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Reading Corner :: Container Gardening: Urban Alternative for Plant Lovers
Gardening fanatics, with no space for a garden, like apartment
dwellers and those in shared housing, can be assured gardening
is not inevitably gone from their lives. You can always build a
container garden on a balcony, patio, deck, or sunny window. Not
only the joy of flowers but vegetables and some fruits can be
grown. You can raise perennials, annuals, and even shrubs and
small trees all in a container.
Container gardening can present it's own set of challenges. It
requires proper planning just like any other kind of gardening.
You'll need to find your USDA zone (to identify plants suitable
for your zone), see how much daylight you get in your apartment
or balcony, and from there you can select the best plant
variety.
When buying plants be prudent and choose ones with a healthy
appearance and good natural shape. Trunks should be straight.
Stay away from plants with twisted, slanted or deformed stems,
which can affect the healthy growth of a plant. Try to buy your
plants from the local nursery unless you have the right
conditions to raise seedlings indoors.
For your container, glazed ceramic pots with drainage holes are
a good choice. Terracotta pots are nice looking, true, but dry
out quickly and leave your plants without moisture. Wooden
containers are good, but can be susceptible to rot. Cedar and
redwood are fairly rot resistant and make nice containers but
make sure the wood is not treated with creosote or other toxic
materials that can damage the plants.
Although you in general don't want to keep your container garden
plants outside when the temperature dips below 45? F, there are
plants that are frost resistant for colder climates. Eulalia
grasses, Mexican feather grass, Cornflowers, Lavender cottons,
Jasmine, Million bells, and Stonecrops, stand up to the frost
well.
If you follow these few suggestions you will be off to a good
start with your new minature garden creation.
About the author:
Isabelle Boulay writes for www.OnlineTips.org, where you can
find information on ins
talling fiberglass insulation and How to Replace an
Entry Door
Written by: Isabelle Boulay
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