The Container Garden: Landscaping Ideas for Accents and Small Spaces

The container garden is the ultimate equalizer for gardens of all sizes. Container gardens provide fast, easy, practical solutions for many diverse gardening needs. In this article, we’ll explore the many types and uses of container gardens including small spaces, large spaces, urban gardening, curb appeal, and culinary container gardens.

The Container Garden for Small Spaces

Small spaces can be difficult, or impossible to landscape. The container garden allows the homeowner or apartment dweller to decorate or showcase a patio area, seating area, balcony or small yard. Clustering large and medium sized pots with a mixture of evergreens and annuals can create a feeling of depth, beauty and expansiveness to a small area. With containers alone, one can create a special, effective landscape with the illusion of bushes, trees and plants. Make sure to use varying heights and textures to add color, variety and perspective.

The Container Garden for Large Spaces

Think of the container garden as an immediate way to add a focal point or a dramatic impact to a larger space. Just like the small garden, large spaces come with their own challenges. In a big yard, your landscaping efforts may fall short or appear diluted due to the amount of open space. It could take years to fill the void with enough plant material to make an impact. The container garden can serve as a rich, exciting stop along the way in your larger outdoor space. Again, evergreens and complementary plants in a large pot can be set right into the beds to add immediate height, color and balance to your landscape. Just make sure the container garden is placed appropriately for watering purposes.

The Container Garden for Urban Locations

Many of us live in apartments or a city environment without a spot to plant . There’s nothing like fresh greenery to spruce up an urban landscape. Balconies, entryways and rooftops can be quite spectacular with the addition of fresh, live plants and flowers. There’s no simpler, easier way to enhance curb appeal than to add a container garden to an empty space. Any place you want to draw attention, add a planter. Try placing urns with evergreens or ivy topiaries on each side of the front door. Add coir hanging baskets with trailing plants to decorate your balcony. Don’t forget about window boxes, they really dress up a boring facade.

The Container Garden for Culinary Herbs and vegetables.

I remember a wonderful restaurant in the city. In the alley behind the kitchen, the chef had filled rows of large planters with parsley, basil, thyme, rosemary and sage. As I was heading to my parking spot, I watched him clipping handfuls of fresh herbs to add to his dishes. No wonder the food was so good. There’s no substitute for fresh herbs in cooking. If you live in the city and have a small, safe spot, take a crack at a potted salad garden. Fill the container garden with dwarf tomatoes, lettuce and chives. If there’s room, add peppers or a cucumber plant. It’s remarkable how many vegetables can be grown in a container. If you run out of space and still want more, add hanging baskets to the mix.