GARDENER'S READING ROOM
The Art of Gardening

Container Design and Care

Autumn is a great time for renovating and refreshing your containers. Here in the Pacific Northwest, with our relatively mild winters, we don’t have to take the extreme measures necessary in colder climes, but it is a good time to re-examine, re-plant and generally do a plant health check on your container plantings.

	Fatsia japonica

While summer is definitely the showiest season for container plantings, autumn and winter bring subtlety to your container design. This is a great time to look at the effects of texture and form. Because of the wide variety of evergreen, hardy perennials and trees, it’s not necessary to put your containers in storage and wait for sunny skies again!

Choisya ternata 'Sundance'

Great stand-alone or centerpiece conifers include the stellar Taxus baccata ‘Standishii’ with its outstanding color and columnar form. Thuja orientalis ‘Westmont’ (Westmont arborvitae) has a stylish compact shape and lovely bright green color, while Thujopsis dolobrata ‘Nana’ (dwarf elkhorn cypress) has an interesting loose mounding habit.

	Euphorbia x martinii

Shade lovers that are showy on their own or in complementary plantings include Disporum cantoniense ‘Green Giant’ with its beautiful, airy texture and delicate early spring flowers and Fatsia japonica (Japanese aralia) with its large bright green leaves. Choisya ternata ‘Sundance’ brightens a container with its lime green leaves. Pieris japonica ‘Cavatine’ lightens containers with its light green new growth and late winter white flowers.

Calibrachoa

Complementary pairings that consider texture, form and color are critical in keeping a container looking good through the winter months. Hebes are diverse and provide excellent options in evergreen color and texture. Spurges (Euphorbia) and heather (Calluna) are equally outstanding. Evergreen grasses such as golden variegated sweet flag and golden variegated Japanese sedge add bright light and terrific texture year-round.

	African daisies

Autumn doesn’t mean saying ‘goodbye’ to summer color, though! Osteospermum (African daisies) and Calibrachoa (million bells) keep blooming well into late fall. Pineapple sage with its gorgeous lime green color and neat red flowers is a reliable late season bloomer. When the flowers of summer begin to fade, replace them with hardy winter pansies, violas, or chrysanthemums.

Fall is the time to cast a critical look at your plants. Are they too big or crowded? Cleaning up sun-damaged or straggly foliage is a good first step. Fall is also an excellent time to divide many perennials and prune roots. Root pruning can keep larger perennials, shrubs and trees happy and healthy in their containers for a longer time. Maybe it’s time to move a plant that’s outgrown its container into the yard. It’s also an excellent opportunity to reinvigorate soil that might be full of old roots and nutritionally depleted. Remove and replace with new potting soil.

Calluna vulgaris

Once your autumn container planting is done the question is how to keep it healthy and protect it from the effects of winter’s cold. Remember that the environment for plants in containers is magnified: they will be warmer in the summer than in-ground plantings and colder in the winter. Bringing containers closer to the house and grouping them provides a huge help in staying that extra bit warmer. For more delicate plants or harsher conditions, wrapping your container in burlap or landscape fabric with an insulating layer of straw or dry leaves can really make the difference.

Although winter’s chill is approaching, coming home to the welcome of a bright, beautiful and stylish container planting is priceless.

By Megan Bonner
Skylights Fall 2010, Vol 25, No. 3

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