No Space to Grow Veggies? Containers Are a Great Solution!

May 6, 2015 | By webadmin

Spring is here and it’s time to plant edibles! If you enjoy cooking with fresh ingredients, or even just having fresh garnishes at hand, now is a great time to grow your own. Even if you don’t have a dedicated vegetable garden, or you only have limited space to grow, you can incorporate edibles into your landscape in other ways. Containers are perfect for growing many types of herbs and veggies.

Creeping Thyme makes an excellent “spiller” plant in containers.

Many edibles are also beautiful and you can mix them in containers with your ornamental plants. Basil plants are perfect companions for many sunny summer bloomers including angelonia and verbena. Dwarf basil varieties, such as ‘Boxwood’, make the perfect solo-specimen in smaller pots.

Basil ‘Boxwood’ is an excellent container plant, plus it blooms in summer for the bees.

Other key herbs like thyme, sage, oregano and chives are very happy sunny container dwellers. Don’t be afraid to tuck herb plants into existing mixed planters.

There are also a number of new dwarf vegetable varieties whose size makes them suited to container growing. Dwarf bush beans, bush squash and zucchini and patio cucumbers can be grown in larger patio pots by themselves or in combination with some summer color or herbs.

Dwarf squash plants can be grown in sunny patio containers.

Have shady containers? While most herbs and vegetables need to be planted in a full sun location, there are a few herbs that will tolerate shadier spots. Mint is the star performer in the shade garden. Because it can spread aggressively in the shady landscape, planting it in containers is often a better choice. Lemon balm is another herb that enjoys some shade.

Thriller, Filler, Spiller

When mixing color with herbs and vegetables, keep in mind the thriller, filler, spiller container design method:

• Thriller: Taller plants that are set in the middle or back of a container.
• Filler: Plants that are shorter than your thriller and will help fill out the middle area of your planting.
• Spiller: These are the lower growing and trailing plants that will spill over the edge of your containers.  

Maintain the Look

Keep edibles blooming, fruiting and growing by feeding them through the season with a quality fertilizer. Water every few days by hand until the heat sets in, then you may need to water daily. Or, set your automatic drip irrigation to water planters on the correct schedule. Be sure your container is in a sunny spot as most edibles will need a good six hours of sun.

Plant these now in containers:

• Herbs
• Lavender
• Basil
• Thyme
• Mint
• Oregano
• Sage
• Pineapple sage
• Chives

Vegetables (Dwarf, bush varieties)

• Peppers
• Eggplant
• Cucumbers
• Bush Beans
• Zucchini
• Squash