| 5 SIMPLE CONTAINER GARDEN TIPS | | | Although many people simply use filled plant containers on their deck or patio to add interest or color, attractive containers filled with healthy plants can also serve as great problem-solvers! | | | |  | | ADVERTISEMENT | | | | | To start with, regardless of where and how you're using them, for maximum impact, containers of mixed plants should include a "Thriller" (usually a tall plant), a "Filler" (something bushy to fill empty spaces) and a "Spiller" (something that gracefully spills over the pot). Created by award-winning container designer Todd Holloway, the containers below include those 3 essential elements for mixed containers: a thriller (Canna Tropicanna®); fillers (a mix of coleus) and spillers (sweet potato vine, calibrachoa and variegated Swedish ivy). |  |  | | However, some plants like Tropicanna® cannas with their colorful foliage and easy-care Flower Carpet® Roses, can all stand alone in a container and still make a strong statement, which makes life even simpler! Another great stand-alone plant is Festival™ cordylines. With their dramatic color and bold strappy foliage, Festival™ Burgundy (below) serves as the thriller, filler and spiller all in one. |  | | Another key to mixed container success is to combine plants by their specific needs of water, sunlight, shade and soil. For instance, this combination of plants that all prefer well drained, rich soil and tolerate partial shade—Flower Carpet® Coral rose, heuchera (coral bells) and ornamental grass—comes together to create an easy-care container that only needs to be watered every few days, depending on temperatures and sunlight. |  | | When selecting your containers, keep in mind where and how it will be used. If it's a container that you plan on moving around a bit, go with a lighter weight plastic, fiberglass or resin container. If it's going to be located in a hot, sunny location, choose a light-colored container to deflect some of the heat. Terra cotta containers are versatile, but for water-loving plants, you're better off with a less porous material for better moisture retention. Regardless of your container style or size, for optimal success it needs to have good drainage. Otherwise, your containers can fill with water over time and kill the plants. Once you've created your containers, you'll find plenty of ways to use them to solve an array of garden, deck or landscape problems or challenges. Here are 6 simple solutions. | | 1. Brighten dull spots Interesting containers filled with colorful plants can be used to brighten up dull or colorless spots in the garden, deck or patio. They're also perfect for adding color to those areas where early bloomers have already done their thing. |  | | This mixed container with Tropicanna, French marigolds and calibrachoa brightens an otherwise dull late-season corner. |  | | This single-color filled container of Flower Carpet Yellow, Lady's Mantle and carex brightens a very monotone landscape. |  | | Containers filled with Pacific™ Coprosmas add elegance and pull together the competing colors of the door and floor. | | 2. The great disguiser! Containers can be used to cover or take attention away from an unattractive wall or bare spot around a deck or porch. This heat-loving combination of Tropicanna canna (thriller), with coleus and yellow African daisies as fillers, and sweet potato vines and red pansies as spillers certainly detracts from a stark metal wall. |  | | 3. Groupings are Great! By grouping several containers together, you can create a sense of fullness. You can also rotate containers around, depending on what looks best during any particular time of year. As an example in the before-and-after photos below, if left without containers, this primarily monotone all-brick patio and poolside area would be a bit boring. The homeowner started to add interest by planting Flower Carpet® Coral tree roses (aka standards) along the fence area. The Flower Carpet roses bloom for months on end, but still didn't add the full pop of color the owners were looking for. So, they added some seasonally-blooming hydrangeas to the left of the Flower Carpet and then filled the stairs with a grouping of potted lobelia, fragrant honey-scented alyssum, pansies and other annuals. As the season progressed, those containers were swapped out with fall tones. |  |  | | 4. Mark transitions—for interest and safety! Attractive containers filled with eye-catching plants can be used to mark transitions in deck levels, stairs or even walkways. Not only do containers add a pleasant touch to those settings, they can also help with safety issues, as with this poolside container filled with Flower Carpet Pink roses (below, top). Likewise, pots of Flower Carpet White edge the drop-off points of a long set of stone stairs (below, bottom), serving as a gentle but effective reminder. As a bonus, those bright white blossoms are easily seen by night visitors to the garden pathways. |  |  | | Potted plants also help to alert visitors of varying deck levels as seen below, where multiple containers of strappy Festival™ Burgundy plants add texture (and shade for Miss Kitty). The mixed-height steps on the deck below are "warned" by a colorful mixed container featuring Tropicanna canna at the thriller, pink African daisies (osteospermum) as the filler and pink petunias, sweet potato vine and white bacopa as the spillers. |  |  | | 5. Add a tropical touch to your water feature! Is your water feature a bit life-less or boring? Containers filled with Tropicanna cannas and other water-loving plants can be used in water gardens to add color, texture and interest. Tropicanna, papyrus and other pond lovers are easy to include in water features once you learn the basics. |  |  | | 6. Enjoy some privacy And finally, after a long day or working in the garden (or office), wouldn't you enjoy a bit of privacy? Pots of taller plants or a mix of tall and small can be grouped together around a corner of your yard, garden or deck to create an enchanting garden nook. For instance, the little seating area below looks like it would already be quite private, but one side of it faced a busy neighborhood road.. So, by adding containers filled with small ornamental trees and daylilies, the homeowner was able to enjoy privacy from all sides. The photo at the bottom demonstrates how a little bit of ingenuity, some brightly colored fabric and a sumptuous hammock complete with comfy pillows can become a mini oasis, surrounded by a few exotic heat-loving plants like Tropicanna canna, begonias, yuccas and others. |  |  | | As illustrated here, containers can solve a myriad of landscape and garden challenges. Follow these tips and you'll be able put together fabulous containers and solve some problems while you're at it! |  | | | | | You received this email because you signed for updates from The Old Farmer's Almanac.
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