How to Garden With Containers on a Patio

Flowers in pots are charming on the patio.

Container gardening is deservedly popular. Without the chores and expense of landscaping a yard, you can enjoy colorful flowers and productive vegetables. Plants that make any garden delightful can be successfully grown in containers. Select a variety of containers that will complement your patio garden and fill them with your chosen plants.

Things You'll Need

• 9 pots with drainage holes (3 each of 5 gallon, 1 gallon, 3 gallon)
• 9 saucers (optional)
• Clean gravel
• 8 cubic feet potting soil
• 1 gallon of vitamin B-1
• 1-gallon watering can
• Sphagnum moss or composted mulch

Instructions

1. 

   A vast array of colors and choices are available for container gardening.

   Determine the daily amount of sunlight during your growing season on your patio. Consult your local nursery and select plants accordingly. Most vegetables grow well in 5-gallon pots, and herbs are ideal for smaller containers.

2. 

   Glazed ceramic pots come in a variety of shapes, colors and sizes.

   Place one of each sized pot together in three groupings around your patio; optional saucers will protect the patio surface. Place a 2-inch layer of gravel in the bottoms of pots. Fill halfway with soil.

3. 

   Carefully remove plants from their nursery pots.

   Ease one of the largest plants out of its container. Tease the roots slightly apart at the bottom. Settle the plant on the soil of a 5-gallon pot, in the middle, with the top of its root ball 2 inches below the rim. Add or remove soil as necessary.

4. Fill in with soil to 2 inches below the rim of the pot, if you have chosen a perennial or a vegetable such as tomato or pepper. Tamp the soil down firmly.

5. Select smaller plants to go around the big plant if you have chosen annuals or smaller perennials for this pot. Settle each plant so the top of the root ball is 2 inches below the rim of the pot and fill in with soil.

6. Fill the other pots with the plants you have chosen: taller plants in the middle, draping or trailing plants around the edges. Tamp the soil down lightly, to 2 inches below the rim of each pot

7. Mix vitamin B-1 in a watering can according to package directions. Saturate each pot with the mixture, adjusting settled soil as necessary.

8. 

   Many vegetable plants will thrive in containers on your patio.

   Place the sphagnum moss or mulch in a 2-inch layer on top of the soil around the plants. Check pots daily during the growing season to keep the soil from drying out.

Tips & Warnings

• Use moisture-control potting soil in dry climates.

• Most bedding plants and vegetables require four to six hours of sunlight each day.

• Shade-tolerant bedding flowers include pansies, begonias and impatiens.

• Vertical plants include snapdragons, salvias, climbing roses and jasmine.

• Bushy plants include geraniums, miniature roses and petunias.

• Draping, trailing plants include petunias, sweet alyssum, herbs such as thyme or rosemary and some miniature roses.

• Unglazed clay pots are not recommended for climates with severe winters; they dry out quickly and will deteriorate within a season or two.

• In cold winter climates, move pots with perennials to a garage, shed or basement over the winter.

References

• Iowa State University Extension: Container Vegetable Gardening
• Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension; Vegetable Gardening in Containers; Joseph G. Masabni
• "Mother Earth News"; Container Cultivation; Ed Smith; April/May 2008

Resources

• Sunset: Three Designers Share Their Container Garden Secrets