Container Garden Ideas

Plant combinations using the "thriller, filler, spiller" method are the easiest way to make your outdoor planter ideas come to life.

Anchor the planter with a vertical, architectural-style plant as the "thriller" element. Surround it with a medium-height plant as "filler" to fill in additional space and frame the plant. Lastly, choose softer plants that tumble out of the edge of the container towards the ground. This is the "spiller."

Use planters to rotate a seasonal array of annuals to punctuate your decor. Easily swap out the washed pastels of spring for the sunny yellows of summer. Use vibrant reds and oranges for fall. Christmas favorites like poinsettias brighten the holiday season. Use seasonally appropriate planters for an even more festive touch.

Arrange a planter collection along a walkway or flanking an entry door for a welcoming burst of color.

Group small or medium-sized containers for maximum impact. A corner filled with terra cotta containers of many sizes will look luxurious. Use the thriller-filler-spiller idea here, too. Put the tallest in the center or back, place groups of fillers in the middle and arrange cascading elements around the perimeter.

Take your gardening to new heights by creating a vertical garden wall. Vertical garden planters are both architecturally interesting and space-saving.

Create edible gardens in planters with herbs or compact vegetable varieties such as lettuces, kale, cherry tomatoes and peppers. These smaller varieties often have generous yields. You can keep a container of herbs growing indoors year-round.

Tip: Use a large container and add frames or tomato cages to combine low-growing and climbing vegetables. This lets you grow more in less space.

Ornamental grasses are easy and low-maintenance plants that add drama to your landscape. Plant ornamental grasses in tall, narrow planters to complement the plants' shape. Learn more about types of ornamental grasses.

Go coastal by creating a beachside scene in a planter. Fill a wide, shallow planter with potting soil and choose two or three succulents or small ornamental grasses. Arrange the plants in the soil, add play sand and decorate with pieces of beach glass, shells or small driftwood. You can also plant a single beach plant in a large shell for an interesting memento of your beach vacation.

Found objects can make interesting planters or flower pot holders depending upon their construction. For example, use an old ceramic bathtub as an outdoor planter with minimal construction required.

Place it in the sun or shade, then fill it with soil and plants. The drain at the bottom of the vessel removes excess water. Alternatively, simply fill it with a layer of river rock or gravel and group smaller planters inside the tub. This will make it easy to rotate plants seasonally in and out of the quirky landscape feature.

A large, sturdy planter can become temporary living garden furniture. Position an 18-inch stone planter near your patio furniture in a lightly shaded area. Plant with hardy, drought-tolerant succulents, leaving about 4 to 6 inches of room from the top of the tallest plant to the rim of the container. Cover the planter with a tempered glass table top about 24 inches in diameter. This combination table and greenhouse makes an interesting patio feature, and the top will only have to be removed periodically for watering.

Tip: To reduce the overall weight and the amount of soil needed for large containers, partially fill them with packing peanuts or empty plastic bottles. Spread a layer of newspaper and then cover with potting mix.

For an easy project, find an area on the porch that needs a pop of color and install hooks and chains. Select your plants. Then, choose a ready-made container with colors and flowers you love for either a sunny or shady spot.

Remember to read plant tags to understand how much and when to feed your plants. When the top of the soil is dry to the touch, water until it trickles out the drainage holes.

Get creative with finishing touches. You can use a planted hanging basket in a container. Just cut off the hangers and pop it in a container for instant color. Learn more about planting hanging baskets.

Spring and summer are the ideal seasons to decorate your front porch, balcony or patio with annuals and perennials in hanging baskets and other containers. Bigger is certainly better when it comes to curb appeal, and container gardening can instantly create a show-stopping focal point. Large containers (18 inches in diameter and up) have the advantage of holding more soil and needing less irrigation; they also hold more plants. If planter pots become difficult to move, use plant caddies for portability. Read more in How to Create a Container Garden.

• Choose soilless potting mix. Lightweight, well-draining, moisture-retaining potting soil is the key to providing adequate drainage while nourishing plant roots. An exception is if you’re planting succulents. In that case, choose the soilless potting mix designed especially for desert and cactus plants.
• Regularly feed with an organic fertilizer. All that watering and blooming means nutrients get washed out. Fertilize once a month to keep the show going.
• Consistently water. Roots are more compact in a container, so frequent watering is necessary to keep plants happy. If you have a lot of containers, consider drip irrigation to help out with the watering. In the heat of summer, most containers will need to be watered at least every other day, and sometimes twice in one day. On the other hand, some plants like it dry. Ornamental grasses, succulents, sedums, geraniums, zinnias and marigolds can take hot and dry conditions. Herbs like rosemary, oregano, sage and thyme can take the heat, too.
• As you get ready for the season, here’s how to clean last year’s planters: Discard all plant material and soil and use a scrub brush to remove any stubborn dirt and salt deposits. Fill a big container such as a wheelbarrow, or large galvanized tub with 10 parts water to 1 part bleach (a 10 percent bleach solution). Submerge the pots and let soak for 10 minutes. Scrub the pots, rinse and leave in the sun to dry.