There are many excellent reasons you may want to garden in pots and containers. Perhaps you have limited space, a temporary space, or do not want all the fuss of a traditional garden plot. Perhaps you want to increase your gardening space without digging up more of your yard, or you want to garden in an area with no soil or poor-quality soil. With a bit of free space and very little effort, you will have an abundance of possibilities when you decide to garden in containers. 

One of the best things about growing plants in pots and containers is that you can grow just about anything. Want to grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, succulents, wildflowers, annuals, or perennials? There are varieties of each of these that are well-suited for containers. You can literally grow anything from diminutive ground covers to small trees in a container. 

Whether you want to use pots, containers, planters, barrels, or buckets, container gardening has a lot to offer for any gardener. Let’s dig right into the basics of gardening in pots and containers. The following 29 beginner tips will help get you started for a successful experience!

Getting Started

Do you want to try container gardening? Where do you start? There are a few basic concepts you should think about before you jump into buying and growing plants. Just a little bit of advance knowledge and planning can help you have a very successful and productive growing experience. 

Know Your Climate

One of the best things to do at the very beginning of any gardening project is to learn your climate zone. If you don’t know it already, take a look at the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map and identify your zone.

This will help you choose plants that will thrive where you live. It will also help you know when to sow seeds. Learning your climate zone is a quick and easy task and will be immensely helpful for any gardening activity. 

Know Your Yard

Take the time to learn as much as you can about your yard. Your yard represents a microhabitat within a larger community. You now know your regional plant hardiness zone, but what are conditions like in your yard? Where are the sunniest places? Where are the shadiest places? What other plants or structures are nearby? Where are your buried utility lines?

The more you are familiar with the microhabitats and potential challenges in your yard, the better prepared you will be to fill your landscape with well-matched plants.

Location, Location, Location

Now that you know your regional climate and your local microhabitats, where will you put your containers? You can place a pot just about anywhere, but is that a good location to grow a plant? Here are a few ideas to help you pick the best spot for both convenience and decorative appeal. 

• Place your container-grown plants where you can see them and enjoy them. 
• Increase curb appeal by gardening within view of passersby.
• Place your potted plants near a hose for easy watering.
• Be aware of how much or how little sunlight your chosen location receives.
• Use potted plants to fill in odd edges and corners. 
• Place larger containers securely on the ground; arrange smaller containers on benches, tables, or along the top of sturdy brick or rock walls. 
• Don’t block doorways, stairways, or walkways with your planters.

Container Considerations

One of the first decisions you’ll need to make is which containers to use. You will find a tremendous variety of containers, from small pots to large barrels, window boxes, raised beds, and everything in between.

Ultimately, you’ll need to choose a container, or containers, that best suits your needs. Containers come in a wide variety of materials, shapes, and sizes. Read on to learn more about choosing the correct container. 

Know Your Container Materials

You will find pots and containers made from a variety of different materials. Any durable material can make a good container for gardening. You will find, however, that different materials have differing qualities that favor different gardening styles, climates, and plants.

Do some reading to learn more about different types of containers, and then select the containers that will work best for you. Take into consideration what types of containers are readily available to you, their cost, their durability, and how practical they are for your purposes. 

If you are just getting started with container gardening, you may find that plastic containers are the most convenient. They are readily available, inexpensive, and come in a wide range of colors and sizes. You will also find a wide range of ceramic materials.

Ceramics are an excellent choice as well, but these will tend to be heavier and more expensive. You can easily mix and match containers for an eclectic look, incorporating all your favorite styles.

Ensure Drainage

When you start gardening in pots and containers, the one thing every container must have is excellent drainage. You won’t want water pooling at the bottom of your container because the roots of your plants will become waterlogged and rot. With good drainage holes, extra water will run out the bottom of the pot, and your plant’s roots will be able to breathe. 

Many plastic pots will have large drainage holes, but some plastic planters will have a solid bottom. You’ll notice that some of these have slight indentations that can be punched out or drilled out. If you intend to purchase a solid bottom plastic container to use as a pot, you should go ahead and create the holes to give it good drainage. This should be a fairly easy and straightforward task.

Choose the Correct Container Size

It may seem obvious, but it’s important to remember that larger plants need larger containers. You should allow enough space for your plant to grow a healthy root system and also make sure your container is large enough to support a mature plant.

There’s no precise right or wrong container size because even very small and very large containers have their uses. You just need to be sure that your plant has enough space to grow to maturity and have the support of a solid, non-tipping base.

Check Out Self-Watering Containers

Self-watering containers may not be for everyone, but if you want to take some of the worry out of watering, you might want to try this method. Self-watering planters have a built-in reservoir for storing water. The water is typically slowly wicked into the soil to provide steady moisture to your plants, so you won’t need to worry about how much or when to water. You just have to remember to keep the water reservoir full.

Another great watering idea is to use a self-watering jug, like an olla. These large reservoirs are made of a porous ceramic material. Fill them with water, and they will gradually release moisture into the soil, helping keep your plants moist. Just keep the jug full of water and let it do the rest.

Get Creative

Don’t be afraid to get creative with your containers. Container gardening doesn’t need to be limited to pots and planters that you purchase from a garden center. Do you have some extra jumbo-sized pots from trees or shrubs that you’ve purchased? These may be made of thin plastic, but they can be reused in your container garden for at least a few more years. 

You can also use other large containers you may have lying around. Drill holes into the bottom of some large plastic bins and tubs. Drill holes into the bottom of a sturdy plastic bucket. These repurposed items may not be fancy or beautiful, but they can become fully functional containers for gardening, and you can give them new life by incorporating them into your container garden. 

Soil and Nutrition

The soil your plant grows in is its primary basis for good health. Don’t skimp on soil quality for your potted plants. Go ahead and use high-quality soil because your plants can’t get their nutrients from anywhere else except the soil you give them. Healthy soil will naturally lead to healthy plants.

Provide Excellent Soil

When gardening with raised beds, pots, and planters, you won’t need to worry about poor-quality soils, tree roots, or other ground-level obstacles. You get to control the soil quality for each one of your containers. 

Get your container-grown plants off to a healthy start by giving them excellent soil. Use a high-quality soil mix formulated for raised beds or containers. These specialty soil mixes will provide excellent drainage and a good balance of nutrients to supply optimal growing conditions for container gardening. You can also spend time learning a lot about soil quality and even how to create your own ideal soil mix for raised beds.

Boost Nutrients

Plants need nutrients to thrive. There are two main ways to provide nutrients for your plants. One is to incorporate compost into the soil, and the other is to add liquid or pellet fertilizers during the growing season. If you want to practice organic gardening methods, you’ll probably want to use the compost method.

Mix some organic compost into your soil at planting time and add some more mid-way through the growing season for a mid-season boost. If you use commercial fertilizers, follow the directions on the packaging carefully. 

Mulch

Mulch isn’t just for large landscaping projects. Add some organic, biodegradable mulch to your containers to help keep the soil moist and protect sensitive plant roots from temperature extremes. You won’t need a lot of mulch for each container. A couple of inches at the surface of each container will work wonders for moisture retention, temperature regulation, and even weed suppression. 

Some excellent mulches for containers include wheat straw, pine straw, shredded leaves, shredded wood mulch, or organic compost. These biodegradable materials will rest on the surface of the soil and eventually work their way into the soil, enriching your plant’s environment without creating any extra waste. If you are gardening through the winter, you may want to add an extra protective layer of mulch on the surface after your sensitive plants die back for the winter months. 

Watering

Use the proper watering techniques to help maintain healthy plants. All plants need water. The amount of water they need and the frequency with which you water will vary depending on the type of plant, how many plants are in your container, your climate, and even the material of your pot or container.

Water Deeply at the Roots

You may be tempted to sprinkle a little water on your plants and say you watered them. But plants take in water through their roots, so it’s most important that the roots get a thorough watering.

This means that, when you water, water your pots deeply, allowing the water to soak through to the bottom of the pot. Your pot should have drainage holes in the bottom so you can water enough that the water drains out the bottom. Then, allow the soil to dry a bit before watering again. 

Aim your water directly into the soil rather than soaking the leaves of your plants each time you water. A slow, gentle spray of water is better than a hard jet of water that will splash soil out of the pot and potentially damage the roots and leaves. Wet leaves can also easily develop leaf spots and fungal diseases like powdery mildew. It’s okay for your plants to get rained on, of course, but try to avoid any unnecessary leaf watering if you can avoid it.

Water in the Morning

You can water your plants any time of the day, but the most efficient time for watering is in the morning. The temperatures are a little cooler at this time, giving your plants a bit of extra time to absorb the water before it evaporates in the afternoon sun.

Morning waterings also allow your plants to start the day with a fresh soaking, which will help them withstand the intensity of the mid-day sun.

Water the Correct Amount

Each species of plant will have different watering requirements. Succulents, drought-tolerant plants, and xeriscaping plants will need a lot less frequent watering than those species that like consistently moist soil. Unless you have plants that love wet soil, be very careful about overwatering your plants. 

In general, you’ll want to allow the soil to dry briefly between waterings, but don’t allow it to dry for too long, or you will find yourself with wilted plants. If your moisture-loving plants are wilting and the soil is dry to the touch, it’s time to give them another deep watering. 

Your planter size and material will affect how frequently you need to water. Smaller containers will dry much more quickly than larger containers. Permeable planter materials will also dry more quickly than plastic materials. You’ll need to keep a close eye on your smaller planters and porous ceramic planters to be sure they are staying moist enough. 

Ideal Container Plants

Choosing and growing your own plants at home is, of course, one of the biggest rewards of gardening. When choosing plants, you’ll want to grow the species that will thrive not only in containers but also in your yard. And, of course, you’ll want to grow the types of plants you find most interesting. The following ideas will help you choose the best plants for your container garden.

Make a List

A great way to start your container gardening project is to make a list. Make a list of the places in your yard where you might want containers. Make a list of plants you might want to grow.  Go ahead and make an ambitious list. You can always narrow down your choices later. Making a list at the beginning will help you organize your ideas and decide which plants to start with. 

Choose a Theme (or Two, or Three)

Do you want to focus on vegetables, herbs, or flowers? Would you like to grow a pocket prairie? Do you want to create a butterfly garden or a bird-friendly garden? Any garden theme you have in mind can come to life in your container garden. You can easily mix and match themes as well. 

Use several containers to create themed gardens, or group several themed plants, such as herbs or wildflowers, into a single larger container. You could scatter your containers randomly around your yard, but they will have the most eye-catching appeal if you group your themed plantings together in close proximity.

Grow Container-Friendly Cultivars

You can grow just about any plant in a pot or container for a while. Some plants will quickly outgrow containers, however, or may be unsuitable in other ways. If you really want to make the best use of your containers, grow container-friendly plants.

The best container-friendly plants will typically be those that stay small or compact. Plants with some drought tolerance are also excellent choices for containers because they will be dealing with an environment that dries quickly. 

Grow a Variety

Do you have space for more than one plant? Then, grow more than one plant variety. Each different type of plant you grow will bring its own unique characteristics to your gardening space. If you have enough space, try growing an assortment of flowers, herbs, and vegetables.

You can even grow some succulents, grasses, vines, groundcovers, and dwarf trees in pots and containers. Choose the plants that are most appealing to you, and you will have a thriving and diverse assortment of beautiful plants.

Group Similar Plants Together

If you are growing several different plant species together in the same container, choose species that have similar light and water requirements. It won’t be possible to grow a sun-loving, drought-loving plant side-by-side with a shade-loving, moisture-loving plant.

Grow your sunny plants together in one pot and your shady plants together in another pot. Similarly, grow your xeriscape plants separate from your moisture-loving plants.  

Maximize Seasonal Productivity

Container gardening isn’t just for the summer months. You can enjoy growing plants in containers all year round. In the spring, In the summer, When some of your summer plants have faded or died back completely, replace them with some fabulous fall plants that look great in containers.

And don’t be fooled into thinking you can’t enjoy your container garden during the winter. You can reuse the same containers from season to season or stagger your plantings so that you add fall containers while the summer plants are still productive.

Start From Seed

Starting your plants from seed offers many benefits. If you have the time and a little bit of patience, seriously consider starting at least some of your container-grown plants from seed. 

• Cost – Starting plants from seeds can help you save money.
• Variety – You will find lots of beautiful varieties to choose from.
• Entertainment value – It’s fun and rewarding to grow plants from seed.
• Availability – Seeds are more widely available even when plants are not.

Practice Correct Planting Methods

Whether you are transplanting young plants or starting plants from seeds, you’ll need to take good care of them to help them get a strong start. If starting from seed, keep your seeds moist until they sprout and the seedlings start to develop true leaves. They may not continue to grow if you allow them to dry out.

If you are transplanting young plants, treat them carefully and water them well after transplanting to help avoid transplant shock. When you give your young plants a healthy start, they will grow both strong and robust.

Pay Attention to Plant Health

Check your potted plants regularly. Hopefully, you will spend most of your time admiring your plants and enjoying their beauty. But as you admire them, also be aware of any changes or signs of poor health.

Watch for wilting, discolored leaves, and insect infestations. If you notice anything that appears wrong with your plant, address the problem promptly so your plants have the best chance of a speedy and thorough recovery. 

Landscaping Ideas

There’s more to container gardening than simply growing plants in pots and containers. You can use your container-grown plants to enhance a small corner of your patio, deck, or your entire yard. Here are some practical and decorative ideas for how to best use container-grown plants in your home landscape.

Give Your Plants Some Space

Depending on the size of your plants and your containers, you can grow one plant per container or multiple plants in a single container. The most important thing here is that each plant has enough space to look its best. 

You can often place individual containers close together, but for larger plants, allow some space between containers to prevent neighboring plants from bumping into each other too much. If you are growing multiple plants in a single large container, allow each plant plenty of space to grow to its full size. Crowded plants will compete for light, soil moisture, and nutrients and will be more prone to disease and poor growth. 

Create Attractive Displays

There are many creative ways you can display your pots and containers. 

• Arrange your containers in small groups with plants that all fruit or flower during the same season to create a bright mass of color. 
• Increase curb appeal by placing taller plants in the back and shorter plants in the front so all your plants can be seen and appreciated. 
• Grow groups of plants together with varied foliage shapes and colors.
• Cluster several groups of butterfly-friendly flowers together so you will enjoy not only the colorful flowers but also the graceful fluttering of butterflies that come to feed on them.
• Place a small container planter on a low table or plant stand for added convenience or decorative appeal.
• If you have a mix of decorative and drab containers, place the more decorative containers in the most highly visible locations and the drab containers behind them.

Place Your Containers Anywhere

Wherever you have space for a pot or decorative planter, you can have a mini garden. Whether your yard is large or small, you can probably find room for at least one container. And because containers are so versatile, you can use them just about anywhere!

Shade: It can be difficult to start a shade garden, but containers make it easy to incorporate a few additional plants into shaded conditions. Use containers in the shade to enhance your shade garden with colorful planters and ideal soil conditions. Grow ferns or coleus for beautiful additions to your shaded plot. 

Porch or balcony: If the only space you have to garden is a deck or balcony, or if you just want a little extra pizzazz on your back porch, add a few containers full of beautiful plants. Petunias, begonias, and geraniums are annuals that can be easily grown in small spaces. Their bright flowers are sure to liven up any area that needs a bit of color. 

Garden: Maybe you already have a full-size garden full of plants. But what about those odd corners or edges? Use containers and pots to fill in the gaps with a few extra plants that can attract pollinators or provide a bit of zest to your garden. Try growing a pot of basil or wild bergamot to attract pollinators and add a bit of flavor.

Tools

One great thing about container gardening is that you don’t need many supplies, but a few things will be very handy to have once you start digging around in the dirt. 

Gather Useful Tools

Gloves: Gloves can be a gardener’s best friend. They will help keep your hands clean, but more importantly, help protect your hands against sharp objects, rough edges, and insects. 

Trowel: You won’t need a tiller or spade to grow plants in pots and containers, but a handheld trowel will be very handy! You can use it for digging holes, mixing soil, and loosening and removing weeds.

Pruners: If you are growing herbs, vegetables, or flowers, you’ll need something for pruning, harvesting, and cutting flowers. Have a set of sharp scissors or pruning snips on hand for gardening purposes. Clean the blades after each use to keep them sharp and also to help prevent the accidental spread of disease from one plant to the next.

Offer Support

Many container-grown plants are small and compact and have a low profile. But sometimes, you’ll want to grow a larger or taller plant in your container. Use a compact trellis or small tomato cage to help support larger plants.

It’s much easier to install a support system when the plant is small than to wait for it to become large and sprawling and then try to corral it into a support system.

Protect your Plants

Freshly sown seeds and small plants will be vulnerable to foraging birds and squirrels. An easy way to protect your plants is to cover them with critter cages. These handy wire cages will keep the animals away from plants at their most vulnerable stages, allowing them to sprout and grow large enough to no longer need protection.

Another time you may need to protect your plants is during cold snaps. If you plant tender annuals in the spring and find yourself facing a cold night, cover your plants to keep them from freezing. Epic Gardening’s critter cages come with a critter cage frost blanket that provides warmth and protection, fitting right over the cage. When the weather has warmed again the next day, uncover them so they can get enough daytime sunlight.