Green Scene
May 2007 – Bring cachet to the flowerpot
Gotti Kelley
A gardener’s Mecca is indeed the time in spring and early summer when pale leaves break through the soil and you envision carpets of color soon to appear.
On my way to the garden beds, armed with a wheelbarrow, shovel and clippers, robins wait patiently for me to start digging, anticipating some fat earthworms. A cacophony of bird sounds announce the arrival of a huge flock of blackbirds and a mallard couple circles the fish pond, looking for their annual nesting place.
Gardening is a natural mood enhancer as we excitedly and enthusiastically forge ahead in our quest to create incredible flora.
Is gardening a soothing, stress-reducing activity? For many it is. And yet, the decision of what to plant and where, can wake you up at 2 a.m. and keep you wide awake until you have conquered your design anxiety.
Baby steps in garden design and planting techniques can be achieved by the use of ornamental containers on your deck or patio, and in the garden itself.
Container gardening, offering site flexibility and experimental fun, is THE answer for busy gardeners with limited space.
Light up a shady corner with gleaming white blooms set against flowers and foliage in tints and shades of red and scarlet, combining brazen-colored coleus with impatiens and brilliant rex begonia. Still, by just working with striking foliage plants alone, flowers can become optional. A brilliant diverse tapestry of foliage can be enjoyed up until the first hard frost of fall.
Gardening with containers allows you to highlight some areas. You can effect positive changes if you are not satisfied with the look just by moving the planter to a more suitable location. Make your planters definitely unique by mixing and matching with creativity.
And don’t forget to “build” your miniature kitchen garden and enjoy tarragon, rosemary, parsley, thyme and chives all summer long. If you notice in August that your parsley is suddenly without leaves, look closer and you will find small green caterpillars munching away. Please do not kill them – they will turn into lovely butterflies.
Use sterile soil for your planters- it is light and airy and won’t compact for many weeks. Mix with slow-release fertilizer.
An oversize planter can be extremely heavy when filled with soil. You could place a few empty plastic bottles in your container and then add planting mix. It will make moving a little easier.
Concerned about the peril posed to your plants by forgetting to water? Fertilizer-infused polymer crystals are available that absorb 400 times their weight in water, ideal for containers. When soil dries, plant roots extract moisture from the hydrated crystal and the slow-release fertilizer is available as needed. One application significantly decreases needed watering frequency and feeds plants for a full growing season.
Go native: As a way to reduce the use of pesticides and keep plants healthy, integrated pest management (IPM) has evolved to emphasize prevention, early diagnosis, and long-term control strategies. A great book, dealing with the core philosophy of IPM for the home gardener, is “IPM for Gardeners” by Raymond A. Cloyd, available online at www.amazon.com.