By Johnna Pinholster
VALDOSTA — Suburban and city living can limit the space for a burgeoning horticulturist’s garden.
Container gardening can provide the area needed to plant a variety of vegetation from flowers and herbs to vegetables.
The key to planting a container garden is knowing how a plant will grow and where it will flourish, said Sherri Starling, Southern Gardens and Landscape Center manager. Plants survive easier in pots, as a person can control the environment they are in as well as the care they receive, Starling said.
Though Starling said container gardens are easy to take care of once they get started, having all the proper ingredients for a container garden is the key to its success.
“Your budget can be extreme or you can buy the minimum,” she said.
Though Starling has seen container gardens comprised of a variety of objects — from horse troughs and toilets to bathtubs and boots — she recommends terra cotta planters.
Terra cotta collects condensation when watered and allows the soil and plants to breathe, she said.
The terra cotta bowls work especially well for herbs and organic gardens, Starling said.
“A tried and true gardener will tell you that clay is best,” she said. “But clay can crack in the cold.”
Starling said even if a flower is beautiful or a piece of produce looks tasty a person should make sure the vegetation is suitable for this area before planting. Flowers that can grow in this area include petunias, cone flowers, sages, salvias, lantanas, tropicals, bougainvillea, mandevilla, periwinkles, vinca, daises, black-eyed susans, gerber daises, colus, luna hibiscus, canna lilies, agapanthus, verbenas, shasta daises and creeping periwinkles.
Cucumbers, thyme, sage and cabbages are just a few of the vegetables and herbs that can be planted in container gardens.
“Many people have started growing vegetables in containers so they can have them right at their back door,” Starling said.
Getting started
For beginning gardeners, Starling recommends starting with a 12-inch container and four plants.
Starling recommends that containers with flowers have several different species.
Begin by planting the tallest vegetation in the back of the pot first, moving forward in descending height and finishing with cascading or hanging plants on the front of the container, she said.
The center piece of a container should be something tall, she said.
“Plant the tallest one first and work your way toward the front,” Starling said. “Cram them in as tight as you can.”
Place the plants root to root in the containers. This helps when something in the container dies out, letting another species take over, she said.
Only put potting mix around the stem of the plant. Planting them too deep can rot the roots, Starling said.
A container garden will last a whole season, but it will either have to be replanted or removed at the end of the season, she said.
Starling recommends container gardens be planted in pots with holes to allow water to drain.
Without holes, water can back up, and in the extreme heat of South Georgia, it can boil in the container and rot the roots of the plant, she said.
Plants that need sunlight and plants that need shade should not be planted in the same container, Starling said.
The wrong fertilizer can “burn” plants. Extended release granules for annuals, perennials, vegetables and herbs or a mild mixture of soluble fertilizer are better suited for container gardens, she said.
To determine if a container needs water, Starling suggests sticking a finger in the soil. If the soil is moist, it doesn’t need water, she said.
“Most people kill plants with too much TLC,” Starling said.
Those looking for a challenge can even grow a water garden, taking water plants and placing them in a container for a small pond look.
