What To Plant in Your Container Garden

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If you’re looking for a low-maintenance but thriving garden, container gardening is a great way to get a big pay off for less effort. Read on for tips on how to garden in a container and what plants are best.

Why Container Gardening?

Opting for container gardening is not only convenient but is also a fantastic opportunity to improve your garden aesthetic. Container gardening is the perfect answer for folks with limited space or accessibility issues. Popping some beautiful blooms or tasty veggies in containers is also a great way to add extra color and beauty to your outdoor space.

How to Choose Your Container

There’s plenty to consider when selecting and preparing your container garden. Assess the area where you hope to place it: what height, width, and depth of a container can fit comfortably? Containers come in lots of colors and textures, so you can customize them to complement your exterior decor. Whatever container you choose, make sure it has good drainage, and be sure to choose plants that will grow comfortably within the confines of the pot.  Keep in mind the larger the mature plant is the more space it will need for its root zone.

How to Prepare Your Container Garden

Get your supplies ready and start getting excited! Once you have your container, you’ll need to make sure you have basic gardening tools like a small spade and garden fork, a watering can, soil, fertilizer, and of course, your seeds or plants. Be sure to take some time to research your plants and seeds and plant accordingly for the best possible harvest. 

Grouping Your Plants

When choosing the right plants for your container garden, consider which plants have similar needs. Certain plants do well growing together, and others do not. Match plants with similar sunlight, water, and soil needs, so the whole container is getting what it needs at any given time. If you are growing large plants in containers like tomatoes and peppers, it is better to only place one plant per pot so that there is enough space for the root systems to produce better fruits.

Here are some of our favorite plants for container gardens:

Florals

Geraniums 

These sweet beauties are tougher than they look. They don’t mind dry heat and can handle a bit of neglect. They come in a vast range of colors, including pink, white, violet, salmon, and red. They generally grow up to 10-14 inches tall.

Begonias

Begonias are another tough but beautiful option for containers. They have tremendous and prolific blooms that will reward you all spring and summer. Place the container in full to part shade to preserve the beautiful color of the petals. Another bonus is that these plants drop spent flowers on their own, so they require very little maintenance.

Petunias

We’re hard-pressed to think of a flower with more versatility in its beauty than the petunia. It comes in endless shades so you can choose the perfect match for your garden. There are a few different variations in their growth habits: at Kaw Valley Greenhouses our 4-pack petunia varieties are more compact while our pint and 6-pack petunias will cascade over the edge of the container. Give them full sun, fertilize about every two weeks and pinch them on occasion to encourage more branching growth.

Calibrachoa 

Calibrachoa are made for containers, in fact they don’t really like being placed in the ground. They come in a multitude of colors to complement whatever look you are going for. The multitudes of small petunia-like flowers put on quite the show throughout summer and fall and don’t need any deadheading.

Cannas

Canna lilies are a show stopper in a large container. They provide a lot of height and give your garden a tropical feel.

Sweet Potato Vine

These large-leaved vines are an excellent choice for adding a punch of color that will spill over the edges of your container. If they get too long they can easily be trimmed back. Sweet potato vine is well suited for sun and part sun, but they also tolerate some shade. A larger container is preferred, as they are quite vigorous. 

Vinca

Vinca offers the best of many worlds; their spreading habit makes them a great ‘filler’ plant for containers, while their exceptional heat tolerance keeps them beautiful through the hottest days of the year. Vincas bloom all season long, showing off large, dramatic flowers that butterflies absolutely love. To top it off, this nearly-perfect container plant is deer-resistant, and can handle the occasional missed watering!

Coleus

Coleus makes for a wonderful filler plant for container gardens. It’s highly versatile and has unique leaf patterns with colors that seem to glow. This incredible plant can stand alone or hold its own among other container garden beauties. It grows quickly and should be pruned back occasionally to maintain a bushy habit.

Edible 

Chili Peppers

Add a little spice into your life by growing your own chili peppers! You’ll need a pot that’s a minimum of 12 inches in depth. We recommend planting hot peppers over sweet peppers; they will fare better in containers. They will need lots of full, direct sun, so make sure to put the container in a spot that gets plenty of light.

Herbs 

Herbs are perfect for container gardens. Some herbs, like mint, when planted in a full garden, may spread like wildfire, so a container is an excellent way to keep them, well, contained! Having a herb garden container near your kitchen or door is a great way to add some fresh flavors to your next tasty dish. 

Leafy Greens

Lettuce, kale, cabbages, swiss chard and spinach will all do great in a container setting. Space them out well so they have room to grow and make sure the container has a depth of at least 8 inches. You can harvest these vegetables repeatedly for many tasty salads or smoothies. 

Tomatoes 

What’s a garden without tomatoes? Thankfully, tomatoes don’t mind the confines of a container garden, as long as the container is 14” or more wide and deep to accommodate for the plant’s root system. Determinate varieties are best suited for containers, as they stay more compact. You’ll have to find the right balance for these plants. They love the sun, but they need plenty of watering and feeding, too. With proper care, tomatoes are some of the best rewards you can harvest from your container gardening! 

Container gardening is an excellent option for all skill levels to grow lots of beautiful plants. If you are looking for help picking the best container plants for 2021, and the perfect pot to put them in, we’d love to help you find the perfect options for your space!