Making of a container garden

Day in the life of the landscapers wife...

Sometimes I get to do the fun tasks. At least I think this is stress relieving & fun.

 

So we start with some containers. The dark colored containers are about 2  ft wide. and stand about 2 ft tall.  I have used them over the past couple of years.

 

If first starting out with a new planter. Make sure to drill drainage holes in the bottom. We are not making floating water gardens.  The smaller tan planter fits on a deck rail..

 

It is not recommended to fill the entire container with "dirt" Both need stones or something to allow drainage.. To make these lighter &  manageable, I use packing peanuts, it allows me to pick these up with somewhat ease. I fill the large ones about 2/3 full of peanuts & the small ones about 1/4 full.

Since I have used these containers before I scraped off about 2 inches from the top, to give it fresh soil. I a special "moisture" control mix.. It makes it easier if they don't get watered every day. It also has fertilizer in it. It is only good for the year.. So I refresh with some fresh soil each year. I fill the big pot within 1 1/2" of the top. 

This is my set up when I get ready to dig in.. My little seat is on wheels, so I can move from plants in the corner to the containers, easily. I prefer this to standing.. helps the feet.

All the choices going into the container gardens.

 

I don't specifically plan everything going into them ahead of time, for this client I am doing 2 containers, so I want them both  to be the same, so I buy in multiples of 2. I pretty much have free reign on what colors go in. I take into consideration their company colors, and what compliments their building, sun / shade requirements. These are going at an entrance which one side gets 100% south sun & the other gets only partial sun. I try to rotate them every couple of weeks, so they grow evenly.

 

Okay the meat & potatoes. The tall red leaf canna was put in first. It can grow up to 3' tall.

the small dark green leaft with little white flowers, is called starblast.  The grass that looks crazy is called Baby Tut Graceful Grass. I also put some Rosemary in there for the senses. (it's kinda hidden in the baby tut grass, you can see it a little better in the next picture)   These are all the taller items in the container.

 

To the right ( in the picture ) are some Wizard Jade Coleus . They will get tall 1' tall so they are kinda in the back of the container.

 

 

So for the front, I try to have several things that will trail over the sides.

Starting on the left silverish color, silver falls Dichondra, then Coralberry Punch Superbells, some kaleidoscope coleus that will get tall behind these, and then to the right is some Marguerite Sweet Potato Vine.

 

 

I didn't get a good picture of the tri-color sweet potato vine.. it's a pink/green leaf.

 

I put a little more dirt to clean it up and WATER.

 

No I didn't use everything in my plant stash on these 2 containers. More containers to come.

 

I'll take pictures in a month or so, to show the growing progress.