Why Container Gardening?

Container gardening is a great way to maximize small spaces and provide flexibility in garden planning.

Not only is it cost-effective (see our post on using recycled items for gardening HERE), using containers is a great solution if the soil in your garden is not ideal for growing (clay or sand, rather than ideal loamy soil).

There are many good reasons in favor of container gardening, but there are some drawbacks to be aware of too.

What You Should Know About Container Gardening

Especially in areas where the containers will be sitting on hot pavement, you will need to water your container plants more often.

There is a phenomenon referred to as the heat-island effect, where hotter microclimates (when the climate of a localized area is different from its surrounding larger area, ie. a slight dip in temperature is possible in shaded areas compared to their surrounding area), are common when living in urban or metropolitan areas.

You can read more about the heat-island effect in our article, DRY CONTAINER PLANTS? THIS MAY BE WHY.

The soil in containers is more prone to drying out in general so you’ll still need to be aware of this even if you’re not growing near pavement, in an urban area, or around other heat sources (such as dryer vents!).

You’ll often see soil in containers gathering from the sides of the container into the middle when it gets really dry.

Possible Container Gardening Solutions

There are ways around this though. One solution (which is great especially if you already live in a dry climate) is to plant drought-tolerant plants.

If your plants have less of a need for water to thrive, then you won’t need to worry about them drying out as often. This means you won’t use as much water (which is great for water conservation—not to mention, your wallet!) and you won’t need to spend as much of your time watering your plants.

Just remember drought-tolerant does not mean you won’t ever have to water your plants—just not as often as other plants.

You can read more great solutions to combat dry containers in our article, DRY CONTAINER PLANTS? THIS MAY BE WHY.

Other Container Gardening Challenges (and how to overcome them)

Proper Drainage/Root Rot

Another thing with container gardening is that it’s also really important for containers to have proper drainage.

In cases where you’re direct-sowing (or growing plants directly in your garden soil), you don’t worry about this as much because if your plant gets over-watered, the water has somewhere else to go.

When your plant is in a pot, though, if you don’t have plenty of drainage holes drilled into the bottom, the water has nowhere to go and instead pools and can cause root rot (where the roots of your plants rot and decay due to overwatering and poor drainage).

An easy work around for this is to use terra cotta, or any other porous material for your container. The porosity of these materials wicks away excess water and allows air in so your roots don’t get damp.

Root-Bound

You also have to be careful your plants don’t get root-bound in a container.

A great solution for this is to use a fabric pot (there is a company called Smart Pots that makes all different sizes and shapes!). The fabric actually air prunes the roots of the plants so they don’t end up circling inside the pot like normal containers.

Why You Should Still Container Garden

But don’t let all of these challenges deter you from having a container garden!

Like I mentioned earlier, these are just things to be aware of, and there are many advantages to container gardening.

Some of these include:

• have the flexibility and convenience of moving plants around if they aren’t doing as well in a certain part of your garden
• don’t have to worry as much about plants getting soil-borne diseases
• you have complete control over the quality of your soil
• being able to bring them in during inclement weather
• don’t have to worry about weeding!
• can adjust the environment according to the plant’s light, water, and temperature needs
• you can save your money on large garden tools you can’t use in a container!
• usually easier to deal with pests because you can isolate them/harder for them to gain access to
• don’t need to worry about larger pests like deer/rabbits because you can easily place them in an inaccessible area
• adds height to make it easier to garden if you have knee/joint problems/for the elderly
• take them with you if you move!

What’s Been Your Experience?

What are some of your favorite things about container gardening? Do you have any tips and tricks? Are there some things that have worked really well that you’ve tried/ or some things you would recommend NOT trying?

If you’re sure you want to container garden but aren’t sure what type of potting mix to use, read our article on potting mixes here.

I’d love to hear all about it! Let me know in the comments or on our Facebook page or Instagram (with the tag, @garden_strong).