FIRST THINGS FIRST: THE POT ITSELF

Think of a container as its own little ecosystem. You have the ground (that’s the soil), the animals (the microbes, worms, and bugs that live in the soil), and the plant life (whatever you choose to grow in your pot). In a normal ecosystem, these components are infinitely complex, ever-changing, and bigger than you will find in your miniature, containersized ecosystem. In a garden, you get an idea of what it is to create a real habitat with numerous complex layers of organisms acting with and upon each other, creating a fluctuating world that more or less takes care of itself. This is not so in a container, and that is the main thing you need to understand if you want to be a successful container gardener, particularly when it comes to nurturing your plants.

The basic principle of container gardening is that you are taking a small part of an ecosystem and isolating it. You might have patches in your garden that are shady, sunny, dry, damp, windy, sheltered, frosty or protected in winter and every variation in between—all in the one space. In a container, this is not the case; you have little to no diversity. If you have a container that suits a drought-tolerant plant, then every plant in that pot must be drought tolerant. In this sense, particularly for beginners or those who like to keep things simple, this makes your job easy. On the other hand, the lack of natural fluctuation removes a certain degree of the force of nature. In a monoculture or very simplified mini-ecosystem, you lack the natural buildup of nutrients that you would find in a wild ecosystem. Similarly, there will not be as many worms and microbes to enrich the soil. Remember the second reason in chapter 1: you can always move a container if it’s not doing well!

The big positive is that in a container you have ultimate control over what you grow and where. However, you also have a big responsibility because the survival of that plant in that pot depends almost solely on you. So how do you get this unique relationship between pot, plant, and person to thrive? Well, there isn’t one easy formula; essentially, it is up to you to provide the optimal conditions.

There are five key things that every plant needs to survive:

•Water (in varying amounts).

•Air (both above and below the ground).

•Nutrients (different requirements for different plants, but essentially the same twelve nutrients in different measures [see page 56]).

•Temperature (different temperatures for different species).

•Light (again in varying amounts).

The first thing to consider when choosing or making a pot is its size. This is key for whatever plant you want to grow. Certain plants, like Agapanthus and strawberries, need very little root space and can cope well with their roots being restricted, while others, like figs and hops, will accept being in a pot but would really do better in the ground. In such cases, the bigger the container, the better. But remember, the pot must also fit in the space you have.

Once you’ve considered these things, you should have a rough idea of the size of pot you need. If you have the container already and have assessed its size, you need to decide what kinds of plants you can put in it. For instance, if you discover a tea tin for less than the price of a cup of tea in a thrift shop, you’re not going to try to wedge an apple tree into it—that’s just common sense. Instead, you might think about going smaller and more compact, perhaps along the lines of some pea shoots, watercress, herbs, or a strawberry plant. If you’re more into flowers, an alpine, like saxifrage or Raoulia, would do very well.

If you have a huge urn or a trough, you can use it for a much larger plant—perhaps even a tree. A Japanese maple makes a nice feature for a container, or try growing a cherry, plum, or pear tree if you want to grow your own fruit. Or—and this is where there is almost endless opportunity for flair and creativity—you could fill the pot with a whole host of different species to make a beautiful display. Flowers of complementary colors and similar requirements live in harmony in one container, or, if you’re partial to a more restrained palette, you could have different species in just a single color. If you’re a minimalist, you could even fill a large container with one species for a simple, clean, and muted look.