Published in Caledon Living, Summer 2006:
     Why do so many people want to put plants in pots, baskets, hangers, boxes and unusual containers? Isn’t container gardening for city people with balconies, patios and tiny yards? When you have enough land to want a ride-on lawn mower, you have plenty of room for a garden in the ground. Yet even people who measure their property in acres instead of feet persist in using creative containers.
     Containers let you put flowers exactly where you want. They can dress up the look of your house, shed, even barn. They draw the eye and add instant interest wherever they’re placed. They can add height to a garden. Instead of having you go into the garden, they bring colour and scent to your outdoor living areas.
     Planting up a container can be a pleasant task. Unlike working a large garden bed, it takes little time and doesn’t require heavy machinery or full-sized tools. You can compile the exact soil mix you want, and quickly create an attractive accent piece to place in a perfect location. You can pot up as few or as many containers as you like and have time for. The flexible commitment afforded by container gardening is a clear advantage.
     Perhaps the most important aspect is that containers are simply a lot of fun. Who hasn’t smiled when passing a yard with an old bike leaning against a tree, its front carrier full of nodding blooms? In separate gardens, I’ve seen a bathtub, toilet and even an old washing machine full of flowers. As a twist on the old wooden wheelbarrow planted with flowers, I’ve seen an old baby carriage as a planter. Old boots full of petunias add wit to front steps. A farmer’s egg basket provides a pun when lined with cardboard egg cartons holding yellow and white blooms.
     Finding garden uses for old items is creatively satisfying. Outright junk becomes yard art when combined with plants in new ways. A flaking white wicker armchair attains a strange beauty with pink blossoms spilling over it. A large canning kettle can crown a wooden barrel. Terracotta pots can fit inside a wood toolbox. A rusty Hibachi lives a second life on top of an outdoor table. If an old piece of junk has any kind of hollow space, plant it up! Rust and moss on containers give interesting character and old-world charm that is rare in our part of the world.
     Unusual containers add pleasing shape and form to surroundings, and when hidden in out-of-the-way places, reward those who go past first impressions. A bedding plant growing out of a tree stump is sure to stop people with its unexpected charm. If a bird bath springs a leak, perfect! There’s now drainage for blossoms and tendrils that hang over the sides.
     Gardeners of unusual containers keep their eyes open for discards that can serve a new purpose. The key is to see beyond the obsolete use of an item. Anything that could hold soil, perhaps with the addition of another item, can serve as a planter. Garage sales, thrift shops and reuse centres are great places for these treasure hunters. Heavy garbage pick-up weeks can be the most fun. You can pick up a surprising array of great things. Old tools, ladders, furniture, bird feeders, pots are free for the picking. I even found a huge old iron and enamel sink with integrated drain board that someone had torn out while renovating. If I wasn’t using it as a garden sink while wondering if it could ever replace the contemporary one in my kitchen, I could plant a little garden bed in the sink portion. What riches people will throw out!
    
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Tips for Container Gardening
1.     Annuals don’t need as much root space as perennials. To reduce the weight of deep containers, fill the bottom portion with such biodegradable fillers as pine cones, crumpled newspaper, cardboard egg cartons or dry leaves. They will hold the soil up and degrade slowly. At the end of the season, everything can go onto the compost heap. If you don’t mind sifting through soil at the end of the season, plastic containers with their lids on make lightweight filler blocks for large spaces.
2.     Lightweight containers like rubber boots may need a rock inside them to prevent them from falling over.
3.     Block big holes in containers with small rocks. This allows drainage but keeps the soil from washing away.
4.     Large pebbles in the bottom of a big pot will help keep roots out of standing water.
5.     If containers have no drainage holes, tip them gently to drain excess water. Keep them out of heavy rains.
6.     Wire horse trough planters and hanging baskets must have a liner to hold soil, but burlap from a fabric department is cheaper than cocoa matting and looks almost as good.
7.     To keep water from instantly draining out of porous containers, line porous material with plastic. Bags for groceries, garden soil and bird seed are free sources of plastic for lining; just cut them to fit. Place the burlap or cocoa matting in the container, line with plastic, and then add soil. Plants need a chance to drink up moisture.
8.     It’s not too late for improvements! Planters can be carefully emptied out and replanted if you want to add stones, soil fillers or plastic liners.
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Container Nightmare
     I have a little phobia about frogs and toads. One summer I noticed that a strawberry planter I had put on my front step had its plants half uprooted. Thinking a squirrel had been digging for nuts, I tamped the plants back down and watered them. The next day was the same. There seemed to be a clear opening in the middle of the pot. Had the squirrel buried a nut? I could see something in the pot that didn’t seem to belong there. I peered closer. Definitely something in there. Light brown, with curious bumps on it. It looked familiar…where had I seen this before? My nose only inches away, breathing over the planter, I puzzled while my brain whirred. Suddenly one word flashed repeatedly through my mind: TOAD…TOAD…TOAD…I jerked up and screamed, realizing I was closer to a toad than I had ever been in my life, and it looked to be about the size of the back of my fist. It had obviously climbed up the sloping sides of the terracotta strawberry planter and buried itself in the cool moist soil in the centre, where it enjoyed regular showers from my watering can.
     Container gardening is not without its dangers.
By Gloria Hildebrandt