Container Landing - A Promising Technique For Using A Small Area In Design

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Plants in containers have become increasingly common in domestic gardens as a design element. Although the fashion for container planting came to us from the West, in fact, this technique was first applied in the East - many centuries ago the art of bonsai arose. After the Europeans “discovered” Japan and China, they also borrowed the techniques of landscape gardening. Containers can be used to grow a huge variety of plants these days, and the variety of containers speaks for itself. But first, let's figure out why container plantings are needed in the garden?

First, containers are an interesting and promising technique for the rational use of a small area. By placing containers with ornamental plants at different levels, it is possible to create a lush blooming effect even in a very small garden. Multi-storey container structures can significantly save the area allocated for garden crops.

Secondly, the mobility of containers allows for optimal placement of plants during all periods of the summer cottage season. For example, you can put well-prepared fertile soil into the container and sow herbs in the spring. While the plants are growing in mass, the container can be placed in the most favorable conditions, and removed from the rain under a canopy so that a soil crust does not form, preventing the emergence of seedlings. Then the grown greens can be moved to partial shade closer to the house - the shoots will not dry out, and the greens will remain juicy, and the spices growing next to the kitchen will always come in handy. During the season, you can create different flower arrangements by moving the containers in the garden. When a crop's peak flowering is behind it, it can be easily removed from the foreground to make room for more showy plants. With the help of containers, it is easy to give decorative effect even to a blank wall, along which, for some reason, it is impossible to arrange a stationary flower garden in the ground.

Thirdly, container plantings are much easier to care for than soil ones - you do not need such laborious activities as digging and weeding, therefore, more time will be left for summer cottage leisure. In addition, containers will allow you to successfully grow crops that cannot live in the soil of your site due to inappropriate conditions. For example, felicia does not tolerate stagnant moisture in the soil, and catharanthus does not tolerate acidic soils. Both of these plants will grow and bloom well in containers, even if your site is located on damp swampy soils, and there is no way to raise its level and lay a complex drainage system.

And finally, container planting is the fastest way to landscaping your site, especially if you do not have a lot of time to tinker in the garden and are just getting started.

If you decide to decorate the garden with container plantings, first you need to decide which containers will be placed on your site.

Traditional containersare pots and flowerpots, reminiscent of those used in indoor floriculture. A variant of such a traditional container is a planter, which can be hung almost anywhere in the garden - with a classic landscape design, decorate the entrance to the house and a terrace, or, following a romantic style, attach the planter to large trees in the garden. When choosing such a container, it is very important to pay attention to the material from which it is made. Containers made of porous materials (clay or wood) evaporate moisture faster, but allow more air to reach the plant roots, which is necessary for plant growth and development. If you have chosen them, then you should carefully organize the watering of the plantings. Containers made of glass, metal, plastic (as well as glazed clay) retain moisture in the soil longer,which allows you to not so rigidly follow the humidification regime. However, they do not allow the soil to ventilate well, so you will have to ensure that the roots do not rot, and for this you need to ensure perfect drainage.

Original containersare on sale more and more often. It can be any object of an unusual shape, a container for soil or having a special recess. This includes balls of different materials with holes through which ampelous plants can grow beautifully, plaster figures, on whose hats perennials can flourish, and much more. However, the price of such garden containers is still disproportionately high. Therefore, instead of them, you can organize the space using household items that have become unusable. They can become garden decorations and serve you for more than one year in a new quality. For example, petunias can settle in a wicker basket full of holes, and an old shoe will grow with nasturtiums. Even a leaky garden wheelbarrow can be a wonderful element of the garden if you plant bright annuals in it,and place the wheelbarrow itself in the garden as if it "grew up" here.

However, do not get too carried away with original containers: it is known how much trash is stored in domestic dachas! Choose only two or three objects that really fit into the garden, and decorate them carefully, otherwise the summer cottage may look like a dump. Regardless of the type of container, you need to follow the general principles of growing plants in these containers. The containers should be large enough to provide consistent soil moisture between waterings. For example, for growing large vegetables (tomatoes, eggplants, etc.), a container with a volume of at least 10 liters is suitable. Bulbous ones, including green onions, will grow well in a 5 liter container. For ornamental crops, the volume is selected in each case separately - much depends on the requirements for the moisture regime and the volume of the root system. When choosing a container of any particular shape, use the following rule: the plant should be twice as high as the visible part of the container. This will give you a balanced composition.

The soil for container planting should be well cleared of pests and diseases, sufficiently loose, moisture and air permeable. It is best to use ready-made soil, which can be treated with a solution of potassium permanganate before sowing. If possible, do not reuse the soil for container planting - this can provoke the accumulation of harmful microorganisms.

Since container planting in any container requires more regular watering than plants in soil, add hydrogel granules to the soil to retain moisture. This will increase the time between waterings and significantly reduce their number. Do not forget to regularly feed the plants, as when planting tightly in a small container, nutrients very quickly run out. Top dressing can be carried out in small doses with each watering by dissolving the complex fertilizer in water.

What plants should I use for container planting? Every year breeders receive new varieties and even variety series specially designed for these purposes. But a lot also depends on your choice: when selecting groups of plants in one container, it is necessary to take into account their requirements for illumination, humidity, as well as color, height, shape, etc.

Most often, decorative annuals are used for planting in containers. Among them, marigolds, nasturtiums, begonias, lobelia, and pelargoniums are widespread. Popular plants such as petunias look very impressive in hanging pots. Separately, surfinia should be mentioned here - a hybrid of petunias, which gives shoots up to two meters long, completely covered with numerous large flowers of various colors. Surfinia are much more resistant to wind, rain and other adverse conditions. Within the same container, annuals can be combined with perennials - this way you get an effective combination, and the container itself will look blooming for a much longer time. A good option for such a composition is to plant tropical plants with decorative leaves, usually grown in the room (arrowroot, calathea, ktenante,aspidistra), together with low, beautifully flowering perennials (viola, primroses).

To decorate the spring garden, bulbous plants can be grown using containers. Among them there are many types and varieties for every taste: lilies, gladioli, crocuses, muscari, anemones, tulips, daffodils, galanthuses (snowdrops), hyacinths are suitable for containers. With their help, you can create unusually bright and beautiful combinations when the whole garden has not yet woken up after winter.

Even shrubs or trees are grown in large containers, however, only their dwarf varieties are suitable, and mainly varieties of conifers: spruce, pine, larch, western thuja. If you prefer a classic style, you can place tubs with roses (preferably re-flowering hybrid tea varieties) or citrus (for example, orange) in the garden.

Also, various vines grow well in containers (morning glory, maiden grapes, clematis), using which you can visually increase the volume of your garden and get an additional decorative effect.

If you like a functional garden like a monastery, fill the containers with medicinal and aromatic herbs (mint, sage, hyssop, oregano) or plant vegetables. Among vegetable crops in containers, compact varieties with a low lush bush develop and bear fruit better.

Whatever the style of your garden, container planting can successfully fit into it and allow for new unusual combinations. And if you are slightly mistaken when choosing a place for a new plant, it costs nothing to fix this mistake - just rearrange the container.