Successful Container Gardening

At one time, almost everyone had a large garden. Raising a garden full of fresh vegetables and fruits was the only way most people had to feed their family. With a constantly growing population and progress taking over much of the land, container gardening is becoming a viable option.

Almost everyone loves the taste of fresh vegetables, but many people just don’t have the room or space for a garden. If you live in an apartment, or have a small yard, you can still have delicious fresh vegetables with container gardening. A container garden can be set up on a patio, deck, balcony, or a nice sunny window.

Just like any type of gardening, container gardening does take a little planning. You need to choose the types of plants you want to grow based on the amount of light the area has. If you have an open deck, choose plants that can withstand full sun all day. If you have a deck with a roof, be sure you choose plants that can flourish in the shade.

Vegetable plants are generally fairly inexpensive at your local garden center. But, you can start your plants from seed several weeks before the last frost. When the seedlings do get large enough to take outside you might still need to protect them for awhile. Strong winds and rains can quickly destroy tender seedlings.

You can virtually grow any vegetable plant in a container. All you need to do is make sure that you create the right growing conditions. Your plants will need the right amount of water, fertilizer, sun and room to grow. With the growing demand to grow plants in limited space, there are a lot of dwarf varieties that are ideal for a container garden.

You can use almost any type of container for growing vegetables. However, the container should have at least one hole in the bottom for proper drainage. You can even add some small gravels to the bottom of the pot to help keep the roots from sitting in water. Drainage holes are crucial if your container garden will be exposed to rain.

Besides fresh fruits and vegetables, container gardens offer another great advantage, no weeding! Because you will be using a high quality potting soil to grow your plants, you won’t have to worry about weeds taking over your garden. And, because your garden is in a protected area, there’s a much lower risk of pest and insect infestations.

At the end of the growing season you can re-use the pots to plant frost resistant plants. Mexican feather grass, Lavender, Jasmine, Cornflowers and many other plants can fill your container garden in the fall. Container growing can be really rewarding and fun. Not only can you have delicious fresh vegetables, you can save money on your grocery bill.

Written by Connie Corder for HouseplantsForYou.com, Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved

Container Garden photo courtesy of Shirley’s Wellness Cafe www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com