Pot Gardening

I was going to do a container garden this year because my backyard is so shady.

Then I realized just how frikken expensive big pots are!

Now I'm digging out the grass along my driveway and I'm going to buck the system by having a front yard garden. (Oh my! What will the neighbors think?)

I do have a lot of potted plants on my front porch though.

I grew a lemon tree in a pot in CA.

lady Diane's herb garden is almost totally in large pots.

I have not spent more then 3 or 4 dollars on large pots.

I look at craiglist, yard sales, goodwill etc.

I refuse to pay 30.00 and higher for something that is going to hold dirt

fishin and I picked up these orange party bucket thingys at like Building 19 or Ocean State Job Lot.....I think all together they might have been 20 or 30....I love the big pretty pots but I'm not paying for them either.

Front yard gardens all are the rage. I was watching something with curb side gardening coming popular somewhere - that little green space between the sidewalk and the curb? Odd.

A tree in a pot must be dang interesting to move around but, I like the idea!

Not to mention , for certain herbs that you may not use alot.. but are really hardy.. like Rosemary..
You dont have to have them in a 'pot'

I have mine in a white metal small change bucket that is really pretty.

I have also used oversize coffee cups, old watering cans.. etc..

Lemme see if I can snap a picture or two

I had a rosemary bush in CA that was about 5'x5'x5' and it wasn't the climbing variety either. It was a monster.

I tried to make a pot out of my old chimenea last year but, that didn't work so well.

I forget what this plant is.. but it is EXCELLENT for beans.
You just cut off one leaf and put it into the water while you boil your beans and OHH man..
I used it on black beans the other day and fell in love.

But.. the pot?
I found that at goodwill for 29. cents.
I drilled a hole in the bottom right in the center and pushed the bottom down so that there is abit of a slope in the bottom of the pot.
I put 2 smooth rocks on the bottom before I fill it with dirt, and it drains very well.





I did some what the same for this pot.---
( I found it at a garage sale for 10 cents I think )
It holds Jillians flowers.
Again.. holes in the bottom, with a few rocks to help the soil drain




And my rosemary.. ( I actually clip from this often) is in a small tin can that was sold at bed bath and beyond as a mini trash can, on clearance for 1.50 .

Due to the dark red color.. it gets hot quickly so I keep the pot surrounded by other smaller lighter colors and I let the dirt completely dry between waterings.
Again..holes in the bottom of the pot..a couple rocks..
This thing has been alive in this pot for.. 3 years ? Almost? maybe longer..





And like a typical woman (>snort) I grow chocolate -



hehe
they are called chocolate tips.
They are beautiful flowers that have fresh,bright white leaves with a dark rich chocolate colored center.
They are about to bloom yet again this year! They are LOVELY.. but smell horrid..

Put about 2 inches of large rock in the bottom to help air circulate..

Believe me - we did lots of stuff. It just didn't work well. Hard to water then hard to keep the rain out- frustrating really.

Cool planters you have by the way.
Also- odd that something called a chocolate plant would smell bad, isn't it? shrug.

Those are pretty containers shewolf.

I plant in whatever I can find. I bought some galvanized buckets that are pretty large and punctured the bottoms for drainage...added some pea gravel and potting soil and I have had oregeno and rosemary for several years now...same plants. Seem to be happy there. I have Basil and Flat leaf parsley on my front porch with my Impatiens and some other thing I can't remember the name of...looks like elephant ear but much smaller and has red and green leaves...shoot...well it's pretty.

Then I have this huge thing I don't know the name of in a pot that my Father in law gave me. It grows faster than anything I have ever seen. It is a booger to drag in and out of the garage in the winter (try to bring it out on nice sunny days and water it).

I have a raised bed in the backyard for planting tomatoes and peppers and pumpkins (for the boys). But I have not gotten around to taking care of it yet this year. I am about to miss my window of opportunity if I don't do it soon. But I am thinking about letting the pumpkins have the whole thing and putting my tomatoes and peppers in pots. Would be eaier to keep weed free that's for sure.

Great ideas for containers - I have been inspired.

Oh yeah - galvanized buckets - fishin got me some hanging ones a bit back, drilled holes and they did really well.

A pot garden.

That might be epazote, Shewolf. I'll have to look it up...


aagh, I love very large pots. Veddy much money. Oh, well, so much for that.

I understand that tomatoes need pretty big pots..

quinn...that is beautiful! I will try to get some of mine...my camera is horrid and I am tecnnologically retarded. We'll see.

That yours cjhsa?

Oh, on getting them in and out of the garage in winter - for a very large pot I'd build some kind of dolly (dollie?) with spaces where the holes in the pot could drain to the ground/floor.

I went into an orangerie in Italy when the citrus trees were all still inside for the winter, in humongous pots. I'm trying to remember now if they were resting on some kind of trolleys. I've a photo somewhere...

Another alternative is some kind of stand made out of 2 x 4's in an + shape, with castors... but the holes in the pot should then drain to the quadrants and not the wood.

SO you're the one!? Someone has to.

osso - tomatoes don't need very big pots but they do need a great deal of attention. A Dolly is a great idea - we had one at the photostudio for the extremely large Cacti that went in and out - no need to handle those buggers.

Well, if you can figure it all out mismi we would love to see it. Thanks - I had some help that year.