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How to Create a Container Garden

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IN THIS ARTICLE
Equipment | Plant Choice | Instructions | Long-term Care | Our Picks

Container gardening is not a modern idea, people all over the world have been gardening this way for centuries. What has changed in recent years, more and more people live in cities. City people usually have less space for a garden, so gardening in pots or containers means you can place it where ever you have room. In the city, this usually means a patio, porch, balcony, or window sill.

Hyacinth in Container Garden

All you need to create a Container Garden is some pots, some potting soil, a sunny space, and your favorite plant. It really is that simple.

Limited space aside, growing plants in containers or pots actually offers a lot of benefits over growing plants in the ground. You can give every plant in your container garden the correct soil, by purchasing a Potting Soil mix perfectly suited to the plant. You can position your pots in places where they get just the right amount of sun and shade. Your Potting Soil doesn’t come with pests that garden soil may have living in it. Most of all though, growing plants in containers is a rewarding, not so new way, to bring some beauty to your house.

What Equipment do I Need to Create a Container Garden

When you create a container garden, there is a small set of supplies and tools you need. These are:

  • Garden Trowel (Hand Trowel)
  • Containers with drainage holes (approximately 6 per container)
  • Shade cloth, wind cloth, or landscape fabric
  • Your favorite plants (these can have quite different growing requirements)
  • Potting Soil mix (you may need more than 1 type)
  • Fertilizer (slow release or organic)

No matter what plants you’re growing in your container garden, you need a small set of tools. These tools just make it easier to take care of your potted plants. Take a look at my detailed article “Essential Container Gardening Tools” for tips and ideas.

What Plants Grow In Containers Or Pots

Most plants can be grown in containers. The question really is, what plants would you like to grow? Think about what you’re trying to achieve, do you want Succulents or flowers or fruit or vegetables? Or a mix? Anything is possible. The most important thing you need to consider is, what environment each plant type enjoys. You can have plants that thrive the similar environments sharing a container, however you must keep plants that have different requirements in separate containers.

A Succulent will want lots of sun and free draining soil, a Tomato plant wants lots of sun and rich dam soil, Ferns like shade and deep rich damp soil. A Succulent and a Fern just can’t share the same container, however they can be in separate containers nearby to each other, one in the sun and the other in the shade. Choose your plants with a goal in mind, and if the plants enjoy similar sun, soil, and water then you’ll find the job of planting easier.

Instructions

Where Should I Put My Container Garden

With your plant choices in mind, you need to position your containers in places that are correct for each plant’s sunlight needs. It’s very easy for a gardener to over estimate the amount of sun an area receives. Use this technique to help you build a reliable estimate. Visit the location in the morning, middle of the day and late afternoon and note where the sun is on the ground or window sill. You can even take pictures to help you. Think about shadows from neighbors buildings and trees. Also consider summer and winter trees, some trees lose their leaves in winter. The total daily hours of full sun, dappled sun, or shade an area receives determines what plants will grow well under those conditions.

How To Choose Correct Container Or Pot

You can make a container out of anything! You really can. So dream up the aesthetic you’re going for and choose a container to suit. There are several things you need to consider when selecting your container, Size, Drainage, and the container purpose.

Size

Small containers hold less Potting Soil, and so hold less water. This means they dry our faster. Sun and wind will cause them to dry out. Larger containers can hold more Potting Soil and so more water. They can last longer between watering. How often do you want to water? A small decorative container will need to be watered once a day. Is that something you’re happy to do?

Do you want to move your container garden? Large containers are heavy when loaded with Potting Soil and water. So it’s a good idea to put them in one place and leave them there once planted.

Drainage

Every container must have drainage holes in the base. My guide is a minimum of 6 holes. I know it’s a rough guide, however having too few holes in your container and you run the risk of your precious plants becoming too wet. Too wet equals unhealthy plants. If you’re re-purposing a container, drill some holes in the bottom, at least 6. Excess water will find its way to the holes and drain. Success!

The Container Purpose

What’s the purpose of your container? Is the container to be an amazing piece of art or is it purely functional? Imagine a cluster of Succulents in a low terra cotta bowl on an outdoor table, or a group of Planter Bags full of Tomato Plants covered in ripening Tomatoes. Both ends of the spectrum, so you can see my point. Think about your container’s purpose and choose a vessel that’s right for the job. As long as you can drill drainage holes, there is no wrong.

What Potting Soil Do I Need

The first thing to note is, do not use garden soil. Garden soil contains insects, bacteria, and may contain pathogens you don’t want in your Container Garden. Instead buy a good quality Potting Soil mix. Potting soil does not actually contain any garden soil. This sterile medium is a manufactured blend of organic and mineral ingredients. The ratio of these ingredients and other additives like bark and fertilizers help to make each product suitable for different types of plants.

Group your plants by soil requirements (usually found as part of the plant label on the nursery pot). From here you can decide how many different Potting Soil types are needed. If you’re lucky (or clever) you’ll be able to use only good quality All Purpose Potting Soil. Realistically, you might need several types. These are the questions I ask myself when deciding what Potting Soil types I need, it’s a simple way to approach making the right choice.

  1. Where is my plant located (indoors or outdoors)?
  2. What types of plants do I have?
  3. What are my plants’ moisture needs?

When you can answer these questions (for each plant), you can easily find a Potting Soil blend that meets your requirements. In reality you can handle fertilizing yourself, however if it comes with some in the blend, then that’s a nice addition. If you want to go into Potting Soil in more detail, you can read my article “How to Choose the Best Potting Soil for Your Container Garden“. In the “Our Picks” section of this article you’ll find our recommendations of good quality products.

How To Plant A Container Garden

Step 1

We talked about drainage holes earlier, and this is where I ask you to cover them! It’s not what it seems. I recommend you cover the container drainage holes with a small piece of shade cloth, wind cloth or landscape fabric to keep soil inside the container and keep out insects. Cut your cloth to fit the inside bottom of your container. The material you choose must allow water to drain freely through the container holes.

TIP
Spread out old news paper or paper towel on your work surface, it will help with cleanup. 

Step 2

Fill the container with Potting Soil mix to 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the top of the container. If your Potting Soil does not already contain fertilizer, add fertilizer. Wearing Garden Gloves, follow the Fertilizer directions for exact measurements, and mix using your hands. Too much fertilizer can burn the roots of your plants, so a little less is better. An all-purpose fertilizer is usually a good choice. In the “Our Picks” section of this article you’ll find our recommendations of good quality products.

TIP
Carefully open your Potting Soil bags so they can be easily closed again. You will need to store whatever is left over. It's always good to keep some extra Potting Soil on hand so you can top up containers and pots when needed. 

Step 3

One by one, carefully take your plants out of their nursery pots. To do this without harming the plants, turn the pot upside down and gently squeeze the sides of the nursery pot. It will soon loosen. If it’s stuck, run a knife around the pot between the soil and the plastic. Now arrange the plants in the container. Keep in mind what directions the container will be viewed, from the front, rear, or from all sides.

Step 4

Using your hands (still in Garden Gloves) for each plant dig a hole and put the spare Potting Soil aside onto the news paper. Make each hole just deep enough so that the plant will be at the same depth it was in its nursery pot. Place each plant’s root ball into the required hole and replace the Potting Soil. Don’t cover the plant crown (where the stem meets the roots) with soil. Read plant labels to make sure you leave enough room for plants to reach their mature size. You should have Potting Soil left over on your new paper.

Step 5

Water the soil not the plant. Water gently and generously until the water flows out the drain holes under your container. Over the next week or so, the Potting Soil will settle, so just add more as needed. There is nothing left to do but move your container to it’s long term home and enjoy.

How To Care For A Container Garden

Caring for your container garden is based around the needs of each plant. These needs are summed up as the correct amount of sun or shade, the correct amount of water, and fertilizing when it’s needed.

You’ll have taken care of the sun or shade requirement already, by placing your containers in positions that are good for the plants they hold, for example Ferns under shade and Succulents in full sun.

Water is very much plant specific. Start by following the guide on the plant Nursery Pot Label. This will tell you what is best for the plant. Containers can be a little tricky though. Smaller containers dry out very fast as they don’t have a large volume of soil to hold moisture. Sun and wind will dry them quickly, especially in summer. A simple test is to push your finger into the soil, down to the first knuckle. If the soil is damp, then no water is needed. Where I live, I need to water once a day in summer, especially vegetable and fruit plants.

TIP
Water in the early evening. The water has all night to soak in and no sun trying to dry it out.

Whenever you water your container garden, nutrients in the soil get washed away. So it is important to fertilize. If your Potting Soil came with fertilizer in the mix or you added your own before planting, feeding won’t be required for several months. Refer to your fertilizer label for a guide.

Once you’re ready to fertilize, use a water soluble fertilizer and apply it in line with directions on the label. Usually every 2 weeks for non-organic and organic varieties.

Conclusion

That’s it, the whole story. You have what you need to go make you very own container gardens. I need to warn you though, it is quite addictive. I started with a few plant pots on a window sill. My wife and daughter number 1 liked how they looked, so they bought a tiered plant pot shelf (holds 16 containers) and filled that with all sorts of ornamentals. Daughter number 2 and I thought we’d grow some vegetables in containers, Potatoes, Beets, and Lettuce. Now our patio is surrounded with all sorts of weird and wonderful plants. So if you’re willing, don’t waste another minute, go create a container garden of your own.

Our Picks

High-quality supplies makes all the difference in plant performance. These are our picks of the best supplies for containers so you can watch your plants thrive.

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Best All Purpose Potting Soil.
Best All Purpose Organic Potting Soil.
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