Container gardening is easy to do and there are many reasons why www.jardinjarvis.com thinks it is also a sensible gardening option.
Here are 7 reasons to grow plants in containers.
1. Scope. Plants that require a longer growing season than you have to offer can be started indoors to bloom outside in summer and autumn. Frost-sensitive plants such as bay laurel and lemon verbena make wonderful houseplants in winter and spend the summer in the garden. Just make sure that in spring they are allowed a transition period from limited sunlight indoors to brighter light outdoors. The ‘orangery’ technique is the basis of concept, which includes growing citrus fruits in containers so they can move indoors to overwinter.
2. Ambience.Containers set the stage in outdoor rooms. Create a group of sun loving plants around a large houseplant that will be spending the summer outdoors. A jumble of various pots stacked on stands and clustered loosely lends a pleasantly casual look. Containers aligned with precision and planted with trim specimens, such as rosemary standards or ivy topiaries, create instant formality. A trio of large pots makes a garden appear more settled; they suggest the accumulation of years' growth.
3. Focus. Potted plants and containers create interest. Grouped in strategic places, they break the monotony of a terrace or a patio and create an ambient scene. Build a simple theme garden around a colour or an idea. A collection such as pansies, Calendula, and heliotrope makes a cheerful display. Containes with of sedum and Sempervivum always look simple but elegant.
4. Zing. Nestle containers of bright annuals among duller plants in the garden for added colour. To keep plants looking good: Water when soil dries; pinch off spent blooms, and fertilize weekly.
5. Flexibility. Rearrange plantings to suit the season or your mood. Enjoy pots of violets and narcissus in spring; petunias in summer; and Coleus in autumn.
6. Limitation. Contain thugs that are too invasive to let loose in the garden, such as ribbon grass (Phalaris), blue lyme grass (Elymus glaucus), and mints of all kinds. Plant these or other gregarious growers in terracotta pots, and then plant the pot in the ground, with the lip of the pot even with the soil surface
7. Mobility. What gardener hasn't wished that a plant grew somewhere else? Plants in pots are easy to move around. Light up a dark corner with pots of white, pink, or yellow flowering shade lovers such as impatiens and Helichrysum. Some plants with a short blooming period, such as lilies or foxglove, look magnificent in containers and grow well in those temporary quarters. Transplant them to the garden when they are finished blooming. Of course, if you are about to move your household, containers allow you to take the garden with you.
