And the Winner of the Container Gardening Tip Contest Is…

Thank you to all of the gardeners who sent me their tips. It was really hard to pick a winner because the tips were so good.

Ann suggested using upturned pots as risers to bring smaller pots up to a more visually appealing height.
Julie suggested putting a plain pot witha drainage hole into a decorative pot without a hole in order to still get the drainage plants need while not getting water in places you’d rather not.
Kimberly suggested keeping it simple by only “playing” with one element at a time. For example, choose leaves with different textures but make sure their flowers are all similar colors.
RainGardener thinking recycling old garden objects to make new pots is a great way to go. She reused an old BBQ to make a new planter.
Otto suggested using a coffee filter to cover the drainage holes of pots in order to keep the dirt in while water drains out.
Acorn suggested incorporating the ancient tradition of placing small clay pots near plants to help them well-watered.
Tina reminded us about the danger of pots drying out quickly and suggested thinking about how the gardener plans on watering them before setting up their container garden. Access to a water faucet, watering can, drip irrigation, etc.
Mary suggested using recycled plastic coffee canisters to take up some of the space int he bottom of large containers.

All of those are great tips, and I promise I hemmed and hawed over this decision. But ultimately I chose Louise’s tip.

“I’ve got one! When you buy plants from the nursery, instead of throwing out the plastic containers that came with the plant, recycle them and use them as drainage materials at the bottom of a big container. This way the container is less heavy and you don’t need to use as much dirt to fill up the container.”

What I liked about her tip is she came up with a way to recycle all those nursery pots during the process of potting up the plants that were once in them. This avoids having to clean them off and store them for future recycling, or dragging them back to the nursery to recycle them there.

Louise, I sent you an email, and you should be hearing from Shayna at Botanical Interests soon. She’ll help you put in your order for six Botanical Interests seed packets of your choice. Enjoy!

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