Container gardens
1 Apr, 2008 By: Heather Pittinger Landscape ManagementThere are few hard and fast rules in this blossoming discipline
CONTAINER GARDENS appeal to a broad range of customers including condo, home and business owners who have little or no land, but love and want plants.
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Adding container gardens to your service repertoire can be lucrative, but time-intensive. Experts agree you should visit the account at least once, and maybe even twice a week for maintenance. However, there are third-party maintenance companies you can contract with that specialize in just that, says Dr. Terri Starman, Texas A&M Department of Horticultural Sciences, College Station, TX.
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"They're really popular around pools, too," she says. "But having planters as focal points, in either the landscape or even the tabletop, lets the garden become a 'living centerpiece' of an outdoor kitchen and patio."
Planters come in all shapes and sizes. Try to complement the color and architecture of the building, says Bobbie Schwartz, owner of Bobbie's Green Thumb in Shaker Heights, OH.
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"There are also some great new planters out there that are very sleek and upright," she adds. "I think we'll be seeing them used much more as people learn about them."
The experts agree that designing a container garden offers a lot of freedom. With the exception of deep tap root or invasive plants, the combinations are endless. Schwartz advises looking for plants that are at least one or two zones hardier than where they'll be placed.
 Container Basics |
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