Designing Container Gardens

Are you through designing a container garden and have your location picked out? Have you chosen your containers? Did you play in the dirt a bit? Then you're ready for the plants! And, the good news is there's almost no plant you can't grow in a container assuming you give it the proper size container, regular water, and appropriate sunlight! So let your imagination and love of gardening go wild! Vegetables have their own particular life span and growing season. This makes them a perfect container garden plant. Veggies are 99% water, so you need to be sure the soil is kept moist when growing them. Be sure your container is large enough so plants won't dry out between waterings. A good example is tomatoes, they need a minimum of 5 gallons of soil to grow well and allow the roots to expand. Check with your local garden center or look at the seed packet to help determine how much space your plants need.

Designing A Container Garden: Herbs and other plants

A small container placed in your kitchen works well for such things as garlic, herbs, and salad greens. This keeps them close at hand for easy accessibility and frequent use. Try mixing up the types of plants you put into a single container. Veggies can be mixed with herbs, vines, and bedding plants. Many can be used as ornamentals due to their colors, textures, and overall looks. Just be sure that the plants you're placing in the same container also have similar light and watering requirements. Below is a chart that suggests several plant types and their corresponding light requirements. These plants also work well when mixed together in the same containers keeping in mind their sunlight requirement. This is by no means a complete listing, simply a few ideas.

Leaf lettuces

Chives

Impatiens

Verbena

Begonias

Mints

Asparagus fern

Gomphrena

Red fountain grass

Geraniums

Coleus

Zinnia

Sweet potato vine

Sage

Recommended vegetable container sizes:

Beans 3-5 gal.
Beets 2-3 gal.
Broccoli 1 plant per 5 gal.
Cabbage 1 plant per 5 gal.
Carrots 3 gal. (12 in. deep)
Swiss chard 3 gal.
Cucumbers 3-5 gal.
Eggplant 5 gal.
Kale, turnip, or mustard greens 3-5 gal.
Lettuce/salad greens 1-3 gal.
Onions, green 1-3 gal.
Pepper 3-5 gal.
Radishes 1 gal.
Squash 5 gal.
Tomatoes 5 gal. Tomatoes, cherry 5 gal.