Containers offer manageable gardening
By Kay Wilson Tribune-Herald staff writer
Everyone loves to come home to a little slice of heaven after a hard day’s work. If your patio or deck has an array of colors and textures, it’s more soothing.
But for those without the time or energy to care for large flower beds, container gardening can be the answer.
The Guide to Container Gardening at gardenguides.com suggests starting with glazed pots instead of plastic or clay. Plastic eventually breaks up in heat and rain. Clay pots suck up the water too fast. Clay pots do evoke a certain charm, so if you really want to use them, try applying a non-toxic glaze inside the pot or lining the sides with plastic, making sure not to cover the drain hole. Colorful ceramic pots add an extra dash of color to your patio.
Sandy Killough, owner of Bonnie’s Greenhouse, creates a “thrillers, spiller and fillers” container.
Duane A. Laverty/Tribune-Herald
Next comes the soil or, as gardenguides.com recommends, soil-less dirt. Yes, it exists. It holds water longer and is toxin free. There are also packaged potting soils that are fine.
Most packaged soils come with fertilizer, so you won’t need to add any during the summer. Sandra Killough, the owner of Bonnie’s Greenhouse, said “loose, organic potting soil with a handful or two of composting material” is the ideal mix.
The fun part is choosing the plants. If you are a hobby gardener or just learning, keep it simple. Ask workers at local nurseries to help you choose plants best suited for scorching Texas summers.
Some varieties that provide easy, immediate color in pots are petunias (try “wave” petunias for hanging baskets), begonias, alyssum, marigolds and geraniums. Add a hanging basket or two of ferns or airplane plants (which must be over-wintered indoors) to add texture to the overall effect. Once flowers have bloomed, pinch off the dead heads for continued color throughout the summer.
Experiment with combining colors and varieties in the same pot for an even more interesting container. Try a tall, spiky grass with a blooming flower and finish it off with a bit of ivy or moss rose (portulaca) trailing over the edges or low-growing alyssum.
Killough calls them “the thrillers, the fillers and the spillers.” The thrillers are the plant that catches your eye; the filler adds a variety of color and the meat of the design; and the spillers fall over the front of the pot.
For containers in the sun, Killough recommends marigolds for their rich colors as thrillers, petunias and red leaf begonias for fillers, and purple or green sweet potato vines for spillers.
For shade containers, she suggests using “Diamond Frost” as the thriller (this plant will also over-winter well in the house), green leaf begonia or impatiens for fillers, and bacopa, a white trailing flower for the spiller.
kwilson@wacotrib.com
757-5701
In this container, Killough used salvia, zinnias, guara and cosmos as thrillers; marigolds, begonias and batface heather as fillers; and verbena and biden as spillers.
Duane A. Laverty/Waco Tribune-Herald
This container has caladiums, ferns and angel wings as thrillers; begonia and impatiens for fillers; and English ivy, airplane plants and sedums for spillers.
Duane A. Laverty/Waco Tribune-Herald
MORE IN LAWNS & GARDENS »
Tips from Master Gardeners
- Garden Q&A: Vegetables, garden drainage, fertilizing lawn
- Garden Q&A: Gardens, perennials, trees and more
- Garden Q&A: Hard for trees to recover when roots grow into limestone
- Garden Q&A: Grubs, begonias, Cypress trees and weedy lawns
- Garden Q&A: Dying pansies may be result of pill bugs
- Garden Q&A: Fruit trees need deep watering to be revived
- Garden Q&A: No escaping need for water
- Garden Q&A: Don't worry about bark loss on crape myrtles
- Garden Q&A: Weed control will help fight stickers
- Garden Q&A: Holly leaves will drop if over watered
- Garden Q&A: Yellow leaves mean blight
- Garden Q&A: Finding grubs normal as spring starts
- Garden Q&A: Exotic plants can have it rough
- Garden Q&A: Wrapping palms not enough when cold spells last too long
- Garden Q&A: Should trees be planted in high or low land?
- Garden Q&A: Is goat manure safe?
- Garden Q&A: Careful when trimming near crape myrtles
- Garden Q&A: Careful when prepping roots for planting
- Garden Q&A: Why didn't amaryllis bloom?
- Garden Q&A: When pansies are wilting
- Garden Q&A: Trimming crape myrtles won't hurt growth
- Garden Q&A: Christmas cactus is tricky to water
- Garden Q&A: Don't fertilize plants during winter months
- Garden Q&A: Box elder bugs little more than a nuisance
- Garden Q&A: Now is the time to give lawn a winter feeding
- Garden Q&A: Scaly flakes on stems bugging area gardeners
- Garden Q&A: Fall's first frost
- Garden Q&A: Fungal disease afflicts tree
- Garden Q&A: Cotton root rot strikes
- Garden Q&A: Mushrooms ugly but harmless
- Garden Q&A: Grassbur headache in lawn
- Garden Q&A: Crape myrtle seed pods
- Garden Q&A: Problems with new sod
- Garden Q & A: Crape myrtles and aphids
- Garden Q&A: Trees for Central Texas
- Garden Q&A: Burning does not control viruses
- Garden Q&A: Dig a few inches to check water needs
- Garden Q&A: Season for cinch bugs
- Garden Q&A: Crape myrtles blooming beautifully
- Garden Q&A: Nursing caladiums through summer
- Garden Q&A: Getting rid of perennial vine
- Garden Q&A: Holes in plant leaves
- Garden Q&A: Aphids or mites could cause cedar problems
- Garden Q&A: Lemon, orange trees can grow in containers
- Garden Q&A: Seek tomato plants suited to temperatures
- Garden Q&A: More on tomato plants, pruning, plant sickness and soil tests
- Garden Q&A: Tips to keep tomato plants strong
- Garden Q&A: Clean sand best to level lawn
- Garden Q&A: Fungal disease is difficult to eradicate
- Garden Q&A: Ridding flower beds of poison vines
- Garden Q&A: Pruning live oaks
- Garden Q&A: What can I grow well in the shade?
- Garden Q&A: Did winter kill off date palms?
- Garden Q&A: When is the right time to plant caladiums?
- Garden Q&A: Shrubs, getting rid of dallisgrass and weeds, soil tips
Ask a Master Gardener Help Line
Spring gardening brings many questions, such as when should I fertilize my lawn, or which are the best vegetables for Waco? Get answers to these and other questions by calling the Ask a Master Gardener Help Line at 254-757-5180, 1-4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
