Designing the Perfect Container Garden

By Karolyn Fournier0

There’s nothing new about growing flowering plants in a container. We are all familiar with the classic dracaena spike surrounded by red geraniums – admit it, your mother or grandmother had that combination on the patio at one time or another. As gardeners progressed, they left those geraniums on windowsills and ventured into experiments with petunias. There were trailing petunias, striped petunias, double petunias and more recently mini-petunias. However, if you’re tired of cleaning sticky petals from your hanging baskets or mixed containers, there are many new planting options for you to try.

Fine Gardening Magazine suggests building containers with three concepts in mind, and the recipe is easy to remember: “Thrillers, Fillers & Spillers”. The “Thriller” is the centerpiece or the attention grabber in the container. They are the tallest plant, and usually the starting point when building the arrangement. The “Fillers” are the plants that fill in the space around the base of your thriller. The fillers will add colour, texture and mass to your container. Finally, the “Spiller” will tumble over the edge of the pot, softening the line between the plant material and the container.

When choosing your thriller, do not limit your choices to old-fashioned green spikes. Banana plants, agave, snake plants and tall grasses make a bold statement in your arrangement.

Fillers include foliage plants with your flowering plants, and remember to include perennials or tropical plants. Perennials such as coral bells or hostas have many choices of foliage colour or variegation. Tropical plants can provide you with unique flowers that bring the illusion of warmer climates. Painted ferns and coleus add colour and texture without flowers. Perennials and tropicals also have a double duty – after the summer is over perennials can be planted in the garden and tropicals brought inside as houseplants. For containers close to a sitting area or front entrance, try adding fragrant plants: heliotrope, lavender, flowering tobacco or even herbs. Brushing up against herb foliage will release the fragrant oils into the air.

Finally, the spillers fall down the sides of the container and by the end of the season may actually reach the base of the container. Potato vine is probably the most popular foliage spiller with lime green, purple or variegated leaves. Try flowering bacopa, ivy, creeping wire vine or even some floppy grasses.

When choosing your contents, keep in mind the requirements of the plants and the location where the container is intended to be placed. If you have all day sun, choose full sun plants. If you only have sun in the morning, choose plants requiring part shade. If you have small containers, remember they will require more frequent watering. Containers located in full sun or windy areas will also require more watering than those in shade.

With watering restrictions, consider a succulent planter. New varieties of succulents, like echiveria and sedum, offer many colours, textures and habit.

Containers require drainage holes in the bottom and should be set on short blocks to allow water to drain and keep roots from drowning. Fill your containers with fresh potting soil. Garden soil is too heavy in containers and does not always drain properly. Old potting soil may harbour pests or disease from past years. Select the highest quality plants. In the heat of summer, containers will need frequent watering throughout the day. Keep containers evenly moist. Check the soil – if it is moist, but not wet, that is perfect. If it is muddy wet – check your drainage. If it is dry, make sure you water until it comes out the bottom of the pot.

Probably the best feature of a container garden is its portability. If you do find you need more or less sun, you can easily move the garden to another part of your yard.

If building a container garden still feels daunting, your independent garden centre staff will be happy to help you create your masterpiece!

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