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Container gardening rocks!
Posted by timethief • 3/10/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: balconies, container gardening, decks, food, gardening tips, Herbs, salad greens, vegetables
I'm into container gardening on my deck. It's a very large deck (32 feet x 12 feet) and I grow salad greens and herbs that are companion planted with flowers. I also have many potted flowers, shrubs and dwarf trees on my deck and hanging flower baskets as well.
All my freinds and family members love hanging out on my deck, and so do the butterflies, birds and bees, especially, the humming birds and songbirds as I have feeders for the latter.
Almost all of our salad greens and herbs come fresh from my deck to the table. They are bursting with flavor and I dry the herbs we don't use during the summer for winter use.
It's amazing how much you can grow in even the tiniest of apartments. All it takes is a windowsill and a little bit of sunlight or a small balcony. Better still is that weeding is a breeze and watering takes very little time at all.
Discussion Questions:
(1) I'm wondering how many other BC Members are into container gardening whether it's on on window sills, on balconies or on decks, etc.
(2) If you are a container gardener, I'm also interested in hearing which plants you have had the most and least success with.
(3) If you are a container gardener, do you have any germination, cultivation, planting, fertilizing, watering and/or other tips that you would like to share.
(4) If you haven't been a container gardener previously will you consider becoming one this year?
User Comments
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I'd say when planting out your container use a weed suppressing fabric and then some sort of gravel on top and then you don't even need to weed them.-
That's a great tip. Thanks for posting it.
BTW my husband just looked over my shoulder and laughed out loud.
Our deck is actually 46 feet long and 12 feet wide.
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I grow all my herbs in those whiskey barrel containers. Everything seems to flourish, particularly the different varieties of basil. I grow from seed and plants obtained from the farmer's co-op. I only use compost mixed into the soil and I water frequently due to the extremely dry climate in Arizona.-
How often do you need to water them in that climate?
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Actually, I water every other day, but I don't soak - just enough to keep things moist. However, during the monsoons, I only water every three days or so.
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I've been considering installing a drip system for watering rather than what I'm using now, which is carrying buckets and watering cans to and fro. My husband says he checked out the hardware store and he could easily install the hosing and drip spigots. If he does that then all I would have to do is attach the hose fitting to the bathroom tap once every couple of days for about an hour.
As our deck is covered and the larger containers are on platforms with wheels I can rotate their positioning so my plants don't suffer from leaf burn. I also rotate the positioning of the hanging baskets too. -
I would have thought at least two times a day, do you get a lot of leaf burn?
@TT
You can actually get a system that has a timer on it that aren't very expensive. -
@ TT - Fortunately, I have a water hose adapter that emulates a "shower" like from a watering can - no hauling. I have drips on my shrubs around the house - no fuss, no muss.
@ ANIN - No leaf burn, I have the containers up against the house on the east side. They get plenty of morning light, but not enough to burn. -
@aningeniousname
A timer - what a good idea. Also I'm scrapping the idea of attaching the hose fitting to the bathroom sink faucet. It would make more sense to attach it to the faucet on the outside of the house. -
These are the timers TT, only 27 quid (don't know what that is in canuck quids)
www.garden4less.co.uk/hozelock_water_timer.asp?PARTNER=ht&gclid=CIXLx4ShmZk... -
Thanks anin. I'll have to get back to you guys later as I have customers approaching.
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I had a few container plants until a few kids mutilated them. Now I am propagating a rose in the window sill. I am hoping it is a slow grower too. We haven't been called about that house yet. -
When my kids were younger, I gave them each their own container to grow carrots in. They loved it! They were so proud.
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@Shirley
I'm betting that you will be a gardener when you are moved into your new house. Am I right? -
Yup! I grew up gardening, playing with worms, and then getting sprayed off with water. Part of the reason I want a rain bucket too. Rain is free.
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We have rain barrels but because we live on the coast we get a deluge of rain every winter so we only allow the eves troughs to drain into the barrels in the summer. In the winter we divert them so the water isn't back flowing towards the foundation.
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I have no luck whatsoever with container gardening. No matter how hard I try, I kill the plants
But in regular soil, I'm golden
So I will be reading these tips with great interest - and maybe I'll be able to use containers as well!-
@Anok
I work with others in a very large in the ground garden and it's okay especially for growing root vegetables, berry bushes, fruit and nut trees. However, when it comes to salad greens, baby carrots, baby beets, turnips and tiny new potatoes, cherry tomatoes, the ones grown in the big garden just don't have the flavor that my container grown ones do. -
I always think peas are better in containers too. It's good to have a couple of containers either side of your back door and let the peas climb up the back wall, very handy.
There is nothing better than fresh picked peas. -
Thanks for the reminder. I forgot to mention the peas and beans. I also grow them on my deck. I love fresh peas and beans. I loathe the canned ones. I grow the peas on trellises along with honeysuckle vines.
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OK - so what am I doing wrong? Because every time I put something in a pot - I kill it.
I've tried using special potting soil, gardening soil, the same soil I use in my veggie garden - changing that around doesn't seem to change anything....
I have containers that have drain holes in the bottom, and I water them so that the plants are moist (not drowning, not dry - although sometimes I do forget to water them - but not often).
I have 2 decks where one is full sun all day (very hot) and the other offers partial shade in the early afternoon, and full sun in the later afternoon.
What am I doing? -
You need to put some rocks in the bottom of the pot to give you a more natural drainage and make sure you tailor your compost, position and plant variety properly. You could even be over watering by the sounds of it. What are you growing in them?
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What are you growing in them?
Pots? Seriously though, I had purchased some herbs from our local greenery here, and I also purchased some pots to plant them in (I took their recommendations) They had the holes in the bottom, but it also had a dish that "fit" into the bottom, with these little prongs that fit into the holes - which drained, but not full on drainage (you know? I assumed they did the same thing as putting rocks in there).
Those herbs received shade in the AM, full sun in the afternoon, and partial sun in late afternoon - they totally freaking died.
Then I have some larger (similar) containers for large flowers that I was growing - they all died too Even the hosta!!! -
What herbs? Don't mention Hostas to me they are the bane of my life. if the sun don't get them the slugs do.
Sounds to me like you are nervous about them and end up over watering them. -
I was growing winter savory and thyme. (Not in the same container).
I also killed, a hosta, day lilies, tiger lilies (which I grow phenomenal lilies in the regular ground), daisies, and one other flower which I can see in my head, but can't for the life of me remember the name of.
I've never been able to keep a potted plant. Potted trees, plants, flowers - indoors, outdoors - nothing.
I can bring them back to life quite well if I can plant them outdoors, but other than that I kill them.
I also water all of my plants at the same time, generally speaking (save for a few that are either in low drainage areas, or plants that don't require that much water). -
With those Mediterranean herbs your soil might be too good for them, you have to remember they grow on scratchy rocky poor soil mostly.
I would add some sharp gravel and a bit of sand to the soil and treat them quite mean they thrive on that. These herbs are the masochists of the plant world. -
Are you being serious, or a bit cheeky? (I can't tell sometimes )
Hey, maybe one day you'll come over to this side of the pond, and help me out. That would rawk. Of course, I'll have to go out and buy some fricken tea... *SIGH*
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No I'm serious, before planting anything you have to know it's natural conditions and plant it accordingly. There is no point in planting an acid loving plant in alkaline soil and hoping it will survive because it won't.
I see this all the time people will say I cant keep this plant alive and then when I ask them what the soil is it's the total opposite of what they need.
I can't go to Amerika, you don't have proper tea. Too busy bloody dumping it! -
I wish the guy at the greenery would have told me about those herb's needs
But that doesn't explain why I can't keep anything else alive - I use the same soil for my flowers, and the potted ones die, but the other ones grow like wildfire (same flowers). -
@anin
It's so cool to discover that you are into gardening too. I ♥ it. -
That's how I earn my living, I have a landscape garden company.
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Wow! I didn't know that. I wish you lived out here. We would probably get along famously. Many Brits live out here. Most choose to live near Victoria on the big island (Vancouver Island). They say our weather is similar to the beautiful south. The island I live on is small and has a Mediterranean climate, and as it's in the rainshadow zone we don't get as much rain as Vancouver or Victoria do. It's normally dry here from the end of May until November.
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Unfortunately I live in the grim north, we have a very wet grey climate a bit like a Seattle type climate. We can grow lovely gardens but have only 5 days a year to enjoy them.
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Oh my ... that's too bad. So why don't you move?
Are there other benefits to living in the grim North? -
Well of course I'm a Yorkshireman and that is enough, they say god made Yorkshire and then as an after thought he made the world. We as Yorkshiremen fully believe that and would only move if god moved Yorkshire.
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We can grow lovely gardens but have only 5 days a year to enjoy them.
What a pity.
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I might have been one to container-garden. However, the landlord, citing a fire department ruling, does not allow plants of any kind in units, or on balconies or walkways.-
LynneaUrania, what kind of nightmare landlord do you have? Not even one plant?!? That's outrageous! -
I'm astonished to hear that you can't even have houseplants. I would not choose to live in a plant free environment myself.
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I did have an ivy plant on the balcony some years ago. I was forced to give it up. I was crushed because I was attached to that man-eating plant!
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My biggest obstacle is keeping the dogs from digging all the potting soil out of my tomato plants. So I bungee a plastic trellis in one corner of my deck to keep my good for nothing mutts at bay.
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I am a 100% container gardener! That's all we have room for! And I love it! -
I have container for growing herbs. It helps to enrich my day with aroma and organic cooking. A little too pragmatic for me -
Hello, TT! Yes, I container garden. My patio and back of house faces west so it gets very hot in the summer. I plant petunias and verbenas- they handle the heat pretty good. Gotta water them almost every day b/c containers dry out fast. One year we planted potatos in a container. Used potting soil and got some nice, big potatos! My front door faces northeast and never gets direct sun but good indirect light - I have great success with begonias. Fuschias like the light but our hottest summer days (90-105F) are just to hot and fuschias get all wilty. -
I don't have a balcony to plant a container garden, but at my old place I grew tomatoes, basil, thyme, pansies, violets, petunias. I loved it.
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I'm lucky enough to have a large and extremely sunny balcony on the top floor of a high-rise. I'd love a real garden, but unfortunately, I have to make do with containers.
I'm not much of a herbs person, so I haven't really bothered with them, although I did have a large rosemary plant for a few years, but it died last fall.
I find tomatoes to be very easy to grow in a fairly large pot. I always had success with them.
But flowers are really my thing. I just like to experiment with all kinds, and always start them from seeds, because I find it dead fun to watch plants grow from a tiny seed.
Many flowers have worked well in containers: sunflowers, geranimums, morning glories, petunias, marigolds, zinnias, are all varieties I've been growing for years with success.
Last summer, I tried black eyes susans and carnations, and they too proved to be easy to grow in containers.
In the winter, I just leave most of my containers outside (except from mums and geraniums, which I take in), and the plants just die, but every spring, quite a few of them come back by themselves from the seeds that fell in the soil.
The care I give my plants is very minimal: sun, water, sun, water. If it's enough for them to strive in the wild, it'll be enough for them on my balcony.
I reuse the same soil year in, year out. Letting plants and roots rot in it provides it with nutrients.
I bought two containers of "chemical" fertilizer, one for green plants and one for flowers. And for the edible plants (like tomatoes), I have a bag of multi-purpose bio fertilizer, which costs around $6.
I fertilize either once a month or when I remember, whichever comes first.
The only other things I do regularly from spring to fall, are weeding and pruning. -
I tried planting oranges but nothing more -
I'm working and also reading this thread when I can. IMO anyone can grow parsley, chives, basil, green onions, lettuces, salad greens, etc. in containers and they will be far more fresh and tasty than what you can buy in supermarkets.
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I've tried lettuce, but that didn't work too well. I think two came out, and they were very tiny.
I may have gotten one small salad out of it and that was it. -
I have also grown lettuce in plastic barrels cut lengthwise. They are much easier to cover at night when a *cold* snap hits.
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We are going all the way here in Florida and we dug our garden today! -
I do both cantainer on my deck and in ground gardening. I have citrus trees growing in containers because they can not survive the winters here, they do great, I also have huge success getting angel trumpets to grow, in fact they are kinda like weeds for me. Basil also grows very well in pots for me, I've done well with potatoes and I'm going to try grapes in containers this year. Roses I have not had such luck with in pots, only in ground for them. I use Vitium B plant food and fish emolsion (sp) both my container and in groud plants. I'm also starting to container garden in a little pond, we'll see how that goes. -
We used to. We, also, have a very large front porch. Our most common plants were rosemary, pineapple mint, peppermint, thyme and strawberries.
Of course, we had larger plots where we grew lettuce (red leaf, green leaf and bibb), zucchini, cucumbers, green peppers, broccoli, and some fruits (failed ). The majority, actually, was for our rabbits, so that we didn't have to constantly buy veggies for them, but it was convenient for us, too! -
I used to keep dwarf citrus trees on my patio. I planted Bibb and Boston lettuce in a circle around the tree trunks. This shaded the dirt and reduced evaporation and gave the containers a "finished" look. Rather than cut the whole lettuce, I would just cut the most mature leaves and let the plants continue to grow. If they get a flower spike in the middle, it has to be cut off so the plant will not go to seed and die. Gave me some lovely salad greens! -
Container gardening is very appropriate for limited space. My wife planted vegetables like pechay and okra in an big empty milk cans. Lately, we started to harvest and eat her labor of love. -
I'm impressed by how many replies I got to this thread and how much great information has been posted. Keep it coming ...
Because I'm a container gardener I find it really hard to walk past empty barrels and buckets and all kinds of other containers that can be used for plants. I have "scored" some olive barrels and some huge plastic mustard containers from restaurants free of charge. -
I have a old Early 50's Chevy truck in my back yard. I turned it's bed into a garden!
When I parked the truck in my back yard I filled the bed full of leaves and compost and then put soil on top of that, I got a can of worms from the fishing store and thew them in too.
Now it is blowing up with greens and herbs!-
That's cool. We have people here who have done the same with old trucks and also with old manure wagons too.
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For anyone interested, my blog contains a number of articles on containers and container gardening, some useful info there. There's also an article on growing herbs. Containers are great for growing the invasive/very vigorous species.
www.owenchubblandscapers.com/news/
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