Containers: A Little Space For Nature To Call Home
How much space does it take to create something truly beautiful in your outdoors? A thousand square feet? Five hundred? How about one? For a splash of beauty in a small space, look no further than a container. Containers are the beautiful, artistic, trendy, yet compact answer to enhancing your outdoors. They bring elegance, and a touch of class to any space, indoors or out, and spotlight areas like your front door and patio. They are also an excellent way to lend privacy to your entrances and any basement level windows. With containers, you can bring a pop of color to your home and enjoy your flowers without worrying about animals ruining them.
Containers come in different shapes, sizes and styles to work with your specific needs and taste. They are a great way to prominently display one or more specific plants in your garden to create that splash of color. Best of all, containers are great space savers that work for nearly every kind of flowering plant, shrub or herb.
Container Size
When it comes to achieving the perfect artistic look, containers do involve planning and design. Choosing the right sized container is important, because it determines the kind of plants you can include. For containers near your entrance, a good rule of thumb is to have a container that’s about one-third the size of your front door. For the best aesthetic effect, go for an odd number of containers (1, 3, or 5) of varying sizes placed symmetrically or asymmetrically near your front door.
Choosing The Right Plants
Containers are versatile and support a vast majority of plants including decorative tropicals or kitchen herbs. It is important to keep the length of your plants’ roots in mind when deciding what size container to buy. Large containers can hold small trees or shrubs, while small ones are suitable for small flowering plants like geraniums, begonias or violas, which are especially beautiful in the summer.
When choosing plants for a container, consider a mix of these three types:
- Thriller – these are plants that grow upright or upwards. Look for evergreens like cypress or juniper or elegant tropical plants like bird-of-paradise.
- Filler – these are plants that fill out the container and make it look lush and beautiful. Use foliage, hebe odora, grasses like mondo grass or carex. Colorful flowering plants also make excellent fillers.
- Spiller – these plants “spill” or grow over the sides of the container and are very pleasing to the eye. Choose from plants like creeping jenny, sedums, or English ivy for the best look.
Setting Up Containers Correctly
One of the most important things to keep in mind about setting up a container is location, location, location! This will determine how much sunlight your container gets, and therefore, what plants you can put in them. Some plants need more sun, while others need shade, and still others grow well in both.
Likewise, because you will need to water some plants more than others, it is important to have the right base and drainage. This will also ensure that the container is stable and water logging doesn’t take place. Whether they are made of clay, concrete, ceramic or metal, placing containers on a small pedestal or pot feet can help ensure stability and create a good drainage space below them. They also prevent base rings (like coffee mug rings) from forming on any solid surfaces like patios or driveways.
Remember to keep in mind the weight of the container, so that it doesn’t damage any surfaces. Modern containers can be connected to irrigation and lighting for easy maintenance and maximum aesthetic effect.
Containers are great for any season and a great way to try out your hand at gardening. They offer a space to experiment with different plants and plant combinations, and create the best impact around your spaces. So bring some containers home this season and start flexing your green thumb!
If you’d love professionally designed containers in and around your home, Rooted In Landscape specializes in container design, and it’s one of our favorite things to do!
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