Container Gardening Complete

Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete

700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 44 6/5/17 2:46 PM
Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete
Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete

700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 45 5/24/17 10:58 AM

44 chapter 1

• Make sure the object was not used to store
  chemicals of any kind. Solvents, synthetic
  pesticides, and other chemicals may leach
  into wood or other materials. This is of
  particular importance if you’re using the
  container to grow food.


• If the object is made of plastic, you may want
  to skip using it to grow food. Newer plastic
  containers can be checked for the presence
  of BPA (bisphenol A), a chemical that has
  been shown to cause possible negative health
  effects. But with older plastic containers, it’s
  harder to rule out the presence of BPA.


• Be careful about repurposing items that may
  contain asbestos. Prior to the early 1980s,
  asbestos was used in thousands of different
  household items, including hair dryers,
  toasters, crock pots, and coffee pots, to name
  just a few. Disturbing and handling asbestos
  has been shown to increase your chances of
  respiratory diseases and other ailments.

In general, modern, commercially made garden

containers have a much smaller risk of including

a hazardous material than older objects do, but

if you’re growing edible plants in any type of

container, it’s worth the time to investigate its

properties, regardless of whether it’s old or new.

For added inspiration, here’s a gallery of a few

more cool container plantings, each made with a

repurposed item.

When repurposing items for your container garden, be

careful about using appliances made before the 1980s

as they may contain asbestos.

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Getting Started 45

Matching Your Style

One final factor to consider when choosing

containers for your garden is your personal style.

No matter what types of containers you select,

they should partner well with your home, your

landscape, and your life. If your home is formal,

wooden whiskey barrels might not be the best

fit, nor would they match the vibe of a balcony

outside of a sleek, urban flat. But they’d look great

sitting on the front steps of a country cottage

or on a rural deck. That urban balcony, on the

other hand, would be a great place for a modern,

powder-coated metal planter box. And a formal

home’s landscape would be nicely accented by

using traditional terracotta containers or cast

iron urns.

That’s not to say you can’t stir things up and

go for a whimsical or purposefully funky vibe.

Quite the opposite, in fact: if your personal style

is a little offbeat, then you should have an offbeat

container garden, even if you live in a more

formal home.

If you have a bigger yard where you have

room to experiment, feel free to make multiple

container gardens, each with its own style. Use

repurposed items as containers in the vegetable

garden, but have more traditional containers

flanking the front porch. There’s nothing wrong

with having a hodgepodge collection of containers,

as long as you can take care of them properly and

you remember that smaller containers dry out

faster and need more frequent irrigation.

There’s nothing wrong with using dierent styles of containers in your garden and adding some

whimsy, as long as it reflects the lifestyle and personality of the homeowner.

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