Introduction

Container gardening is far from a new invention. Humans have been growing plants in vessels since soon after the Neolithic Revolution thousands of years ago. While the methods and materials we use have certainly changed over the years, our intent has not. We continue to grow plants in containers to provide food and beauty for ourselves and those we love.

At the beginning, humans who grew plants in pots may have done so to overcome adverse soil conditions, more carefully tend a highly treasured medicinal plant, or focus irrigation needs on a smaller area in places where water was scarce. Today’s gardeners, however, have a far more diverse list of reasons for growing plants in containers. Yes, many of us still use containers to avoid having to garden in soil with poor drainage, contaminants, or lousy fertility, and we still use them to grow coveted plants. But we also grow plants in containers to save time and space, reduce weeding and other chores, beautify our living spaces, and show off our creativity and sense of personal style.

Container gardening allows us to grow our own fresh food, even in a very limited space, and it affords a level of flexibility not found when growing these plants in the ground. With container gardening, we can feed our families without ever having to turn the sod, spread wheelbarrows of mulch, or fire up even a single piece of gas-powered equipment. Heck, you don’t even have to own a shovel to grow plants in containers.

We’re also gardening in pots for purposes beyond ourselves. We’re designing plantings to attract and support butterflies, bees, and other pollinators, and we’re filling containers with nectar plants for hummingbirds and berries for songbirds. We’ve come to recognize that habitat container gardening is a wonderful way to help all sorts of wildlife, without requiring a lot of space or effort.

There are many reasons to grow plants in containers, including avoiding soil conditions that are less than ideal, saving space, reducing gardening chores, growing food, or perhaps just because you want to grow something beautiful.

Container gardens can be designed to provide habitat and food for pollinators, such as this great spangled fritillary butterfly.

Growing edible plants such tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and many others in containers requires much less effort than building and maintaining an in-ground garden, especially if you utilize the advice offered in this book.

The point is, whether you’re gardening in a suburban neighborhood, on the balcony of an urban high-rise, or at the end of a long country lane, you can grow a broad diversity of plants in pots. And truth be told, you can do it for whatever reasons you’d like.

But growing a thriving container garden requires more than simply filling a container with dirt and sticking a couple of plants in it. Paying careful attention to container choice, soil composition, plant selection, and maintenance needs always pays off in spades, increasing your chances of having a healthy, productive container garden. That’s where Container Gardening Complete comes in. The purpose of this book is to hand you all the tools you’ll need to make smart choices and filter through the myriad options available to today’s gardeners.

Within these pages, you’ll first learn about the three pillars of successful container gardening and the critical role they play in ensuring your success. You’ll learn how choosing the right container influences plant growth and how to blend the best mixture of potting soil to fill it. These basics are covered in depth in the first chapter, setting the stage for advice on properly siting your container garden to optimize growth.

In these pages you’ll discover dozens of plants perfectly suited to container culture, and you’ll learn plenty of tips for arranging them in an aesthetically pleasing way.

Growing in containers isn’t complicated, though it isn’t completely trouble-free either. With a bit of care, however, you can learn how to properly prune, water, fertilize, and otherwise care for your container plants so they’ll always be in tip-top shape.

With the advice found in this book, you’ll be able to make hearty harvests from each container, extending your growing season and keeping your kitchen counter full of homegrown goodness.

Then, Chapter 2 will fill you in on how to design beautiful containers. This chapter is overflowing with lists, charts, and photographs of dozens of flower, herb, fruit, and vegetable varieties perfect for growing in containers. You’ll also find design “recipes” you can use in your container garden, if you’re a bit shy about making your own plant combinations. You’ll learn how to plant properly, and how growing edible plants differs from growing ornamentals.

Subsequent chapters will teach you how to water, prune, fertilize, and otherwise care for your container garden, without requiring a ton of time, money, or exertion. A chapter on troubleshooting includes a gallery of common container garden pests with advice on managing them without the use of synthetic chemical pesticides. The same chapter also includes a section on managing plant diseases and other ailments that may affect your containerized plants.

Toward the end of the book, you’ll be introduced to a few useful harvesting methods and you’ll learn what to do with your plants and containers when the growing season ends.

Throughout the pages of this book, I’ve included 21 DIY container-gardening projects. Some are tailored to beginner gardeners, while others are a bit more involved. But regardless of their complexity, these projects are an excellent way to get your creative juices flowing. After all, one of the best reasons to grow your plants in containers is the opportunity to develop and exhibit your own sense of style. Use the projects as a jumping off point and build on them however you wish. Each project is designed with a particular purpose in mind. Whether it’s growing backyard berries on a deck, building a raised planter to improve accessibility, creating a container trellis to grow vertically and save space, or using a repurposed item as a pot to cut down on costs, each project’s purpose and construction is outlined via clear, step-by-step instructions and photographs.

In the final chapter of the book, you’ll find a gallery of dozens of additional creative ideas you can include in your own container garden. I’m sure you’ll find the sky’s the limit when it comes to cool container gardening concepts and trends.

My hope is that Container Gardening Complete becomes your bible for growing anything and everything in containers. Once you see how fun and easy gardening in containers is, and how, with just a little forethought, you can harvest armloads of homegrown goodies from the smallest of spaces, you’ll come to love growing in containers as much as I do. There’s a whole new world of gardening right here at your fingertips. Let’s get started.

There’s an infinite number of unique ways to design and exhibit garden containers. Whether they’re purely practical, simply lovely, or utterly whimsical, partner your imagination with guidance from this book to come up with containers you love.