Container Garden Design
Potted Flowers Tips & Tricks

Container garden design is your map for wonderful plants. Flower pots add style whether they're by your front door or brightening your patio.

Container gardening is for those of us with little time for fussing. A couple of large containers by the side door, and we'll have only one spot to take special care of.

Container garden design isn't too hard if you have guidelines. Consider location for the pots and the size and style that goes with your garden.. Finally, the right flowers will compliment the pot and your garden through color, texture, and shape.

Location

Best place for containers? For curb appeal, place one or two somewhere near the front door. (Make sure they can be easily seen from the street)

Pressed for time? Place them where you can see them every day -- maybe the side door. That way, too, you'll see when they need a drink. Place a grouping of them on your patio or deck.

If you're a garden enthusiast (and have the time) place a few beautiful containers in the garden itself. It will add new texture and color to any spot. Make sure they're large enough to not get overlooked.

Style

Get a BIG container. A small 12" container won't have the impact that a big one will. Also try grouping containers together. A large group makes a bigger impact than one by itself.

A smaller container may work if it's raised to eye level. That may be why so many of us love hanging baskets.

An added bonus is that large containers are raised up -- no bending or kneeling here. Just pull up a chair. Great idea if you've got knee or back problems.

Make sure that your container garden design and style works with your garden's style. Get inventive...

Country gardens can use old crocks, watering cans, or even troughs as interesting container choices. Modern gardens might choose concrete in clean lines, or metals like copper.

Mediterranean or desert container gardens -- glazed terra cotta in bright colors or concrete. The classic garden urns are a good choice with gardens that yearn for an English garden feel.

Plants

*Mix up the colors

Colors in the container (or grouping) should all work together. It will make a bigger impact than if you just randomly grab different colors. Easy color combinations are blue and orange or yellow and purple. Want something unusual? Try red-purple and lime green or all blues and purples.

*Try all one color

If you have smaller flower pots OR if you have ornate containers with a lot of detail, consider keeping it to one plant only. That way, you'll have no distractions from your beautiful planter.

This is great, too, if you want a big impact from far away. If your pots are going to be seen from the street, consider keeping it to one eye-popping color.

If containers have a really nice shape, they can be used on their own -- with no flowers at all. Of course, if you're like me, there's got to be flowers somewhere...

*Mix up the texture

Try decorative grasses (spiky) with something like baby's breath (soft and airy) and a third plant with a daisy-like flower (chunky and bigger).

In this picture, there's lots of texture -- just from the many succulents.

*Mix up the shapes

Plants like grasses are usually spiky / vase-shaped or mound-shaped. Mix those with trailing vines with large leaves and maybe another plant with a tall or round shape.

Mixing up the shapes of the containers can be interesting, too.

Easy container garden design happens when you can shop all at once for the plants. That way you can carry your first plant choice over to the other plants to see which go well together.

I hope this gives you some inspiration. Plan a little 'flower art' of your own. When you're gathering plants in the nursery, you'll have a container garden design that will be beautiful all season.