Plant Beauty in Convenient Packages: Container Gardening Mary Meyer,Professor,University of...
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Transcript of Plant Beauty in Convenient Packages: Container Gardening Mary Meyer,Professor,University of...
Plant Beauty in Convenient Packages: Container Gardening
Mary Meyer,Professor,University of Minnesota
Copyright © 2007 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.
Containers for plants can be anything!!
As long as it has:
Drainage!!
Drainage!!Drainage!!
Plant containers can be anything that holds soil !!
Remember: DrainageDrainageDrainage
Know your plant’s moisture requirements!
Moisture-loving plants can stand in water: bacopa, peace lily, cannas. Plastic pots are good for these plants.
Most plants cannot stand in water and need oxygen as much as moisture. Double pot these or use containers with several drainage holes.
Dry loving plants require drainage and pots that dry out: terra cotta, or clay. Plastic is worse for these plants.
Container options: terra cotta or clay
• Classic choice because it is great for plant root growth: provides good air or oxygen exchange.
• Heavy• Dries out quickly• Develops mold,
salts etching
Container options: plastic & fiberglass
• Lightweight, maybe too lightweight
• Hold moisture longer, maybe too long
• No staining • Colorful, can be
decorative and attractive
Container options: wood
• Minimum temperature fluctuation: good insulators
• Needs replacing eventually, can last many years
• Informal, natural appearance
Container options: glazed ceramic
• Beautiful• Non-porous and
can be too airtight for root growth
• May clash with plants flowers and foliage Phormium, New Zealand
flax
Container options: metal
• Little insulation: can be very hot or very cold, less of a problem in large containers
• Can be very attractive
Container options: stone, hypertufa troughs
• Heavy in weight and cost
• Harder to find• Moss grows on
containers• Drainage may
be a problem.
Traditional Container Soil Mix:
*1 part garden soil*1 part peatmoss
(wet first: soak in a bucket)
*1 part sand
Use new soil each year.
Most people use synthetic soil.
Lightweight; holds water and air; ideal for plant growth.
Cocc
Coconut fiber or coir is in the ingredients.
Slow release fertilizer is in this potting soil, but in a very small amount.
Container plants need fertilizer. You can use a slow release fertilizer in the soil mix and weekly liquid fertilizer applications for actively growing flowering annuals in containers.
Watering: very important
• Daily in summer• Small and
hanging containers need extra care
• Type of container type makes a big difference
Pouches require lots of water, use a piece of hose in the back of the pouch.
What plants should you use? It depends on:
Site Personal preferenceColor schemePurpose: food, color, hide/cover, frame,
soften, attract attention
Hot Sites call for careful plant selection.
Purple or pink fountaingrass loves sun and warm or hot locations
Shade is easier: Begonia‘Dragon Wings’,great container plant.
Hidcote, England
Fuchsia: likes cool weatherand lots of moisture.
Osteospermum ’Orange Symphony’ likes cool weather; opens with sun
Personal Preference
formal
informal
Color scheme: red and pink
White color theme: featherreed grass ’Overdam’Miscanthus sinensis ’Variegatus’, caladium and Zinnia angustifolia ’Crystal White’
Purpose: define a patio: Sissinghurst white garden
Define a bench: Plectranthus,sweet potato vine‘Margarita’,coleus,supertunia
Fuschia,Carex buchananii, licorice plant,nasturtium,fan flower.
Decorate: Denver Botanic Garden: Up on the Roof
Define or make a new garden with just containers
Place plants where there is no soil access.
Cover a bare wall: use tough plants.
Containers allow you to grow plants where there is no access to the soil.
Highlight a special plant collection: carnivorous plants; herbs
Denver Botanic Garden: a trough for every county, showing their native plants.
Mini-landscape: Trough Gardens; Rice Creek Gardens.
Use containers to feature an area: entryway, walkway, door, bench.
Sissinghurst entryway
Containers can highlight a flower border
Combinations for Containers
• Resources, fun websites: • http://www.plantbynumber.com/
Ball Horticultural, Inc. • http://www.provenwinners.com click
on: Combinations
Proven Winners: A. Lysimachia ‘Goldilocks’ 2 plantsB. Lobelia ‘Laguna Sky Blue’ 3plantsC. Petunia ‘Supertunia Double Purple’ 2plants
“Pennies from Heaven” Proven Winners
A A
B
B
C
C
B
New forms of old favorites
Nasella or (Stipa) tenuissima, pony tails, Mexican Feather Grass; Osteospermum, Angelonia’Angelface Blue’, Argyanthemum ‘Butterfly’
Scirpus cernus,fiber optic grass; vinca,dusty miller,viola
Tibouchina grandiflora, large leafed gloryflower is a South American flowering tree,tropical plant.
Tropical look: Olbrich Gardens, Madison, WI
Use coarse and fine textured plants. A banana shredded from hail at the Arboretum.
Nicotiana sylvestris, flowering tobacco and Hibiscus
Containers for food and horticultural therapy
Use raised beds for elders, children, or where soil is very poor.
Container vegetables require: 1. Full sun 2. Lots of water3. Fertilizer4. Rule of thumb for container size: 3 gal of soil for every 1’ of plant
William Baffin hardy shrub rose, probably some roots in the ground, roots cannot survive above ground winters in Minnesota.
Containers for all Seasons
Containers can providebeauty and interest in winter.
In our zone 4, nothing survives the winter in a container, without significant protection.
Further References:
Best Annuals for Minnesota: http://www.florifacts.umn.edu/St. Paul (USDA Winter Hardiness Z4; Heat Z5; 169 growing days)
Books: Contain Yourself by Kerstin P. Ouellet, 2003. Ball Publishing.
Copyright © 2007 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.