Starting A
Home Together
|
|
|
For transcendental city slickers, green-thumbed apartment dwellers, and otherwise yardless gardeners, container gardens are the salt of the earth. As anyone who's ever clipped basil, chives, and sage from window boxes perched six flights up knows, good things certainly do come in small packages. And as anyone who's ever nurtured an urban oasis can tell you, beautiful gardens aren't about size, they are about style.
Potted plants. A colony of simple potted plants instantly adds style and grace to any balcony or patio garden. The key is to choose pots of varying heights and textures, in complimentary colors and designs.
Container sizes and shapes should roughly follow the silhouettes and sizes of the plants they'll host; tall narrow pots for tall, narrow plants, smaller, shorter pots for shorter plants. If you are mixing a variety of plants in one pot, make sure all the plants you choose have the same water and light requirements. And don't be afraid to add special touches to your potted landscapes. Marbles, Spanish moss, river rocks, broken ceramics, beach glass, and whatever treasures you may have lying around might just find the perfect home nestled among the soil and leaves of your garden.
Transplanting your greens from temporary nursery containers to carefully chosen pots is easy. Just follow these simple steps. A few hours before you intend to transplant, water your plant. Then take a clean pot and spread a thin layer of gravel inside. This will ensure your plant has proper drainage and will prevent root rot and other ailments. After filling your new container approximately one third full of moist, nutrient rich potting soil, turn your plant upside down and gently slide it out of its old container, being careful to grasp it near the base of the stem. Once the plant is out, simply pop it into its new pot. Take a minute to center your plant; making sure that the base of its stem is about one inch below the lip of the pot. Then fill your container up with potting soil. Once your new pot is full, water your plant thoroughly. This will eliminate air pockets within the soil that can lead to rot and mold.
Window Boxes. Whatever you think about window boxes -- think again. In whitewashed wood, overflowing with pink and purple petunias, window boxes can be 100% Americana. But sleek with ornamental grasses and bamboo, a lacquered wood box takes a decidedly Asian flavor. Metal boxes, burnt with patina and brimming with red geraniums recall Parisian apartments, while a rustic adobe box studded with a scape of cacti celebrates the uncomplicated lines of the southwest.
Window boxes are a simple, affordable way to add curb appeal to your home and dress up your views. You can mount boxes underneath windows for color and style, set them on windowsills or balcony ledges for privacy, or place them directly on the ground to give shape to patio and deck spaces.
Remember, you don't have to go to the work of transplanting smaller plants into your window boxes, especially if you've chosen annuals. Take your favorite flowering or leafy plants and pop them into your window box, plastic container and all. Just make sure your plants have plenty of good drainage. Plants left sitting in even just a little water over a long period of time will suffer root rot.
Hanging Baskets. From the legendary hanging gardens of Babylon to those found in New Orleans' French Quarter, nothing is as graceful, poetic, or downright ethereal as a hanging basket. Dripping with blossoms, vines, and mosses, this mid-air oasis is much easier to create, and maintain, than it looks.
To create a basic hanging garden, start with a wire basket. Line your basket with moss, coco-fiber, or with sheets of compressed moss. Sprinkle the inside of the basket with a small handful of polymers (special crystals that retain water), add potting soil, and pot your plants as you would normally do. Again, if you're mixing plants, be sure to choose varieties that have the same requirements for water and sunlight. Hang from sturdy "S" hook, or from a specially designed hanging basket system, and you've added instant romance and style to your balcony or patio.
|
|
|
|
|
