Growing Flowers, Herbs and Vegetables in Containers

For the past several years, gardening surveys have turned up the fact that container gardening is growing in popularity.

I’m not at all surprised to hear that. Start with the Baby Boomers like me. We’re no longer youngsters, and getting on our knees to grub around in the dirt can lose its appeal. Arthritis, bad backs, and just plain fatigue can make full-scale gardening difficult.

The container garden provides other benefits over dirt gardening:

• It’s easy to plant. Pack dirt in a pot and add a plant. Since you mix your own soil (or buy it premixed), you don’t have to fight with heavy clay or soil that’s too sandy or too wet. If you buy plants in larger containers, you don’t even have to plant your flowers. Just arrange the pots wherever you want them.

• It takes up less space. Even a small apartment balcony provides enough room for a modest container garden, and you’d be surprised at what you can grow in containers. We once knew a woman who grew corn on her condo balcony. Really.
• It’s portable. You don’t like the way the garden is arranged? Just move the potted garden plants around. (This works with pots, obviously, not stationary concrete troughs and the like.)
• It’s more critter-proof. I have two large dogs that wreak havoc on anything planted in the ground. Growing my flowers, vegetables and herbs in pots (placed at least a foot or two off the ground) discourages my canine friends from digging up my garden. As an added benefit, growing my basil in windowboxes keeps the local rabbits from chowing down on it.
• It requires less equipment. Got a trowel, a hand weeder and a pair of gloves? You’re good to go.
• It weathers temperature extremes better. You can move the plants closer to the house or even inside if the weather turns cold, or move them into shade on hot, dry days.
• It’s more flexible. You can easily add or subtract plants all season long. Thanks to hanging baskets and window boxes, you can build your garden vertically as well as horizontally, and stagger the containers to get an interesting effect.

Container gardens do require more frequent watering. They can be expensive if you buy already potted plants (you have to buy dirt, too) or give in to the temptation to buy fancy containers. (On the other hand, you can spend almost nothing if you start plants from seed and use pots, buckets or other containers you already have handy.)

A little labor, a little money and a little time can reward you with a beautiful small garden to call your own.