Container Gardening Complete

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

700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 238 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 239 6/5/17 3:18 PM

238 chapter 5

To Overwinter by Taking

Stem Cuttings

If you can’t bear to part with favorite container-

grown annuals, take some stem cuttings to

cultivate indoors. Sweet potato vines, lantana,

verbena, fuchsia, geraniums, silver falls, coleus,

plectranthus, heliotrope, some succulents, and

many other specialty annuals are traditionally

propagated by taking cuttings, so starting some of

your own is an easy task.

1. Fill several 2 in. or 3 in. plastic nursery pots
   with sterile potting soil. Use new containers
   and new potting mix to ensure they’re
   pathogen free.


2. Use a clean, sharp pair of scissors or
   pruners to cut off a terminal portion of
   stem containing two or three leaves and the
   growing point. Take multiple cuttings from
   each plant, as not all of them will take root.
   Each cutting should be 2 to 3 in. long.


3. Dip the bottom inch of each cutting into
   rooting hormone (available at most garden
   centers or online). Insert the base of each
   cutting into its own clean pot of fresh
   potting soil. Tamp the soil firmly around the
   plant stem.


4. Water the cutting in and let it drain, then
   cover the container (cutting and all) with
   a plastic baggie. Seal the baggie with a
   twist tie.


5. The baggie keeps the humidity high as the
   cutting forms new roots, so you won’t have
   to water it very often. But if you notice the
   soil is dry, remove the pot from the baggie
   and water the cutting.
   6 Place the pots in a bright location, but out of
   direct sunlight. A windowsill will work fine,
   but if you have grow lights, put the pots a
   few inches beneath them.
   7. In 4 to 6 weeks, remove the pot from the
   baggie and gently tug on the plant. If it
   resists, roots have formed. You can also
   check for roots by flipping the plant out
   of the pot carefully and checking the soil
   for roots.
   8. Once the cutting has rooted, remove it from
   the bag and treat it as a houseplant until
   the spring thaw. You may need to pinch the
   plant once or twice through the winter to
   help control the size.

MAKING SEASONAL

CONTAINER PLANTINGS AND

DECORATIONS

After the last few veggies have been harvested

and the frost-nipped annuals are pulled from your

containers, you can switch gears and use your

containers for another purpose: decoration.

Many gardeners swap out their container

plants upon autumn’s arrival, pulling out spent

annuals and summer veggies and replacing them

with mums, ornamental flowering kale, asters,

and other fall-themed plantings. Decorative

gourds and pumpkins make great additions to

late-season containers, as do cut branches of

colorful oak, maple, and other leaves or berries

inserted into the soil as accents.

Come winter, arrangements of evergreen

boughs, berried branches, dried flowers, seed

pods, and decorative accents spruce up empty

containers for the holidays. One of my favorite

things to do with the large ceramic container

on my front porch is to swap the plants growing

in it with a small Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

I string the tree with small white lights, add a

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Harvesting and Seasonal Considerations 239

few branches of rosehips and privet berries, and

tuck in some dried ornamental grass fronds for a

winter welcome to our guests.

There are a million different ways to use

natural materials to fill empty containers for the

holidays. Collect these materials from your own

yard, the yard of a friend, or purchase them from

flower or craft stores.

Some of my favorite cut branches, berries,

and seedpods to use for decorative seasonal

containers include:

• Evergreen holly


• Winterberry


• Rosehips
  
  
  • Bittersweet vine
  
  
  • Birch logs and twigs
  
  
  • Red twig dogwood
  
  
  • Beautyberries
  
  
  • Crabapple branches with fruit
  
  
  • Evergreen boughs
  
  
  • Boxwood
  
  
  • Dried hydrangeas
  
  
  • Curly willow
  
  
  • Ornamental grass flower fronds
  
  
  • Privet berries
  
  
  • Juniper boughs
  
  
  • Pinecones
  
  
  • Milkweed pods
  
  
  • Perennial hibiscus seed pods
  
  
  
  

Decorative gourds, pumpkins, and orange-berried winterberry branches make a beautiful container display after

plants have been removed for the season.

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