For gardening enthusiasts, container garden ideas can provide the spark that adds something special to their lives. Indeed, container gardens not only let a person experiment with plant and flower combinations and colors, but due to their portability, you can let them “follow the sun” because they can be moved almost anywhere either inside or outside your home.

In fact, while container gardens are an admirable and beautiful indoor enhancement, they are also the perfect complement to a great outdoor garden. So start brainstorming with some container garden ideas so that you can use your green thumb to add something special to your home and to your life.
What are Container Gardens?

There are many types of gardens but for people who have a hard time bending down or kneeling or who for whatever reason cannot spend a lot of time outside, container gardens offer a viable option for gardeners. Simply put, container gardens are gardens planted in containers. In fact, if you have ever planted several plants or flowers in one pot you have planted a container garden.
Container Garden Ideas: The Wide Variety of Containers and Materials

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image: garden container in garden walkwayThere is an almost unlimited variety of containers available for your container garden. In fact, containers can range in size from tiny house-plant pots to large planters and boxes.

There is also a great assortment of materials that containers can be made from. Indeed, some of the possibilities include plastic, copper, terra cotta, wood, tin, glass, brass, aluminum, fiberglass, bamboo, clay, and cast iron.

Even though the materials used will have their strengths and weaknesses, what typically goes into the selection process will be the cost, availability, appearance, weight, desirability, and the characteristics of the materials.
Container Garden Ideas Are Almost Endless

If you feel creative, moreover, you can come up with an almost endless number of container garden ideas.

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Indeed, you can use all sorts of items from your home that many people either throw away or sell at garage sales. Examples include the following:

* old sinks
* wicker storage baskets
* vases
* empty paint cans
* crocks
* nail kegs
* old iron kitchen pots
* an old wooden toolbox
* frosting cans
* wooden barrels
* wash tubs
* coffee cans
* bathtubs
* jugs
* jelly tubs
* pails
* kettles
* laundry baskets
* olive oil cans
* old wheelbarrows
* wire wastebaskets
* cinder blocks
* rusty wagons

As you can see, the possibilities for container garden ideas are only limited by your imagination!

When setting up your container garden you need to decide what plants, flowers, or vegetables you want in your “garden.” Some container garden considerations include plant type, plant size, amount of sunlight, and watering requirements. Another important decision that affects the garden you will eventually grow is the size of pot or container you are going to use.
An Illustration: A Wine Barrel Container Garden

image: barrel container gardeningFor the purposes of illustration we have decided to use an average size wine barrel for our container garden. If you don’t have a wine barrel at home you may be able to can acquire one at an antique mall or perhaps get one from your local wine vendor.

To lessen the amount of soil that will eventually go in the container, you can put a cement block or a few bricks in the bottom of the barrel. In fact, some people even put crushed aluminum soda cans inside their large planters to take up some room. This will make the container easier to lift due to the fact that it contains less soil.

Continuing with our container garden example, you then need to fill the barrel with soil so that it is approximately 2 inches from the top of the barrel. Getting good soil is important because putting high quality soil in your containers is one of the foundational aspects for creating healthy, thriving container gardens. Ironically, one of the best types of soil is actually “soil-less” in that it contains soil substitutes such as perlite, vermiculite, and peat moss. Such a combination usually provides good drainage while at the same time offers adequate water holding capacity.

Now that you have your barrel full of soil you need to select the plants, vegetables, or flowers you want to populate your garden. Keep in mind that one of the key aspects in the selection process will be based on the type of sunlight the flower, plant, or vegetable requires. If you are using full sun perennials, for instance, you can select a wide variety of flowers such as English Daisies.

English Daisies can be planted in the full sun or partial sun, they prefer very moist soil, and grow better if you periodically remove the dead heads. For our container illustration, we will plant our English Daisies in a circle near the outside perimeter of the barrel.

Continuing with our container garden example, for our next flower we will select the Alyssum Saxatile Compactum, better known as a basket of gold. We will plant these flowers in a circle inside the English Daisies. We selected the basket of gold flowers because they enjoy the same sun patterns as English Daisies and offer a gold color that contrasts nicely with our daisies.

To complete our container garden we will plant a Day Lily in the middle of the barrel. Day Lilies require substantial sunlight and have an orange color that complements the daisies and basket of gold flowers we have already planted.
Time for Additional Container Garden Ideas

Now that you have finished planting the flowers in your “barrel” container garden, all you have to do is to water your flowers periodically and sit back and admire your handiwork. And now that you have created your first container garden, why not do some brainstorming and come up with some new and original container garden ideas!

Copyright 2009 - Denny Soinski. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, and give the author credit.
About the Author

Denny Soinski writes about garden decor, gardening, bronze garden sculptures, water fountains, and outdoor metal sculptures. For more information, please visit http://www.water-fountains-and-garden-decor.com right away!