Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 240 5/24/17 12:25 PM
Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete
Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete
700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 241 5/24/17 12:25 PM240 chapter 5When using these materials to create a unique
holiday decoration in a container, you can follow
the design instructions discussed in Chapter 2
by using the filler, thriller, and spiller concept,
the flat-backed style, or you can come up with
your own creative designs, remembering to keep
everything in balance by placing weightier items
down low in the container.
If you’re not interested in doing some type of
design in your containers, but you still want to
have something interesting in them, simply lay
an evergreen wreath from your local nursery,
floral shop, or hardware store down on the top of
your empty container. Then, place a lantern or
pumpkin in the center of the wreath, or insert a
dozen twigs or sticks into the soil at the center
of the wreath so it looks like a small deciduous
shrub is growing there. You can even add lights
if you’d like. It’s a great way to introduce some
interest without having to go to a lot of trouble
with an official design.EMPTYING AND STORING
CONTAINERS
If your containers no longer contain live plants
or house seasonal decorations, it’s time to empty
and store them for the colder months, if you
live where freezing temperatures are the norm.
While fiberglass, metal, and other frost-proof
containers can stay outdoors year-round, many
other containers cannot. Because attractive, quality
containers can be expensive, I always recommend
emptying pots and moving them to a sheltered
area if you live in a colder climate.
Should you reuse potting soil? Potting soil
is not cheap, and it’s very tempting to use it for
more than one season. But ideally you should
use a fresh 50/50 blend of compost and potting
soil to fill your containers every year. At the end
of the growing season, the potting mix in your
containers is largely devoid of nutrients, and the
pots will likely be filled with many fibrous roots.
There may also be certain disease organismsScrub out empty pots with a 10% bleach solution to ensure your containers don’t harbor any fungal or bacterial
diseases. This is especially important for containers used to grow vegetables.Text Black Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete#175 Dtp: 229 Page: 240^700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 240 5/24/17 1:07 PM
Harvesting and Seasonal Considerations 241present. So if your budget allows, I recommend
replacing 100% of the potting soil and compost
blend at the start each season. But if you can’t
afford to do so, save half of the used potting
mix from year to year and top it off with new
potting soil/compost blend before replanting your
containers the following spring.
If you’re feeling guilty about throwing your
used potting soil blend into the compost heap,
here are two great ways you can give it new life:- Save your used potting soil in plastic garbage
bags, buckets, or bins. In spring, you’ll have it
to pot up perennial divisions from the garden
to share with friends. - Add your used potting soil to the potato bin
project featured earlier in this chapter by
layering it with chopped leaves, compost,
shredded newspaper, and aged horse manure,
and using it to grow potatoes.
Once your containers have been emptied,
it’s time to store them for the winter. Ideally,
all empty pots should be scrubbed inside and
out with a diluted 10% bleach solution (9 parts
water to 1 part bleach) and a stiff brush (a good
quality toilet brush works great). This is important
for pots that were used to grow tomatoes and
other disease-prone vegetables, no matter what
material they’re made of.
After scrubbing, rinse the pots well and allow
them to dry thoroughly. Stack your containers
upside down in a garage, shed, or another
protected site. If you don’t have a storage area,
place the pots upside down on a palette, bricks, or
some other elevated surface, and cover them with
a tarp or a sheet of plastic to keep water out.
Glazed and unglazed ceramic or terracotta
pots will crack and/or flake if left outdoors during
freezing weather. This happens because watermakes its way into the material, and through
the natural expansion and contraction of freeze-
thaw cycles, the containers crack. Freezing
temperatures weaken plastic containers, too,
causing them to crack within a few seasons.
If you don’t want to go through the effort of
emptying, cleaning, and storing pots at the end
of every season, consider growing your plants
in fabric containers or growing your garden in
disposable containers, such as feedbags, coffee-
bean sacks, or canvas bags.Follow nature’s cues and the natural progression
of the growing season to maximize the health and
productivity of your container garden. From the
start of the growing season until winter’s arrival,
let the life cycles of the plants you’re growing take
the lead.Most houseplants love being outdoors during the
growing season. Just remember to move them
back inside before the temperatures drop. This
Dieenbachia is quite at home in the low light
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