Sometimes I like to look at Cosmo Magazine. Not because I’m interested in any of their tips for spicing things up in the bedroom or advice on how to apply my eye shadow. What I like to look at are their headlines. They are hilarious! “How to Be a Total Man-Magnet,” “10 Sneaky Tricks to Try Instead of Dieting,” and “How to Feel Sexy All the Time.” Sensationalism at it’s finest.
You have to admit, they definitely grab your attention. I thought I would try my hand at a Cosmo-style headline and article. I admit that container gardening isn’t nearly as sexy as lipsticks to make your pucker more kissable, but work with me here.
So what exactly does it mean to be “sneaky” in the context of container gardening? The following tips are all behind the scenes ways to improve how your balcony garden looks or functions. File these bad boys away for spring and your garden will thank you.
- Don’t fill a large pot entirely with soil. Big pots full of potting mix are heavy (hard to move and bad for balconies with weight restrictions). And water tends to stagnate in the bottom, which most plants don’t like. Keep things light and draining properly by using a pot insert. Or, if you’re on a budget, you can use crumpled plastic bottles.
- Use pot feet of some sort. Pots sitting right on your balcony, deck or patio cause rot, uneven fading, ugly stains, and poor drainage. Not smokin hot, if you ask me. But this is easily solved and you don’t have to use your grandma’s terracotta pot feet either. Check out pot pads. They’re completely hidden underneath the pot but raise things up off the ground. And they come in fun colors. It’s like underwear with a wild pattern that only you know about.
- Color coordinate your plants. Just like stylish wardrobes are well-planned, so too are stylish balconies. The best looking ones are carefully cultivated with flowers and foliage that look nice together. Just like you probably shouldn’t wear a wild top with loud bottoms, you want to have a nice mix of show stopper plants and the supporting cast.
- Use dwarf versions of your favorite plants to create the illusion of a grand scale. There are lots of dwarf versions of great plants that look identical to (or very close to identical) their bigger counterparts. A lot of times when someone sees a dwarf hydrangea in full bloom, for example, it reads in their mind as bigger and lusher than it actually is. People see what they expect to see, not necessarily what is actually there.
- Use edibles and flowers together. Edibles are all the rage right now, and when you treat them as an ornamental plant instead of a fussy edible that has to be grown in evenly spaced rows, they can give your container garden a whimsical, cool vibe without looking like you’re trying too hard.
Got any sneaky tips of your own? Keep in PG in the comments! 
You Might Also Like:
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Grow something unexpected. One of my favorite plants is a pineapple plant started from the top of a pineapple purchased at the grocery store. It’s grown into this gorgeous spiky thing and everyone always wants to know what this mystery plant is. It may never flower and its size is limited by the pot it’s in (a simple red clay pot) but it really looks cool as a single specimen. Right now it’s in among succulents and cyclamens and pots of thymes beginning to spout with grape hyacinths and somehow it all works. The unexpected is sexy: would you have expected an edgy, spiky pineapple plant to live next to a pot of lemon thyme and grape hyacinths? It’s sort of like finding out that nice next door neighbor is a dominatrix when you were just looking to borrow a cube of butter.
That’s a great idea Shari! I’ve heard that you can grow the pineapple top, but I’ve never tried it myself. I think I’ll need to BBQ some pineapple rings (my fav way to eat pineapple…YUM!) so that I can have the top to grow.
Depending upon the type of plants in the pots, I like to add things like sea shells, rocks, or pieces of broken china. It makes me feel like my containers are more of a garden than a pot.
Great idea Carol!
great idea to write a Cosmo inspired headline. Great post too, very informative.
I found instead of buying plants stands for any kind of pot feet, I just save the caps from Gatorade bottles for big pots and water or coke bottles for smaller pots. I don’t have to worry about scuffing the concrete my pots are on now but I suppose if the surface finish was an issue I’d just flip them upside down. Pretty much free!
I was drawn into this post by the sexy headline. Good one! These are great foliage fashion tips. Also a great list of “show stopping” plants. Now my balcony can look hot! hot! hot!
{ 1 trackback }