and strangers alike.

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Gardening at home is a great way to help cut down on food costs so it’s a rewarding hobby in more ways than one. The only thing is a lot of people think that you need a lot of yard space to grow a garden, well we thought that.

I can definitely say that gardening has changed my life so I would like to share a couple of home gardening tips that will show you that you can have a garden with just a little space.

We started our first garden in containers. Yup, just a few pots and we were on our way to being home gardeners.

The first thing you need to think about is what basic needs do plants have.

1. Light
2. Soil
3. Water
4. Temperature

That’s pretty much it. Give a plant the right amount light, soil and water along with the right temperature and you can grow your own little veggie garden.

So here a few home gardening tips that will help you successfully grow veggies, even indoors if you want.

1. Your Garden Needs Light

You might have just looked at point #1 and said DUH!! but lighting is vital for a healthy plant. Without the proper lighting you could be doing everything else 100% and still fail, so pay close attention to your source of light.

When we first started gardening it was a pretty small garden and I didn’t pay any attention to the path the sun follows through the summer and ended up with a garden that pretty much had to grow in the shade most of the time.

2. The Soil You Plants Live In

Plants have to put down roots to survive. If the soil you use is too hard you need to change that. We had very clay soil so we dug up the little plot we chose for our garden and then mixed it with about the same amount of peatmoss.

Adding the peatmoss did a couple of things. 1. It allowed the soil to become less dense than the clay was so the plants could sink roots easily. 2. The ground didn’t drain well at all before the peatmoss and now it drains just fine.

3. We All Need Water, Even Plants

Your veggie plants are going to need watering on a regular basis so they don’t dry up and die. But at the same time you don’t want to water them so much that you drown them.

The top of the soil can look dry and people will run for the water but it’s better to stick your finger in the dirt about an inch or two and see if it’s dry down there. Lots of times they don’t need watering so you are just wasting water.

I already mentioned the soil needs to drain well, so pay attention to that when you water.

4. Temperature Is Kind Of Important

The temperature usually isn’t that important during the summer but when you are first planting outdoors in the spring you want to keep in mind the most common date for the last threat of frost.

Here where we live I have heard all my life to plant before June 10th at your own risk. You can plant before that most years but I would put a cover sheet over my plants at night until the threat is gone.

Using Containers For Gardening

I would add that you can grow your home garden in containers, even indoors, as long as you meet the needs of your plants.

The really cool thing about container gardening is that you can move them to the best spot, unlike my first garden.

Don’t be afraid to transplant your veggies into a container that’s big enough so they can grow a strong healthy root system.

We used containers to grow strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, so many things but the coolest thing I have grown in containers was potatoes. We got a lot of potatoes for the size of the pot we used. We hung the strawberry container and let the plant grow to the ground.

I planted the potatoes in the container and in our garden on the same day and harvested them at the same time. The potatoes in the ground were bigger but there were about the same amount in the container, they were just a little smaller, but just as good.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mary_Hanna

A box garden is an exceptional item for indoor or outdoor decorations. There are many types of of containers for gardens to be found in the market. They have different shapes and sizes. These Garden pothave been designed in multiple colors which can draw the eyes of a plant lover. These urns are appreciated for their exclusive beauty.

The Garden pot is made with various types of materials. It may be created of ceramic, wood or plastic materials. They may also vary in their shape. Many garden containers are round-shaped, square-shaped, box or oval-shaped.

There are big and small outdoor pots. The small pots are meant to be placed in home. They can be displayed on the walls of the home, thereby providing grace to the room. In most gardens, the containers are either kept in a row, kept horizontally or hung. This increases the grandeur of the plot.

But the containers for big garden should be put to use properly. In a large box gardenwith big place, you can keep a biggarden. In the same way, you can use various, beautifully designed big vessels with distinct hues, and fix many big gardens in it before placing it in the outdoors for viewers’ Liking.

In this modern era, maximum credit is given to beauty and decoration. The concept of natural look and gardening is on the increasing. The container garden can be made beautifully with colorful big and small plant containers.

Now a days there is huge demand for plastic containers In various parts of the world, the usage of plastic containers is growing in big numbers. These containers are available in various colors and shapes. The balconies and terrace plot are great places for these bigplant vessels.

A plastic containeris easy to handle. If a plastic vessel falls on the ground, it won’t easily break. But the troubles of using a plastic container are quite a few. It is not sturdy and is likely to bend. It is not suitable for keeping heavy soil and may tear quickly. Moreover, they are prone to heat and will surely melt or become discolored under the sun. It is best to keep these vessels indoors.

A beautifully decorated box garden with many garden containers is an art of scenic beauty. A urn garden with assorted garden containers, exquisitely crafted, diverts the attention of the Garden pot enthusiast from the polluted plot to a pollution free plot.

Although sage is most commonly associated as THE herb used in the bread stuffing we all squish inside of the Thanksgiving turkey, this herb plant grows in several different varieties that each impart their own unique flavor.

Hopefully reading this article will expand your use of the sage herb into areas never considered possible….and….will take you on an enjoyable culinary journey of the herb.

Common Sage (salvia officinalis) grows as a perennial evergreen bush. The plant should be pruned to encourage new growth with stronger flavored leaves. Pruning will keep the plant in a uniform bush shape without the woody stems associated with the sage plant. The leave should be harvested before the plant flowers and either dried, frozen or preserved in vinegar. Common sage is best used to flavor fatty meats such as pork, goose, lamb or duck and oily fishes. Sage is used in sauces and stuffing and is many times sautéed in olive oil until crisp and added to pasta sauces.

Tricolor Sage (salvia officinalis tricolor) sports three colored leaves, hence the name of tricolor. The leaves are beautifully streaked with variations of the colors green, pink and white, lending this plant a beautiful appearance that is guaranteed to add color and texture to the herb garden. The tricolor sage plant is not as hardy as other sage varieties and will need mulch cover to survive a harsh winter – or consider bringing it indoors for the winter to enjoy fresh. Tricolor sage has a milder flavor that lends well to use in poultry dishes, soups and eggs.

With grouping the pots in batches having one large plant in each group can create a focal point for the container garden that will make it look more focused. Bold leaves and striking colors can also be used to create focal points.

You can use a touch of garden art on your container garden design flora pots. A mix of perennials, houseplants, herbs trees and shrubs can be used for your pot garden and you can try and experiment as many number of times you want with your different ideas before selecting one.