Container gardening tips

10 Container Garden Tips for Beginners

Kerry Michaels

Kerry Michaels is a container gardening expert with over 20 years of experience maintaining container gardens in Maine. She specializes in writing and capturing photography for gardening and landscape design for print and broadcast media, including the Discovery Channel, Small Gardens, and Disney, among others.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process

Updated on 04/20/22

Reviewed by

Barbara Gillette

Reviewed by Barbara Gillette

Barbara Gillette is a master gardener, herbalist, beekeeper, and journalist. She has 30 years of experience propagating and growing fruits, vegetables, herbs, and ornamentals.

Learn more about The Spruce's Review Board

The Spruce / Gyscha Rendy

Even if you don't have a yard available to you, it's still possible to enjoy container gardening. Once you get the hang of container gardening you might find yourself growing more and more pots each year. But keeping plants in containers alive and thriving doesn't require the same care processes as raising plants that are growing in the ground. Here are some of our best tips for successful container gardens.

01 of 10

The Spruce / Gyscha Rendy

While this may sound like an odd first tip, it can be a matter of life and death for your plants. When there isn't a big enough hole or holes for water to get out of your pot, your soil becomes too wet and the roots of your plants can rot which causes the plant to die.
The bad news is that many garden pots that are sold simply don't have enough drainage. You can often increase drainage, by drilling, punching or carving bigger holes. However, sometimes it's just easier to buy a pot that does have enough drainage. The minimum size for a drainage hole is 1/2 inch in diameter for small or medium-sized pots. For larger sized containers, look for at least an inch in diameter.
It is a total myth that by adding gravel, pot shards, or stones to the bottom of your container garden, you will increase drainage. Some people even say you don't need drainage holes if you put these things in the bottom of your pots. Unless you are a really attentive container gardener, who can water perfectly, or you have a plant that likes wet soil (and there are some that do), you need holes in your pots -- preferably lots of them.
02 of 10

The Spruce / Gyscha Rendy

People often wildly overestimate how much sun their containers get. While you can find a great plant for almost any amount of light, you have to know how much light your container will get before you choose your plants.
To figure out how much direct light your container will get, place it where you want it and then time how long the sun hits it. You can also use a sun calculator to determine your sunlight.
03 of 10

The Spruce / Janet Kwan

Most potting soil has no accessible nutrients for your plants, you need to add those. The vast majority of plants will need fertilizer added to your soil, in order to thrive. You can mix in a slow release fertilizer into a potting mix. To do this, either mix up a big batch of potting soil mixed with fertilizer in a bucket or fill your pot with potting soil and then mix in the fertilizer.
Then fertilize every week or two with a liquid fertilizer, usually a fish emulsion, seaweed blend. It smells awful but really helps to give plants the nutrition they need.
Many people use a commercial fertilizer, and while it will feed your plants and help them to grow if you start using it, you will have to continue because this type of synthetic fertilizer will kill the beneficial organisms that exist in the soil. Organic gardening depends on these organisms so once you've used a synthetic fertilizer, you will have to stick to it.
04 of 10

The Spruce / Gyscha Rendy

One of the best ways to avoid plant panic, or at least minimize it, is to decide what you want before you go to the nursery and make a list. This list doesn't even have to have the exact plants, though if you are ambitious, you can go online or look through plant catalogs and decide exactly what you want. Try to create a list at least with the number of pots, the sizes, and where they are going - so you can get plants that fit the pots and know if you need plants for sun or shade or anything in between.
If possible, it is a great idea to bring either your pot or a picture of your pot with you. Smartphones are great for this. Most nurseries will have someone there who can help you out with your choices. Also, in most nurseries, the plants are organized and labeled for how much sun they require.
05 of 10

The Spruce / Gyscha Rendy

When you are choosing plants for your container make sure that they will play well together. This means that all the plants in one pot should all require the same amount of light and moisture. If you combine plants with different needs, some of them will not thrive. So, for example, if you have a plant that requires full sun, you want all the plants you choose for that pot to also require full sun. If you have a plant that likes to dry out between waterings, you don't want to put it in a pot with plants that like it wet.
To find out what a plant requires, either check the plant tag or if there isn't one, ask a salesperson. If all else fails, try to look it up on the internet.
06 of 10
Read and Save the Plant Tag

The Spruce / Gyscha Rendy

Plant tags are critical. They will tell you how big your plant will get, how much light, water, and food it needs and how much care it will need. The tag will also tell you if your plant is annual or perennial and if it's a perennial, what zones it will survive in.
The tag will also tell you about your plant's "habit," which means its shape and how it will grow. This is important when considering your container design and how to arrange your plant combinations. For example, if you have a large pot you might want some plants with "upright habits," to give your design height and then some plants with a "mounding habits" for filling in your design. To finish your pot, you might choose plants with "trailing habits," to drape over the sides of your pot.
07 of 10

The Spruce / Gyscha Rendy

Many plants don't like abrupt changes and if you acclimate them, over a period of time to changes in light, exposure to the elements, water or temperature, they are generally happier. This is particularly important with young plants and is essential for most plants that have spent their lives in the pampered climate of a greenhouse.
When you buy seedlings in the spring, or if you grow your own from seed, you must harden off your plants. This is a slow and tedious process, but if you don't do it, the chances of your plants thriving will be significantly reduced.
If you live in a colder climate and plan to overwinter your plants, they will also need an adjustment period to get used to less light and drier air.
08 of 10

The Spruce / Gyscha Rendy

There are lots of people out there who will tell you to fill up your containers with all manner of junk - from packing peanuts to milk jugs. While doing this will make your container garden significantly lighter, it will also make it harder to maintain because it will dry out faster.
The more potting soil you use, the more water retention you will have which will give you a much great margin for error when it comes to both watering and feeding your plants.
09 of 10
Sometimes Plants Die

The Spruce / Gyscha Rendy

The more plants you grow, the more plants you will kill. It's that simple. Sometimes even the most expert gardeners will kill plants. It's a fact of gardening life. The trick is to know when to give up on a plant. In a mixed container garden, it makes sense to give up rather early, so your whole container doesn't look ugly.
When a plant starts looking dreadful you have a couple of choices. Depending on the plant, you can cut it back dramatically, and hope for the best. For many plants, this is all it takes, and in a few weeks, your plant will come roaring back, happy and beautiful.
You can pull out the unhappy plant and put another plant in its place. Depending on how dead and/or precious the plant is, you can try to rehabilitate by repotting it and baby it until it rebounds or you just can't stand the look of it any longer.
However, if your plant is exhibiting signs of serious disease, take it out immediately, re-pot it and either quarantine or put it in a plastic bag and throw it out.
10 of 10
Garden How You Live

The Spruce / Kerry Michaels

Here's the honest truth – container gardening is hard work. It takes time and attention, and while it doesn't have to be expensive, it can be. Here's some more truth – there is no such thing as a foolproof plant or gardening system – even if you cover all your bases, some plants with thrive and some will not.
This is both the good news and the bad. All of the uncertainty and hard work makes the whole endeavor exciting, rewarding, and endlessly interesting. To have the most fun and to increase your chances of success with any kind of gardening, assess how you live before you dive in. No matter what the answer is, there are container gardens that will work with your lifestyle. You don't like to water? Grow succulents and other drought-resistant plants. Don't have a lot of extra cash? Make your containers out of found items or haunt yard sales and second-hand stores. If you have a formal entrance and want a more tailored container look choose large containers in classic shapes and plant them with luxurious and eye-catching plants.
Whatever your style, there are plants that can work for you. You just have to do a little research and experimentation to find what works.

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Watch Now: 8 Mistakes You're Making in Your Container Garden

Advice to Help You Succeed

by Jessica WalliserComments (6)

Growing plants in containers isn’t necessarily as easy as it looks. While plunking a plant into a pot seems pretty simple, making sure that plant thrives can sometimes be a complicated affair. What kind of soil is best for the plant? How much water does it require? Where’s the best place to put the pot after it’s planted? Does the plant need to be fed? If so, how often? To simplify all of the tasks involved in growing in containers, we’ve compiled this container gardening tip list that runs from the start of the season all the way to the end, giving you all the advice you need to grow a successful container garden wherever you live.

Our Task-by-Task Container Gardening Tip List

To make this container gardening tip list as simple as possible, we’ve divided our most useful tips into sections that follow the growing season. You’ll learn how to plant and grow a beautiful and productive container garden, filled with flowers, herbs, vegetables, fruits, and more, simply by following these snippets of useful and practical advice.

The first step in successful container gardening is choosing the right container

Tips for selecting the best containers

Garden containers can be made from many different materials. To reduce watering needs in hot summer weather, choose non-porous materials, such as glazed ceramic, fiberglass, resin, fiberstone, or metal containers.
Always buy a bigger pot than you think you’ll need. Small pots hold a smaller volume of soil, which means they’ll dry out faster. Bigger pots need to be watered far less frequently.
If you need to move your pots to maximize sun exposure, lightweight fabric planter bags or polystyrene foam pots are an excellent choice.
No matter what your container is made of, make sure there’s a drainage hole in the bottom. Crushed gravel or stones placed in the bottom of a pot do not improve or add drainage.
Repurposed household items make fun garden containers, but make sure they aren’t covered with lead paint which could lead to soil contamination or health issues.
Be sure to add a little personality to your garden by including some decorative containers that have a little whimsy.

Tips for choosing the best plants for your containers

Tips for using the right container garden planting mix

When it comes to potting soil, you get what you pay for. If you want a successful container garden, don’t skimp and buy the cheapest potting mix. Choose high quality over low price every time. Here’s my favorite brand.
Make your own DIY potting soil for great results without the expense. Here are our favorite potting soil recipes with mixing instructions.
To reduce watering needs, and introduce beneficial microbes and nutrients to your containers, mix potting soil with finished compost before filling containers. I mix mine at a ratio of 50/50. This is a container gardening tip that has so many benefits!
If you’re growing cacti or succulents, skip the compost and add coarse builders sand to the potting soil instead. Or, use a cacti-specific potting mix to fill your containers.
Select a potting soil that includes an organic nutrient source whenever possible. This provides plants with a slow-release source of nutrients throughout the gardening season and skips the synthetic chemical fertilizers that could burn tender roots or lead to leaf tip burn.

Be sure to fill containers with a blend of high-quality potting soil and compost prior to planting.

Tips for designing container plantings

When it comes to a container gardening tip that impacts the beauty of your containers, none is more important than using your own creativity! Partner plants that appeal to your eye, combining colors and textures to make a pleasing mix.
To keep container gardens from looking too busy, stick with just one or two main focal points per container and surround those featured plants with simpler textures, colors, and forms.
There are many different design styles for containers, based on whether the pot will be viewed from just one side or from all sides. Keep the balance and proportion of the container in mind no matter which design style you’re using.
Using a single specimen plant in a large container is a beautiful choice. Don’t think you have to cram a dozen plants into a container for it to look good. Sometimes less is more.
Some color combinations may look garish to one gardener, while to another they look stylish and sleek. Don’t be afraid to experiment — remember, you do you!

Containers don’t have to be jam-packed with plants to be beautiful. Sometimes just one or two plants make the best statement.

Tips for planting a container garden

When planting your containers, organize and lay out the plants before you start planting to make sure the plants all look good together and the pot won’t be too full. This is one container gardening tip that can save you oodles of time!
After you tip a plant out of its nursery pot, carefully inspect the roots. Trim off any that are rotten as well as any that are circling around inside the pot. Pot-bound plants seldom perform well, so breaking up those circling roots and spreading them out in their new container makes for a healthier plant.
Don’t skimp on space. While it might seem smart to fill the bottom of a container with empty water bottles or other fillers so you don’t have to use as much potting mix, for the best root growth, the entire pot should be filled with potting mix.
Plant each plant to the same depth it was in its nursery container. Don’t bury plants too deeply or leave them sticking up too high. This can lead to roots that dry out too fast or plants that rot at their base.

Loosening pot-bound roots prior to planting helps them spread out into the new container quickly.

Tips for watering a container garden

Watering is the most important job on a container gardener’s to-do list. Don’t forget about it. If you’re prone to ignoring this chore, set up an automatic container irrigation system or plant drought-resistant plants such as succulents and cacti.
Don’t wait for plants to begin to wilt before watering. An important container garden tip is to always water before plant stress occurs.
When watering, make sure to fill each container repeatedly, allowing at least 20% of the water added to the top of the pot to drain out the bottom three or four times before moving on to the next container. This helps flush out excess fertilizer salts, too.
Water in the morning whenever possible. Doing so deters fungal diseases and slugs and other pests, as well as minimizing water loss due to evaporation.

Pay careful attention to watering chores for success with container gardening.

Tips for feeding container plants

Even though the potting soil and compost mixture you used to fill the pots contains nutrients, you should still add supplemental fertilizer every three to four weeks throughout the growing season.
There are many different organic fertilizers that are perfect for container gardening. Here’s a great post about my favorite container fertilizers and how to use them.
Vegetables should be fed more frequently than ornamental plants as they require more nutrition to produce a good yield, and using an organic fertilizer is even more critical when growing food.

There are many different brands of liquid organic fertilizers for container gardening.

Tips for maintaining a container garden

While you don’t have to immediately trim off every dead leaf and flower, doing these maintenance chores every few weeks throughout the summer stimulates more flowers and can cut down on the occurrence of certain plant diseases.
Keep a careful eye out for insect pests and diseases. You can use our guide to vegetable garden pests and our guide to garden disease management for suggested control methods should any issues happen to appear.
At the end of the growing season, be sure to empty all pots and overwinter them in a dry location if the pots are not 100% frost-proof.

Maintaining container gardens with useful practices like pinching and deadheading helps promote blooms and luscious growth.

With this container gardening tip list, we guarantee you’ll have a successful growing season from start to finish! For more tips on successful container gardening, check out my latest book, Container Gardening Complete (Quarto Publishing, 2017). You’ll also find 20 fun projects and hundreds of awesome container plants to include in your own container garden.

What do you like to grow in containers? We’d love to hear about any other items you’d like to add to this container gardening tip list, too. Please share with us in the comment section below.

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Container gardening

Much can be said about the ecology of the city of Moscow. The microclimate of large cities has its own characteristics, which differ significantly from the microclimate of wild nature, and not at all for the better. It is formed under the influence of various anthropogenic factors. More and more areas are becoming unsuitable for growing plants in open ground. For these reasons, container gardening or phytomodules are gaining more and more success and popularity. The main advantage of phytomodules is mobility. Thanks to such landscaping, you can decorate any territory or public institution.

Such mobile flower beds with a properly selected set of plants can perfectly complement any street, building, cafes and restaurants, enliven squares and parking lots, plant balconies and loggias, or allow you to decorate your garden with plants for which, for example, garden soil is not suitable. Fitomoduli is a great option to decorate the gazebo and patio.

Advantages of container gardening

Possibility to dilute small areas with greenery;
Huge selection of containers of different sizes, shapes and materials;
Large assortment of plants for planting;
The cost of a phytomodule is relatively small, and its creation does not take much time;
Containers make it possible to change the composition of plants at any time;
Placement in space not only in the plane, but also vertically. The main thing is to secure the container well to avoid falling. The best assistant for this is Greenworks cordless drills.

Basic rules for container gardening

Plants selected for container gardening must match the composition, and also be able to feel great in the difficult climatic conditions of the city. The choice of container is important. It must match the compositional solution. In addition, its dimensions must correspond to the size of the plants and their root system.

Basic container requirements

Container volume, height/width ratio;
Container shape and design;
Material (strength, durability, decorative effect, thermophysical properties, air permeability, moisture resistance).

The choice of the size of the container depends on the volume of the root system of the plant. The shape of the container is determined by the aesthetic qualities, the stability of the container and the convenience of carrying out agrotechnical measures.

The choice of material is determined by availability and technological capabilities, as well as durability.

The choice of type container for landscaping and landscape architecture objects is largely due to the stylistic decision of the object.

An essential factor in choosing a container is the climate of the city. Unlike open ground, the root system in a container is limited in space. It is also subject to environmental factors such as wind, humidity, solar radiation and temperature. The substrate in the container warms up and freezes much faster and stronger than in open ground. Maintaining an acceptable temperature regime in the substrate will allow you to regulate the life of container plants in the open air.

Container materials

Containers in their design, size and shape must match the overall design of the landscaped area or object. It is important that the container does not attract all the attention to itself, but emphasizes the beauty of the plants.

The most commonly used materials are clay, concrete, ceramics, plastic, stone, wood. They are not inferior to such materials as aluminum, steel and glass. Each of these materials has its pros and cons. When choosing a container for growing plants, first of all it is necessary to determine the general idea and concept of the container landscape. Will it be an English style with classic spray roses or a Japanese garden with strict forms and traditional minimalism.

So, let's analyze the basic materials and put their properties on the shelves.

Fired clay is the most commonly used container material. The outer surface of the pot is often decorated with convex designs, such as various ornaments or flowers. The main advantage of clay pots is the porosity of the walls. The water evaporates through the pores in the walls of the container and due to this, during the hot summer months, it cools the soil in the pot. Thus, the clay container "breathes", the soil does not overheat, and the roots do not rot from the abundance of liquid. The downside is that clay containers are very fragile. Also, evaporation of water is both a plus and a minus. The soil dries out faster and the plants require more frequent watering. For the winter, the pots should be removed, as the clay is afraid of frost.

Wooden containers skillfully emphasize the natural style of your garden. The main thing is not to forget to treat the wood with special compounds. Such containers can look like ordinary wooden boxes or barrels, but old stumps and logs will also work, from which the core should be removed. The disadvantage of such containers is that they lose their proper appearance from constant contact with water. Therefore, most often such containers are used as an outer shell, inside which another container made of plastic or clay is placed, and plants are planted directly into it.

plastic pots are lightweight, durable and inexpensive, with a greater variety of shapes and finishes. Their main disadvantage is that they fade and have poor thermal insulation properties.

Concrete containers have a long service life. Most often they can be found in urban landscaping.

Metal containers look very modern and fit perfectly into the urban style. They are very durable, but have a high thermal conductivity, which affects the overheating of the soil. Used as an outer shell.

Fiber containers are short-lived (2-3 years), do not have a beautiful appearance. But they are light weight and very environmentally friendly.
The most beautiful and spectacular are containers of natural stone . They are perfectly combined with a small shrub of an evergreen type. However, they are heavy and quite expensive. At the bottom of such a container, it is important to use drainage.

Containers made of artificial stone look less impressive than natural stone, but their cost is much lower and there are many more options.
Fiberglass is a versatile material. It is durable, inexpensive and relatively light. There are also disadvantages - this material is fragile and has a high thermal conductivity.
Tuff is a kind of limestone. Very porous material, absorb a lot of water in excess of their own weight. The downside is that plant roots can grow into it, which is critical at high temperatures. In hot weather, the tuff dries up and can damage the roots.
Pots made of glazed ceramics attract attention with the brightness of the brilliant glaze.

Main container types

Containers on the ground. They are located in courtyards, on terraces, along the edges of paths, at the entrance to a cafe or restaurant. You can plant flower beds and bulbous plants, trees, shrubs, etc. in them. There are different shapes, sizes, in different color variations and from different materials. This group includes boxes, pots, jugs, flowerpots, which can stand on the ground on their own and do not require support.

Hanging basket . For fastening use a chain or hook. Traditionally, baskets were made of wire, now solid-walled baskets and baskets equipped with a self-watering system are quite popular.

Wall container is a bowl or box. It looks like a hanging basket, but unlike it, it is attached to the wall. Such containers are made of plastic, ceramic, artificial stone or wood.

Tower container is a new type of container. They are also installed on the ground or attached to something, but they have one similar feature: plants planted in such a container must be a column.

Raised flower bed - a container made of brick, natural or artificial stone. Unlike other containers, it is not mobile.

Window boxes are containers that each of us can afford. The most widely used material for their creation is wood or plastic. Such boxes are lightweight and are fixed on the window cornice or window sill. It is better to cover wooden boxes with impregnation and place plastic boxes in them, in which to plant plants.

For exclusive options, you can use old kitchen utensils , such as pots and ladles, watering cans, buckets and carts, barrels and baskets.

Containers can be used singly or in groups. If you use several containers, then it is desirable that they are similar and made of the same material. The best thing is to find a "golden mean". And remember: when installing phytomodules on your site, do not forget about the environment. The fact that the area around the phytomodule should be well-groomed. Greenwoks brand garden tools, which you can purchase in our online store, will help you with this.

Good luck to you and achieve the desired result!

how to create a full-fledged garden in pots, tubs and flowerpots

Container gardening is an affordable way to create flower, coniferous or decorative foliage compositions from annual or perennial plants.

In this article we will talk about why you should pay attention to this method of gardening, how to choose the right container and how to properly care for plants in tubs, as well as ways to winter and save plants for the next season.

Let's start with why container gardening is becoming so popular:

small spaces can be greened;
it becomes possible to plant plants where there is no open ground: concrete platform, parking, stairs, terrace, etc.;
containers with plants can serve as a screen and divide the space into zones;
flowerpots can be interchanged and create new compositions;
you can emphasize the style of the house or hide unsightly places;
it is possible to grow plants that do not winter outdoors in your region;
landscaping can be carried out not only horizontally, but also vertically, using the space to the fullest.

How to choose a container?

First you need to decide on the size of the container, its design, shape, and material.

Choose a container for the size of the plant - if the crop has a compact root system, it is better to choose a wider and lower pot. Typically, these plants include herbaceous perennials and annuals.

If you plan to plant a shrub or even a tree, then plant it in a deep container with high walls. Be sure to provide for the stability of the container so that it does not fall along with the plant due to strong gusts of wind.

The shape and design of the container depends on the overall idea of the garden. There is a huge variety on the market now: square, rectangular, hemispheres, made of natural or composite materials.

Choose the material for the container based on the plants you will grow in it and the growing period: exclusively in summer or all year round. Most popular content:

Ceramic. A distinctive feature is the porous structure, due to which moisture evaporates, and during the hot months the soil in the pot does not overheat, and the roots do not rot. The reverse side of this feature is frequent watering and the fragility of the material.
Plastic. Huge selection of shapes, colors and sizes. Lightweight and practical containers that can be used to grow a large number of plants. The disadvantages of this material are: instability to strong gusts of wind and lack of natural ventilation, which can cause plant roots to rot. Therefore, it is better to choose such material for moisture-loving plants.
Concrete. A flowerpot made of such material will be durable and strong. It is often used in urban landscaping. Such a container will reliably protect the plant from tipping over. Of the minuses: too much weight and the inability to pass air through the walls. As a result, moisture can stagnate at the roots.
Wood. Stylish and eco-friendly material. You can easily insulate the walls for the winter period. The tree is subject to decay, so inside and outside it will have to be treated with special tools or materials.

Plastic container

Concrete container

Ceramic container

Which plants should be planted in containers?

By and large, any plant can be grown in a container: annual flowers, perennial herbs, shrubs, large-sized deciduous and coniferous trees.

If everything is quite simple with annual plants: planting only for the summer season, dispose of in the fall. Then perennials need to be chosen wisely: focus on the winter hardiness zone, the ability, if necessary, to transfer the tub to a wintering room or dig it into open ground for the winter.

Verbenik Monetty in Kashpo

Heichera in Kashpo

For pots more you can choose plants from this list:

Spirea
Barberis Tunberg
Birch Birchlet
Thuja spherical
Erica and heathers
Roses
Juniper horizontalus, common
Japanese Keria
sedge Blus -shaped
oatmeal Blue

Birch Birchlet in Kashpo

Large Herms in Kashpo

Roses in Kashpo

Perennial High Plants:

9000

9000 9000 9000 9,000 9,000 9,000 9,000 9,000 9,000 9,000 9,000 9,000 9,000 9,000 9,000 9,000 larch, birch

Decorative and columnar apple

Pear

Lemon

Dwarf spruce

Dwarf pine

Prepare the container for planting

Check for holes in the bottom of the container and put in the required amount of drainage. For tall plants, choose heavier drainage: gravel, pebbles, broken bricks. For small ones, expanded clay can be used.

Prepare the substrate

Plant in fresh soil. Avoid using soil from the garden, as it may contain weed seeds or fungal diseases that can harm plants.

The substrate for the container should be light and airy, while heavy soil can cut off oxygen to the roots and hinder plant growth. Add perlite or vermiculite to maintain structure and retain moisture.

The pH balance depends on the plant. Most plants prefer neutral soil, but a small proportion grows exclusively in acidic or alkaline soil. Please check this before boarding.

Planting in a container

Lay a fertile layer of prepared soil over the drainage layer, then carefully transfer the plant from the pot to the container. Be careful not to damage the roots.

Add remaining soil around the edges, tamp down. Water thoroughly and add more soil if necessary. Mulch the top layer of soil so that moisture evaporates less from the pot.

Caring for plants in a container

Care in the spring-summer season consists of two main points: watering and top dressing.

Watering

Because containers are more exposed to sun and wind, they tend to dry out faster than outdoors. Especially during the hottest days of summer, many potted plants need to be watered twice a day!

Containers can be watered in various ways - hoses, watering cans, drip irrigation. Choose the method that is most suitable for you and the size of your garden.

Some watering tips:

Water in the morning (or as early as possible). Ideally, container plants should be watered as early as possible. Watering early in the day provides the plants with enough moisture to survive the hot afternoon hours. This also ensures that their leaves are dry by nightfall (moisture on the leaves at night can help spread diseases).

Water deeply. Plants need water at their roots, so simply spraying the soil surface with a hose is not enough. Water the plants deeply and thoroughly so that the water reaches the roots. After watering, the soil should be saturated with moisture, and the water should flow down the bottom of the pot.

Other important things to keep in mind are pot size and weather. Small pots dry out much faster than large pots and require more frequent watering. Water more frequently during hot weather. And pay attention to how quickly the soil in the container dries out and how your plants react to it - you will soon figure out how often you need to water.

Fertilizers

Fertilizers are added when plants are planted in the container. They can be of prolonged action, which will allow you to save time on subsequent top dressing, as they are usually enough for the whole season.

If you use non-sustained mineral or organic fertilizers, then you will need to fertilize every 7-10 days, because the plants have nowhere to get food in closed ground. These can be special liquid fertilizers, selected according to the requirements of each plant species. In late summer, pay special attention to phosphorus-potassium compounds if your plants go into winter.

Watering plants with fertilizers is carried out in moist soil.

Overwintering plants in container

If you live in a region with a cold climate, you will need to carefully choose the plants you leave outdoors.

Even though they are hardy in your area, containerized perennials experience much harsher winter conditions than those planted in the ground. Cold temperatures and dry winds can be especially damaging to the root systems of container plants. Soil heaving often occurs, which can destroy roots and make plants vulnerable to harsh conditions.

Fortunately, there are several effective methods that can be used to help plants successfully overwinter.

Wintering measures

Store heat-loving plants at home or in the conservatory

If you are growing plants from the tropics in containers, they will need to be moved to warm conditions during the winter and treated like indoor plants.

Store the plants in a frost-free room

If the planted plants are from regions with a temperate climate, then in this case it is necessary to provide them with a dormant period. These plants include: large-leaved hydrangea, hostas, roses, spirea, peonies, etc. Such plants should overwinter in a cool, frost-free, dry room.

After the plants go into a dormant state: in herbaceous perennials the ground part dies off, and woody-deciduous ones shed their leaves, they need to be watered and the pots moved to a cool basement or insulated garage. The temperature in these rooms should be between 0-7 degrees Celsius. Be sure to check your plants and water them as needed, usually once a month. It is not necessary to allow the complete drying of the soil in the pot. In the spring, when the buds begin to swell, move the plant pots to a bright place: a warmed veranda or balcony. With warming, take the containers to the open air.

Dig containers into the soil

For small shrubs and herbaceous perennials, wait until the first hard frost. Then dig each plant into the ground, tilting the pot so that the water from the rain and melting snow runs off. Top with peat or leaf litter. In the spring, when it gets warmer, move the pot out of the shelter to its original place and water it well.

For large deciduous plants, the tie and bury method can be used. Tie the branches together after the leaves have fallen. Dig a trench large enough to place the plant and pot in it. Lay the plant on its side, cover with covering material or burlap, sprinkle with earth. When the soil starts to thaw, take it out, put it back in place, water it and see how it feels. For a speedy recovery, you can shed Zircon and treat with Epin.

Group and insulate containers

If it is not possible to move the containers to a frost-free room or to dig in, be sure to insulate the pot from the outside. One way is to put the pot in a cardboard box and fill the space between it and the pot with hay, Styrofoam, or dry leaves to provide insulation.