Container Gardening Tips ~ Planting Basics

Here's some quick container gardening tips for getting your plants off to the best start.

Consider the size of your container plants at maturity when choosing your garden planters. Plants should be planted at the same depth as the original pot they came in. Any planter you select should have at least two inches of space under the plant's root ball to allow for growth.

• Before transferring your plants to your garden planter, find the most appealling arrangement by playing with the placement of the nursery pots ~ watch for the most pleasing height, texture and color combination.
  
  
• When you have decided on the arrangement, plant the largest plants first, then the medium-size and finally the smallest size plants. For planters that will sit against a wall, plant the largest plants at one side and plant progressively smaller plants in front. If your planter will sit away from any wall, start in the center of the pot with the largest plant, in a circle around center, plant medium-sized plants, then smallest plants or trailers in outside circle.
  
  
• Leave 1 to 2 inches of space between the surface of the soil and the rim of the garden planter to allow room so water does not overflow.
  
  
• If you are planting in terracotta planters, soak them in water for at least c ouple of hours before planting. Clay is porous and will rob moisture from potting soil if it is dry.
  
  
• Lessen the planted weight of a large planter by placing a plastic nursery pot upside down in the bottom of a large container before adding soil. You will use less soil with this technique too. To ensure good drainage place the pot on top of a few small pottery shards or stones.
  
  
• Prior to planting, ease the shock of transplanting by gently dipping the root ball into a mixture of water and root stimulator (for plants), then plant in garden planter.

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