Container Planting Tips

Container Planting Tips

By Kimberly Rebek

Submitted by Aubie Keesee – Hughes County OSU Extension Educator

The success of a container is rooted, quite literally, in a healthy soil.  And perhaps the most important thing to consider with soil is not the composition itself, which is certainly important, but drainage.  Good drainage is absolutely necessary to growing healthy plants in containers.  The first step in providing appropriate drainage is in selecting the container itself.  Containers need drainage holes at the bottom to allow excess water to flow out of the pot.  If water is trapped and allowed to stand inside the pot, the roots can suffocate and disease is likely to occur.  One way to encourage container drainage is to elevate containers by placing them on a brick or block. 

Inside the pot, we can further help improve drainage by placing a variety of materials in the bottom of the container.  Gravel is commonly used, as are broken pieces of clay pots and small plastic nursery pots.  Sometimes, we use large containers for their visual impact, but do not require such a large soil volume for the plants we put in the container.  One thing you can do is fill the bottom third of the planter with empty milk jugs or other materials to act as spacers.  You will use less soil, which will save money, and the planter will be much lighter and easier to move.  A number of products are available for purchase at garden supply stores that can be used to improve drainage and reduce soil volume.  These include Better Than Rocks® and Ups-a-Daisy® planter inserts, among others.

Now that we have taken care of drainage, let’s add our soil.  You will find an endless variety of soil mixes at the garden center, so what do you use?  We want to consider drainage, but we also do not want our soil to dry out quickly.  Compost makes an excellent media for containers – it is loose, rich, and has high organic matter content good for water retention.  You can purchase pre-mixed potting soil, or mix your own with equal parts of sand, a loamy garden soil, and peat moss or perlite.  Do not use soil from the garden, it tends to be too heavy for containers and does not drain well.  Mixing a slow release fertilizer into the upper layers of soil in the container will allow for easy season-long fertilization. 

As for plant material, you can grow just about any type of plant in a container, from annual flowers, to fruits and vegetables, to small trees and shrubs.  Mix it up a little, experiment with a variety of combinations.  Be sure to consider the conditions in the location you will place the container – is it sunny or shaded?  Is there a lot of wind?  Such factors can influence plant selection.  If you will be planting tender perennials or tropicals, you will also have to decide what you will do with the container during the winter.  Some plants can withstand a dormant period in a sheltered location, such as a garage.  Other plants need to be brought inside over the winter.  make sure you know what a plant needs before making a purchase.

When selecting plants, consider color combinations, plant textures and form.  A good way to plant containers is to fill them on three layers: fill the vertical space above the planter with upright plants, the surface layer of the container can be filled with low growing herbs, and fill the lower portion of the container with weeping or cascading plants.  Sometimes, one plant can fill the bottom two layers, and another the vertical space.

Once you have your container in place, don’t forget to water.  Because the container has such good drainage, it will be very difficult to over-water it – but the plants will certainly suffer it they do not receive enough water.  Water needs will increase as plants grow larger and as the temperature rises.

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