Container Gardening: A Beginner's Guide
Make gardening easy with flower pots.
Do you want to get into gardening, but don’t know where to start? Or are you low on space? Maybe you want a maintenance-free garden?
Container gardening is the perfect solution. Planting in flower pots is an easy way to begin gardening without the commitment of digging up your yard.
In this article, we’ll give you all the things to consider when starting a container garden, tips and tricks to make it easier, examples of great ideas, and maintenance and cleanup advice. Our goal is to make you feel comfortable enough to begin your garden this season!
Space & Location:
Map out your location on a piece of paper. How many pots do you think you want to fill? Don’t forget about hanging baskets!
Check on the space you want to use throughout the day. Write down the times of day and how much sun it is getting. Is there morning sun and afternoon shade? Morning shade and afternoon sun? Full shade? Full sun?
Does it rain in your location? Many people don’t bother to water their pots after it rains, without realizing that their pots are totally sheltered from the rain. Your plants can die of thirst during a rainstorm if you don’t pay attention!
Choosing Your Pots:
If you already have pots, just use what you have!
If you need pots, look for outdoor plastic pots. Plastic is good at retaining moisture (good for our Missouri summers) and is lightweight, but still strong enough to last and look good for years.
Choose whatever size you think looks good in your space. A 12” diameter pot can fit 4-6 different plants in it, depending on the size of the plants.
Your pot should have drainage. Without drainage, you can easily cause your plant roots to rot from overwatering. It if doesn’t have drainage, you can drill 3-5 holes in the bottom of it.
Saucers aren’t necessary unless you have downstairs neighbors that don’t want water running onto their balcony. However, using a saucer in the drought of summer water can help the plant drink up more before it all evaporates. Just don’t use a saucer in the early spring, when it rains often. This will cause the water to sit in the saucer, keeping the soil wet and rotting the plant roots.
Choosing Your Plants:
Follow these steps in the correct order to narrow down your plant choices!
- Choose sun or shade plants. If you’re gardening in the shade, check out our article on Shade Gardening in Southwest Missouri to find a list of suitable plants for your garden. If you’re gardening in the sun, you have a much wider range of options to choose from.
- Get rid of high-maintenance plants (if necessary). If you are only going to water your pots once a week, look for drought-tolerant plants. Be realistic with yourself. If you choose very thirsty plants and don’t water them, you’ll end up very disappointed in your garden. Some plants need to be deadheaded, like marigolds. Deadheading removes the unsightly brown parts of the plant and encourages more flowers to bloom.
- Find the right sizes of plants. As you’re shopping, read the mature size of each plant. If it’s a trailing plant, like a petunia, then the size shouldn’t be an issue. If it is a bushy plant, like Impatiens, then you should consider how many you want in each pot. Usually, 1 or 2 is sufficient. Planting too many plants together can lead to leggy plant growth, or just a waste of money.
- Find a “thrill, spill, fill”. This is a common method of arranging flower pots. A “thrill” plant is a tall plant, usually with fun shapes or textures. A “spill” plant is one that will trail over the edge. A “fill” plant is something that stays a smaller size, but will take up space in the pot so it doesn’t look empty.
- Buy some potting soil while you’re out buying plants. Any mix labeled for outdoor use or container gardening should be fine.
Here’s a short list of plants we love to use in containers at Myron Royce Gardens!
Sun-Loving Container Plants
Thrill
- Salvia
- Snapdragon
- Angelonia
- Hibiscus tree
- Palm Tree
- Alocasia Elephant Ears
- Colocasia Elephant Ears
- Celosia
- Gomphrena
- Dahlia
- Canna
- Croton
- Ornamental Grasses
- Ornamental Pepper (fall)
- Strawflower
- Senecio Winter Whispers
- Gerbera
Fill
- Vinca
- Sunpatiens
- Pansies (fall)
- Ornamental cabbage (fall)
- Lantana
- Pentas
- Zinnia angustifolia
- Marigolds
- Verbena
- Dianthus
- Hen & Chicks
Spill
- Sweet Potato Vine
- Petunias
- Lobelia
- Scaveola
- Calibrachoa
- Dichondra
- Burro’s Tail
Shade-Loving Container Plants
Thrill
- Caladium Elephant Ears
- Ferns
Fill
- Begonia
- Euphorbia Diamond Lace
- Impatiens
- Coleus
- Polka Dot Plant
Spill
- Asparagus Fern
- Creeping Jenny
- Wandering Jew
- English Ivy
Plant Your Pots:
Tip #1 – If your pot is more than 10 inches deep (and you’re not planting a tree or sweet potato in it), you can fill the up the bottom of the pot with something other than soil, like empty cans, containers, cut up pool noodles, or even pinecones. Why? It will make the pot much lighter if you ever have to move it, prevent you from wasting soil, and can improve drainage if the plants are going to be watered frequently.
Tip #2 – Fill your containers with this method: Take your plants out of their plastic containers. (If you’re having trouble, squeeze them). Fill up your pot with soil most of the way, and then set the plastic containers on top. The rims of the plastic containers should be level with the rim of the pot. Fill the rest of the pot up with soil until it is perfectly full. The containers will fill up too. Remove the containers, and simply set the plants in the locations you want them to go. This method of planting is less messy and confusing, and you won’t have to pour soil on top of the plants once they’re in their container.
Tip #3 – Water your pots right after planting. The soil will settle down – that’s not a problem. Generally, you should water a plant until water runs out the bottom.
Maintenance and Cleanup:
Throughout the season, water your plants at least every other day. Outdoor plants require more work than houseplants, and need water more often. If you don’t want to water your plants, you can consider an outdoor irrigation system with sprinklers for your pots.
If the flowers on your plants die, go ahead and pull them off.
If a vining plant is getting too long, go ahead and trim it.
Once the weather cools down and the frost comes, you should pull your plants out and compost them (or throw them away). Tender annuals won’t survive a frost. They’ll die and become a bit slimy. Even if your plants are perennials, we recommend replanting them every year. Perennials don’t usually look their best in pots after one year.
You can plant mums, pansies, or other fall annuals in the pots once summer is over. However, you may still want to move your pots inside or throw a sheet over them to protect the flowers during each frost.
When you’re all done with flowers for the season, throw your plants away. You can choose to throw the soil away, or leave it in the pots until next spring. If you choose the latter, you should fertilize the next plants you plant in the pots, as the soil does run out of nutrients.
If you had a serious pest problem, wash the pots with soap and hot water. Get under every little nook and cranny of the pot. Those pests are sneaky and can hide anywhere!
Congratulations! You did it! It’s time to start dreaming about what to plant next spring. Make a note of anything that could be improved, which plants worked well and which ones didn’t. Take pictures so you remember how they looked.
Conclusion
Container gardening is a great way for beginners to get a feel for gardening without becoming overwhelmed. You can expand your container garden each year as you learn more. Eventually, your house will be the envy of the block!
Myron Royce Gardens fills hundreds of flower pots every year for our customers in the Springfield-Branson area. If you want inspiration for your flower pots, check out our Container Gardening Portfolio. If you’re interested in our services, just give us a call at 417-443-2648 or contact us here.
About the Author
Myron Royce Gardens is a professional landscaping company based in Ozark, MO. We provide landscape design, installation, and maintenance services throughout the Springfield-Branson area.
We started this blog because we want to share our knowledge and expertise with everyone in Southwest Missouri. Landscaping is our passion, and we want it to be a pleasant experience for everyone.
If you want to see more, follow us on Facebook!
Share This Article!
