How to Design a Container Vegetable Garden

Pot up your favorite vegetables and herbs for flavor and beauty on the patio, deck, balcony or windowsill. Find a sunny spot and create mixed containers of plants that look and taste great all season long.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Compost Makers
• Garden Chairs
• Garden Hoses
• Planting Containers
• Potting Soil
• Tomato Cages
• Trellises

1. Pick a sunny site close to your water source - or buy a new garden hose. Be sure you can see the spot from inside your home.

2. Put a chair or small bench out there to serve as a focal point for your container garden. You'll use it every day to cultivate and enjoy your plants.

3. Select containers for their decorative and practical qualities. Be sure that any pot you use will drain well; larger pots can be watered less often than small ones.

4. Gather a collection of pots. Start with the 3-gallon size for herbs and flowers, and step up to 30 gallons for tomatoes and peppers. Get trellises or tomato cages ready.

5. Arrange your pots around the chair or bench in a pleasing layout that will be easy to water and harvest. Put big pots for tall veggies in back, step down to combinations of herbs and flowers, and finish with a shallow bowl for salad greens.

6. Mix a soil that holds moisture, drains well and gives your plants the nutrients they need. Start with a good potting soil, cut it with compost and bark shavings, and add some sharp sand, lime and a balanced fertilizer.

7. Put annual plants together based on their demands: Salad greens and basil both need lots of water, grow fast and make excellent pot mates.

8. Let perennial transplants grow together over a season. Plant starts of golden thyme together with sage and chives for a handsome, compatible combination.

9. Use your taste buds to design your container vegetable garden. Choose plants you like to eat and position their pots to show off leaf textures and colors.

10. Fill pots with soil and plant seeds or starts, then water well. Fertilize every other week and harvest while veggies are small and greens are tender.

Tips & Warnings

• Use decorative pots for their design qualities - put the growing pot inside the pretty one.

• Sprinkle organic blood meal on the surfaces of pots to deter cats from digging up your plants.

• Go wild with style - anything that holds soil and drains water can be a plant container.