Not only do we go in and out of the door a lot, but we also own two large dogs, Jack and Sparky, who spend a lot of time on the patio. Oddly, they haven’t paid much attention to Mrs. Robin so far, but I suspect their interest will pick up quickly once her babies have hatched and started chirping.

I do like having her there. I can watch her through the  back door, sitting on the nest, warming four pretty blue eggs. Whenever we open the door she flies off—in the daytime, at least; at night, nothing will make her leave that nest.

If we just sit quietly or work on the other side of the patio from her nest, she’ll stay put. But of course, I’m moving around a lot when I’m planting containers, and the minute I get anywhere near the back door, Mrs. Robin flies up onto the roof and chirps angrily at me.

I am hoping against hope that I don’t open my door a week from now to find Jack with a mouthful of baby robins. We’ll see.

I hope to post some photos of Mrs. Robin on her nest, but it’s going to be tricky to get anywhere in her vicinity with a camera.

One of my most pressing reasons to garden in containers is to keep out critters.

In my case, the critters include Jack (top right), a 90-pound shepherd husky mix who likes to keep busy, and his sidekick in crime, a 65-pound girl named Sparky who’s part border collie, part spaniel and lord knows what else. Between the two of them, they have dug up and dragged to death six dahlias, three fledgling raspberries, four tomato seedlings and five crocuses.

Let’s face it, dogs and gardens don’t mix. Dogs love to dig. Dogs, especially those with a hunting or working pedigree, love to carry things around, whether it’s your slippers or your daughter’s favorite stuffed penguin or a couple of tomato plants in bloom.

I tried fencing in the young plants, but it’s an ugly solution. And unless it’s very sturdy, fencing won’t keep out a large dog. I discovered that when I found Sparky dozing atop my irises, surrounded by collapsed chicken wire.

So, I grow whatever I can in containers. My dogs are big enough to drag plants out of containers (or even drag the containers around), but putting the containers off the ground, even just a foot or two, discourages this behavior. Which is why so much of my patio garden is vertical. I use hanging baskets, window boxes, and pots set on old picnic benches.

As a side benefit, growing my basil in window boxes discourages the rabbits as well. That, in turn, is good for the rabbits. While they might miss a nice snack, they also don’t become a late night snack for Jack, an avid hunter.

Growing plants in pots can also discourage many (if not all) of the neighborhood cats from using your garden as a kitty toilet. It helps fend off slugs. If you’re growing berries in containers, it’s easy to put netting over the plants (or even move the pots) so the birds don’t get all the berries before you have a chance to taste them.

Now, if I could just find raspberries that grow well in containers…

Many experts will tell you to use potting soil, plain or with a bit of fertilizer. Potting soil has many advantages. It drains well. It’s sterile and free of weed seeds and diseases. It’s lightweight, relatively speaking.

But potting soil bothers me precisely because it’s sterile. I mean, is dirt really supposed to be clean? To me, putting plants in sterile soil is a bit like putting animals in the zoo. Yes, they’re safe and well cared for, but they’re not in their natural habitat.

I do use potting soil in my outdoor container garden, but I mix it with real garden dirt and compost. Somehow it just seems more natural. Garden soil and compost are full of beneficial bacteria and other plant goodies.

Yes, I do get some weeds, but really, how hard is it to yank weeds from a potted plant? I haven’t noticed that the plants in real dirt suffer any more diseases than those in potting soil. If anything, they seem more robust.

For indoor plants, I do skip the garden soil because I don’t want insects in my house. I use potting soil, with a little bit of bagged compost.

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.