Container Gardening For A Frugal Garden

Container gardening is the perfect solution for you if you want to have a garden but either don't want to spend lots of time maintaining lawns and beds or only have a small area to enjoy. The problem is that any trip to the local gardening store will tell you that container pots can be quite expensive. However any container with suitable drainage can be used for your garden and with a little imagination can be turned into the most attractive pot.

Decide how you want your frugal garden to look

There are many different looks for a container garden and your first step is to decide what style of garden you are looking for, as this will determine where you look for your containers. Some ideas for a container garden are:

Rustic - a very traditional look for a garden where pots are a simple terracotta or wood and even old wheelbarrows can be pressed into service as part of your container gardening. Simple plain pots can be found at yard sales or you could even ask for broken ones at your local garden shop (simple to mend with strong glue). The idea of a rustic garden is often to make it look like a country cottage garden and so even old rusty watering cans are often used to create this effect and are in themselves perfectly good containers for plants.

Greek - If you want something a little more elaborate then a Greek style garden might be more to your taste. However you will have to be very creative your self and paint your own Greek designs onto pots, as these can be very expensive to buy. Visit salvage yards and the larger garden centres out of town where they may also sell and even make garden statues. Look out for broken pieces of statues and ask if they are for sale, sometimes the owners may just want them taken away. These are great for adding that ancient Greek ruin effect.

Utilitarian - this is probably the best frugal way for using planters in your garden as it uses any old items that can contain dirt. So let your imagination run wild, start by looking round your house and garage for anything that is big enough to hold some plants. Here are a few suggestions for some container ideas:

Old pots and pans
Jugs and buckets
Old boots
Car tyres
Packing crates

Old sinks

Some of my favourite gardens are ones that have a wide range of different containers scattered about, it's always fun to come across an unexpected item and see flowers sprouting from every crevice. A true frugal gardener will spend lots of time looking at neighbour's gardens and visiting public gardens for tips on how to use new items creatively in their own gardens. They say that mimicry is the perfect compliment.

Container gardening Tips for a happy plant

As you can see using container's can be a very cheap way to have a garden and they are also very versatile, as pots and containers are easily moved around for the best effect. Also they are much easier to manage than garden beds, however they will still require some tender loving care. The basic container gardening care tips are:

• Make sure that the container has a wide enough opening at the top to allow easy planting and weeding and allows plenty of sunlight to the plant.

• Make sure there are adequate drainage holes in the container. To prevent too much loss of soil you can lay a sheet of newspaper in the bottom.

• Make sure the container is big enough for your chosen plants, some plants require deep roots and so a small container would be too restricting.

• Your own compost makes the best soil for your containers; however make sure that your plants do not require the addition of some sand to the mixture.

Make sure that you water your containers regularly as they do lose water rapidly especially during hot summer days..

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