Photo: Jennifer Brownīy placing short but stellar plants atop staging that’s hidden amid other plants, I can create compelling combinations that wouldn’t be possible with plants grown in the ground.

Photo: Michelle GervaisĪn empty blue pot is propped up on a sturdy 5-gallon bucket.

The author uses a customized drip irrigation system (the black tubing) to meet the basic water and fertilizer needs of his display. Overturned pots of various sizes create subtle height differences. Overturned pots play a supporting roleĪnything that is sturdy and stable can be used as a support to elevate pots. And for raising my container garden’s beauty to new heights, the use of simple staging-by which I mean the overturned nursery pots, bulb crates, logs, and homemade plant stands that give plants and ornaments a boost-has been the greatest trick of all. The trick is not how many pots you have, but what you do with them. Five pots are enough to create a dramatic composition on a porch or patio. It gives me the flexibility to tweak my jungle all season, adding bits of color as something new comes into prominence or removing anything that’s past its prime.Īnd although I take a more-is-merrier approach to container gardening, numbers alone don’t mean much. The portability of plants in pots frees me from some of the constraints of traditional earthbound gardening. To keep things lively as the plants grow, I simply move the containers-farther apart, up, down, to the front, to the rear-to create a display that is always evolving. By early summer, my garden of 50 or so pots of annuals, tender perennials, and the odd hardy plant has become an extravaganza of texture, fragrance, and color. I grow them by the score in a sprawling garden of containers arranged like a border on my patio.

Heavy duty plant stands indoor