Growing plants in a container garden

Posted by Cindy Bolley
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You do not need a lot of space to have a garden. For some people having a HUGE garden may be nice but for others a small garden grown in containers on a desk or patio might be the right way to go.
Few people have lots of space or the time for a HUGE garden. A HUGE garden does indeed take time…There is so much more to growing a garden than just preparing the soil and planting. Weeding and watering are 2 things that you really must keep up with in order to have a bountiful harvest. Many people find planting in containers is a much better way to go.
Growing herbs to have  handy for cooking is one of the easiest things to grow in your container garden. Your able to have a few containers dedicated to holding nothing but herbs or you can do what I do and plants the herbs in the same containers that I have flowers and/or vegetables.
Most herbs look great while they are growing.. so this would simply add charm as well as beauty to your container garden.
Tomatoes are probably the easiest to grow… cherry tomatoes, roma, or even big boys all do well planted in a container garden. Just make sure that the size of the container is going to be big enough for the roots to be able to expand and grow… and don’t forget to have drain holes in your containers.
What are some of the vegetables that you like to eat? That should be one of the first questions that you ask yourself and then plan your container garden accordingly.
When you are thinking about what to plant in your garden you really should read about the plants that you intend on growing. Some are much easier than others to grow. If your just starting out it would be very depressing to of started with a plants that is known to be hard to grow… I think it would discouraged you quickly from continuing your new hobby of container gardening if your garden was a bust!… I know it certainly would for me, though I am sure I would try again.. I hate to be defeated in ANYTHING that I attempt to do.
You will want to determine what plant will be for what container. Since I am a junk store shopper….. I usually have the container FIRST and then I think about what I am going to plant in it.
You will want to be aware of how much sun the area where you are going to have your garden gets. If it is full sun you will not want to buy plants that will do best in the shade or vise versa…. The area that I have my container garden in has a combination of both sun and shade. I always look for plants that say partial shade.
I can not stress enough to make sure your containers have drain holes. You don’t want your plants to be soaked with water. They must have drain holes to be able to grow properly. Good drainage and proper watering are 2 things you will learn as you progress with your new hobby of container gardening.
A container garden is able to get the same pests that any other type garden gets. When you have a container garden your able to put in a good potting soil. Might be a nice idea to add a bit of gravel or rocks to the bottom of your containers broken pots work well too. I mix diatomaceous earth to my soil before I fill my containers. Diatomaceous earth is one of natures miracles. You can read all about this wonderful product here…. Diatomaceous.net .  This product is also excellent for keeping those nasty bugs off your plants leaves too. You will be amazed at all that it can do… Can you tell I love that stuff?
Container gardens can contain what ever it is that you want to put in them. Keep in mind how much sun the plants will need.. try to keep those that need FULL SUN together as well as lots of water and only water when dry. Your able to learn all of this by reading the tags on the seeds packets or on the plants that you are buying from the nursery…. They put those tags on EACH plant for a reason READ THEM!
Container gardening is not that hard but it does need some planning. It is a great way to be able to have a nice juicy mouth watering fresh picked tomato fresh from your own garden. You can also have an abundant supply of fresh herbs for cooking as well as any thing else that you planted…. Just out the door .. FRESH!
I enjoy my container gardens that I have on my backyard deck and on my front porch. I have flowers, herbs and vegetables all planted together in the same pots. Here is a wonderful book about container gardening…