Gardening Tips for Planting in Outdoor Pots
Gardening in outdoor planters is a rewarding way to enjoy your outdoor plants and beautify your outdoor living spaces. The success of your gardening efforts depends on choosing the correct outdoor pots and potting soil for your plants.
The benefits of using decorative planters in outdoor gardening are well worth any extra set up time required. Using outdoor planters drastically cuts down on invasive weeds. Outdoor pots allow you to better control soil conditions and drainage, especially important during rainy seasons, low-lying grounds, or soils that retain moisture. Another feature of using outdoor pots as vegetable planters is that you can move your plants out of in climate weather, or adjust their sunlight as the seasons change.
The following steps should help you prepare to enjoy gardening in your outdoor decorative planters.
1. CHOOSE THE OUTDOOR PLANTERS
It is best to pick the outdoor pots before deciding what you will plant in them. Because garden planters come in so many sizes, styles, and colors, you can easily pick planters that will suit the style of your home or outdoor gardening area.
Muted colored planters, such as concrete or stone, emphasize the plants. Vivid colored planters draw more attention to the outdoor pots themselves. A red vegetable planter can compliment tomato plants or red peppers. Always take into account the color of the outdoor pots and the color changes your plants might go through. For example, tomato plant flowers are white, while the tomato will be red.
If planting your vegetable planters in groupings, it is best to group an odd number of outdoor pots together. Varying the sizes of the planters in this grouping adds additional interest.
At PlanterSupply.com, we recommend using pot feet or a plant stand, especially if your garden planters will be displayed on a wooden deck. The pot feet prevent moisture from accumulating under your outdoor planter, which might attract mold or insects.
2. ASSEMBLE THE PLANTS TO GO IN YOUR GARDEN PLANTERS
Choose plants that will either accent your outdoor planters or compliment them. For a display that can be enjoyed throughout the seasons, combine annuals and perennials in larger patio planters. For added interest, mix colors, textures, and foliage types.
A vertical element helps to give your planting some height. Outdoor urns compliment this type of planting very well. Or you can choose to plant a vine that crawls to cascade down your outdoor urns. It really depends on the final look you are wanting to achieve. Outdoor Urns are a great example of an outdoor planter that can be dressed up or down, depending on its placement and planting.
3 . DIRT AND OUTDOOR POTS
Technically dirt is soil that is out of place. Choosing the correct soil type for your outdoor planters is extremely important. Ordinary garden soil is too heavy and can introduce disease to your outdoor pots. Be sure to choose a good mixture that is sold in bags. There are some soiless mixes available, but they tend to dry out much faster because they don't retain moisture as well. Consider mixing in a slow release fertilizer if your bagged soil doesn't already contain one.
4. PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE OF OUTDOOR POTS
If you are planting shallow-rooted plants in tall outdoor urns or decorative planters, you may want to consider filling the bottom of the planters with fill materials such as broken terra cotta shards. This will promote drainage and prevents water logged soil. If you use a high density foam or fiberglass outdoor planter, you can easily drill drainage holes in the bottom.
Water your plants in outdoor planters often. A good plan is to water when the soil becomes dry 2 to 3 inches below the surface.
Clip off spent blooms to promote new blooms to grow, allowing you to enjoy your flower planters longer in the season.
