Planning a Container Garden

Just because we live in "the concrete jungle," does not mean we cannot create our own natural habitats. Container gardens are a great way to grow organic vegetables, herbs and other plants, while also create your own, personal green sanctuary.

Container gardens are ideal for terraces, roof decks and outdoor garden spaces that have been paved over, and can be used to grow and nurture almost every type of plant, such as annuals, perennials or trees.

Annual plants have a life cycle of one year and are usually grown from seeds. They are available at most garden centers and can be kept indoors during the winter and moved outside in the late spring or early summer.

Perennials are plants that live more than two years. These include trees, shrubs and flowering plants. Perennials are considered permanent plants because most live several years—many (namely trees) with a lifespan of over one hundred years. Bedford-Stuyvesant’s Magnolia Grandiflora, New York City’s only individually landmark-designated tree is 126 years old.

Choosing Plants and Containers

When planning the container garden follow the guidelines for sunlight requirements given in the article.

Your available space for where the plants will grow will determine the size of containers and types of plants used. For large outdoor spaces that can accommodate large containers, consider a mix of annuals, perennial flowering plants, shrubs and trees.  For roof decks and terraces use small containers planted with annuals, small perennials, mini evergreens and shrubs.

Containers for perennials and trees should be able to accommodate the plant’s mature height and width. Otherwise, they will need to be transplanted to larger containers as the plants grow.  When choosing trees for containers choose slow-growing or dwarf varieties like Japanese maple, crab-apple, oriental cherry and dwarf fruit trees. Some of the free trees available through the MillionTreesNYC program are suitable for containers.

Any item that is waterproof or can be made waterproof can be used as a container, including old tubs, pots, paint cans, waste baskets… even old work boots. 

Edible plants such as mint, hibiscus or basil are exciting to watch grow, and also a great opportunity for children to learn about gardening, so feel free to give them their own container.

If a source of water is not readily available, consider limiting the size of the garden since some plants require daily watering in the summer months. But if possible, install a faucet for the outdoor space. You might even want to consider purchasing a rain barrel. A rain barrel is environmentally friendly and will save you money on water bills.

Before purchasing plants and containers, take the time to design the space. You can use graph paper to sketch a design, nothing fancy, just take a few pictures of the space and pencil in the container garden. Feel free to search the web, visit your local garden center, and walk around the neighborhood for ideas and inspiration. The Proven Winners website offers 600 container designs with planting diagrams.

Next time: Planting and Maintaining the Container Garden