Selection of plants for a container garden

With a little care, just about any type of plant can be grown successfully in a container garden but smaller plants are better adapted to thrive in containers. Vegetables and flowers can also be combined to make very attractive displays. Companion planting, covered in Natural Pest Control, is a great way to arrange plants so that they will benefit each other.

The seed packet is a good place to start when contemplating the depth and spacing requirements of your plants. If you’re planting directly in the container it is better to overseed and thin the plants later to prevent them from overcrowding. If you’re planting in seed starter kits, you won’t have to worry about depth and spacing until your seedlings have grown big enough to transplant into their container. Seeds sprout best in warm and moist conditions, so make sure they get both. Let them grow until they’re stocky enough to survive transplanting but do not let them bloom in the seed starter.

To get the most bang for your buck, you may want to overcrowd your container garden. Crowded containers definitely look more spectacular, so go big right from the start. Just keep in mind that plants in overcrowded containers will need extra organic fertilizer and micronutrients in order to thrive, and that this approach is best suited to ornamental plants and herbs, rather than vegetables that produce fruit, like tomatoes and peppers. Don’t forget that that you can always trim plants back later if needed.