Are you moving from a house to an apartment or perhaps into assisted living? Container gardening might be the answer for folks with limited space. Those in apartments, condominiums, retirement homes or houses on small lots can still enjoy gardening using containers. Containers are mobile so you can take your plants along or move them around for an instant splash of color.
If you're in a wheelchair, if your knees are just not cooperating with you being down on the ground or if your back just isn't going to take all that bending over in the garden anymore, don't despair - ADAPT!
Think about doing your gardening from a chair. The easiest solution is containers. Some say raised beds, but containers don't require any construction and are ultimately portable. Scatter containers throughout your garden area, get yourself a couple of lightweight garden chairs so you don't have to drag just one all over. You can simply sit down and enjoy the sun and your plants in comfort.
What better way to introduce your child or grandchild to gardening than to have their very own first garden? And what better way to share that love than to do it together?
Container gardening is not without it's issues. A plant growing in an exposed location will be under more stress and dry out faster. It will need a regular watering schedule. Consistent rains tend to leach the nutrients from the containers, requiring a regular fertilizing schedule. Large containers can be spendy and difficult to move when filled with soil, but the advantages FAR outweigh the issues.
Regular garden soil is not always best for container gardening. When soil is saturated with water, the air spaces are filled, depriving the roots of oxygen. Potting mix is your best bet. The mix may contain some soil or no soil at all (soilless potting mixes can be quite spendy, though). Additional ingredients such as peat moss, vermiculite and perlite allow good drainage but still hold enough water for plant growth.
Containers come in a variety of styles and sizes. Of course, old buckets, cans and similar containers can all be recycled. The essential thing is that the container have holes in the bottom for draining excess water.
Plastic containers are available in a variety of sizes, shapes, styles and even colors. They are light in weight which can be an advantage if it has to be moved or carried. Clay pots are an old favorite, but they are quite porous and moisture will be lost more readily from the sides and bottom. They're also heavy. Wood is popular, but you should be careful about what that wooden container might have been treated with, chemically speaking.
"How big are we talking?" The answer to this question depends on what you plan to grow. You need to consider the balance between the top growth and root system of what you're growing. Small plants do well in fairly small, shallower containers. Plants in "stressful" locations such as a hot patio exposed to the south, or in elevated locations may need a slightly larger container. Most annual flowers and some small vegetables can grow in a container from 5-inches to a gallon or larger container. Larger veggies, such as dwarf tomatoes, pepper or cucumbers will require a minimum of a 1 to 3 gallon container. Full-size tomatoes and roses will require at least a 3-gallon container.
Since potting mixes drain water fairly rapidly, fertilizer will be washed out of the containers as you water and you will need to replace that lost fertilizer. Lighter mixes will require more frequent fertilizing than heavier mixes containing soil. Remember, you are growing a plant with a small, constricted root system, so regular fertilizing and watering are important.
Many gardeners prefer to apply a diluted, water soluble fertilizer at every other watering. There are several available at the local hardware store. Time release fertilizers are also becoming widely available and are pelleted to release fertilizer gradually over a longer period of time. I prefer fish emulsion for all the obvious reasons - it's not full of salts and chemicals, so nothing noxious is going to be leaking about your garden and get transferred into the ground and water table.
Since containers are usually situated in an exposed location, water is quickly lost from them. Also, smaller containers have less of a reservoir for holding water until needed. There is no rule of thumb on how often to water since it will vary with the type of plant, potting mix, weather and the type of pot.
You may find that watering daily is needed if it's really hot out. One advantage of using a potting mix is that it is nearly impossible to over water since the water drains so quickly. Check your plants frequently and be alert for signs of wilting to give more water. The best method is to stick your finger about an inch into the soil to feel the dryness. Always give sufficient water to allow a small amount to drain out the bottom. This indicates that the container is saturated.
Many annual flowers can be grown in containers, especially those that tolerate heat stress. Especially popular are marigolds, geraniums (I love geraniums!) and periwinkle. Shady location plants include impatiens, ageratum, begonias and nicotiana.
Veggies require sunny locations and will vary in their produce on the type of crop. There are many varieties developed specifically for growing in containers. Check your seed catalogs for these new varieties. (Besides, who doesn't like leafing through a seed catalog?) Flowering cabbage and kale are attractive relatives of the standard varieties. Lettuce and other salad greens are available in a variety of colors and leaf textures. Red chard is also popular in containers because of it's bright red stalks.
Many gardeners like to have herbs growing near the kitchen where they are handy to use in cooking. Basil, chives, marjoram and thyme are all easy to grow in containers. Lots of gardeners keep mint in containers since it is aggressive and will pretty much take over any area in which it is planted. Some herbs are perennial and can be moved indoors for winter use or held in the container until the next year. I know a number of gardeners who dig a hole in the garden to winter-over perennial herbs til the next season.
So get creative. Put a beautiful container of wonderfully scented flowers near your front door or a nice cherry tomato to greet callers. Don't focus on what you think you've lost just because you can't crawl around the perennial border of your yard to pull weeds. Teach your grandchild or the neighborhood kid to find the joy in this task. This is a whole new adventure in gardening. The great news is that you may find entirely different special areas where you can install a mini-garden in a container.
It's all in your perspective.
If you're in a wheelchair, if your knees are just not cooperating with you being down on the ground or if your back just isn't going to take all that bending over in the garden anymore, don't despair - ADAPT!
Think about doing your gardening from a chair. The easiest solution is containers. Some say raised beds, but containers don't require any construction and are ultimately portable. Scatter containers throughout your garden area, get yourself a couple of lightweight garden chairs so you don't have to drag just one all over. You can simply sit down and enjoy the sun and your plants in comfort.
What better way to introduce your child or grandchild to gardening than to have their very own first garden? And what better way to share that love than to do it together?
Container gardening is not without it's issues. A plant growing in an exposed location will be under more stress and dry out faster. It will need a regular watering schedule. Consistent rains tend to leach the nutrients from the containers, requiring a regular fertilizing schedule. Large containers can be spendy and difficult to move when filled with soil, but the advantages FAR outweigh the issues.
Regular garden soil is not always best for container gardening. When soil is saturated with water, the air spaces are filled, depriving the roots of oxygen. Potting mix is your best bet. The mix may contain some soil or no soil at all (soilless potting mixes can be quite spendy, though). Additional ingredients such as peat moss, vermiculite and perlite allow good drainage but still hold enough water for plant growth.
Containers come in a variety of styles and sizes. Of course, old buckets, cans and similar containers can all be recycled. The essential thing is that the container have holes in the bottom for draining excess water.
Plastic containers are available in a variety of sizes, shapes, styles and even colors. They are light in weight which can be an advantage if it has to be moved or carried. Clay pots are an old favorite, but they are quite porous and moisture will be lost more readily from the sides and bottom. They're also heavy. Wood is popular, but you should be careful about what that wooden container might have been treated with, chemically speaking.
"How big are we talking?" The answer to this question depends on what you plan to grow. You need to consider the balance between the top growth and root system of what you're growing. Small plants do well in fairly small, shallower containers. Plants in "stressful" locations such as a hot patio exposed to the south, or in elevated locations may need a slightly larger container. Most annual flowers and some small vegetables can grow in a container from 5-inches to a gallon or larger container. Larger veggies, such as dwarf tomatoes, pepper or cucumbers will require a minimum of a 1 to 3 gallon container. Full-size tomatoes and roses will require at least a 3-gallon container.
Since potting mixes drain water fairly rapidly, fertilizer will be washed out of the containers as you water and you will need to replace that lost fertilizer. Lighter mixes will require more frequent fertilizing than heavier mixes containing soil. Remember, you are growing a plant with a small, constricted root system, so regular fertilizing and watering are important.
Many gardeners prefer to apply a diluted, water soluble fertilizer at every other watering. There are several available at the local hardware store. Time release fertilizers are also becoming widely available and are pelleted to release fertilizer gradually over a longer period of time. I prefer fish emulsion for all the obvious reasons - it's not full of salts and chemicals, so nothing noxious is going to be leaking about your garden and get transferred into the ground and water table.
Since containers are usually situated in an exposed location, water is quickly lost from them. Also, smaller containers have less of a reservoir for holding water until needed. There is no rule of thumb on how often to water since it will vary with the type of plant, potting mix, weather and the type of pot.
You may find that watering daily is needed if it's really hot out. One advantage of using a potting mix is that it is nearly impossible to over water since the water drains so quickly. Check your plants frequently and be alert for signs of wilting to give more water. The best method is to stick your finger about an inch into the soil to feel the dryness. Always give sufficient water to allow a small amount to drain out the bottom. This indicates that the container is saturated.
Many annual flowers can be grown in containers, especially those that tolerate heat stress. Especially popular are marigolds, geraniums (I love geraniums!) and periwinkle. Shady location plants include impatiens, ageratum, begonias and nicotiana.
Veggies require sunny locations and will vary in their produce on the type of crop. There are many varieties developed specifically for growing in containers. Check your seed catalogs for these new varieties. (Besides, who doesn't like leafing through a seed catalog?) Flowering cabbage and kale are attractive relatives of the standard varieties. Lettuce and other salad greens are available in a variety of colors and leaf textures. Red chard is also popular in containers because of it's bright red stalks.
Many gardeners like to have herbs growing near the kitchen where they are handy to use in cooking. Basil, chives, marjoram and thyme are all easy to grow in containers. Lots of gardeners keep mint in containers since it is aggressive and will pretty much take over any area in which it is planted. Some herbs are perennial and can be moved indoors for winter use or held in the container until the next year. I know a number of gardeners who dig a hole in the garden to winter-over perennial herbs til the next season.
So get creative. Put a beautiful container of wonderfully scented flowers near your front door or a nice cherry tomato to greet callers. Don't focus on what you think you've lost just because you can't crawl around the perennial border of your yard to pull weeds. Teach your grandchild or the neighborhood kid to find the joy in this task. This is a whole new adventure in gardening. The great news is that you may find entirely different special areas where you can install a mini-garden in a container.
It's all in your perspective.
No comments:
Post a Comment