By Mel Bellar

I love pots in the garden. I like houseplants in pots and, of course, a good container garden.  Stroll through my garden and you will see pots tucked in all over. My wife loves the container garden on the back deck, which is the home to our meager vegetable and herb plot. Having it right outside the door to the kitchen makes it easy and accessible when cooking. Throughout our landscape and home there are pots in a plethora of shapes, sizes and materials, and each one is chosen with care, purpose, and an eye for aesthetics.

You might not think of putting pots in the garden, but they make great accents, adding structure and visible interest year round. And they offer a great opportunity to add some colorful annuals that will not be overrun by more ruckus-making perennials.  Pots also can provide homes for some overly aggressive plants that I just will not put in the ground. For instance, I have 7 containers in my garden with an extremely aggressive false spirea, Sorbaria sorbaria “Sem,” that has beautiful lush yellow-green foliage with red, new growth.  It looks great in pots and needs no watering or attention, thriving year after year without wreaking havoc in the garden.  The trick to having pots in the garden is to choose large pots that can stay out in the Winter without breaking from the freezing and thawing. Large pots are ideal because small pots dry out very quickly and require much more watering. Granted, all pots in the garden require watering if there is no rain for a few days, but small pots are much more problematic. Over the years I have spent many hours dragging a hose or watering cans all over the garden to water the containers. Now I have eliminated some of them in the farther nooks of the garden and have strategically placed them where they are easier to get to with the hose.  Gardeners are always afforded plenty of opportunity for learning and fine-tuning!

Choosing the right material and look is as important as the container size. Terracotta and pottery pots can be beautiful, but not if you want to have them overwinter in an unsheltered location. Save these pots for houseplants or on a covered porch. Who wants to empty pots and turn them over, or drag heavy pots into an already cluttered garage in the Fall?  We all have enough to do to prepare for Winter.  For areas exposed to the elements, choose concrete, stone, wood, metal or some sort of plastic or composite. Now, I may be (uh-um) a snob about some things and I happen to recoil from plastic pots in most cases, especially plastic pots attempting to emulate some natural material like terracotta, stone, or wood. Having said that, if there is a nicely designed plastic pot that is boldly proud of being its plastic self, I can accept that and I do have several chartreuse and teal plastic pots (faded now ☹) in my garden. Then there is the whole range of composite (I don’t really know what that means, but they seem different from “plastic”) containers that come much closer to imitating stone or concrete.

Because stone and concrete pots are SO heavy, the fake ones have great appeal and they are usually a little cheaper and obviously a lot easier to deal with and move around. I used to swear that I could detect a fake pot from 100 feet, and my wife started challenging me. Now we play a  “real or fake” game when looking at pots, and I no longer win more than 50% of the time. They make some darn good fake stone pots these days and I have quite a few in my garden. They are light and look quite good for many years. I have some now that I have had for 20 years that haven’t weathered  so well, but I consider 20 years to be a worthwhile investment, and they still are not so bad that I am replacing them.

Since I have a real penchant for the more rustic side of style, I love using old (or new) corrugated aluminum troughs and half whiskey barrels as containers. And they are very practical.  The only challenge is getting holes in the bottoms for drainage. It requires a decent drill and the right bits to get through the metal or a large enough bit to make a sufficient hole in the bottom of any wooden container. I use a 3/4” paddle bit to penetrate the whiskey barrels.

The corrugated aluminum containers are great for creating water gardens. There are many plants that can live in water, and it is very cool to put them in a container that is filled with water and only needs added water every 2 weeks to a month. I have done this with canas, cala lilies, elephant ears, papyrus, Japanese iris, some sedges and sweet flag (Acorus.)

Next time you see an old tub or a nice pot that catches your eye at a garden center or even at a big box store, give it a shot and make it a focal point in your garden. I bet you will be glad you did.

   Mel Bellar is the owner of Zone4 Landscapes and a passionate Andes gardener.~

I love pots in the garden. I like houseplants in pots and, of course, a good container garden.  Stroll through my garden and you will see pots tucked in all over. My wife loves the container garden on the back deck, which is the home to our meager vegetable and herb plot. Having it right outside the door to the kitchen makes it easy and accessible when cooking. Throughout our landscape and home there are pots in a plethora of shapes, sizes and materials, and each one is chosen with care, purpose, and an eye for aesthetics.

You might not think of putting pots in the garden, but they make great accents, adding structure and visible interest year round. And they offer a great opportunity to add some colorful annuals that will not be overrun by more ruckus-making perennials.  Pots also can provide homes for some overly aggressive plants that I just will not put in the ground. For instance, I have 7 containers in my garden with an extremely aggressive false spirea, Sorbaria sorbaria “Sem,” that has beautiful lush yellow-green foliage with red, new growth.  It looks great in pots and needs no watering or attention, thriving year after year without wreaking havoc in the garden.  The trick to having pots in the garden is to choose large pots that can stay out in the Winter without breaking from the freezing and thawing. Large pots are ideal because small pots dry out very quickly and require much more watering. Granted, all pots in the garden require watering if there is no rain for a few days, but small pots are much more problematic. Over the years I have spent many hours dragging a hose or watering cans all over the garden to water the containers. Now I have eliminated some of them in the farther nooks of the garden and have strategically placed them where they are easier to get to with the hose.  Gardeners are always afforded plenty of opportunity for learning and fine-tuning!

Choosing the right material and look is as important as the container size. Terracotta and pottery pots can be beautiful, but not if you want to have them overwinter in an unsheltered location. Save these pots for houseplants or on a covered porch. Who wants to empty pots and turn them over, or drag heavy pots into an already cluttered garage in the Fall?  We all have enough to do to prepare for Winter.  For areas exposed to the elements, choose concrete, stone, wood, metal or some sort of plastic or composite. Now, I may be (uh-um) a snob about some things and I happen to recoil from plastic pots in most cases, especially plastic pots attempting to emulate some natural material like terracotta, stone, or wood. Having said that, if there is a nicely designed plastic pot that is boldly proud of being its plastic self, I can accept that and I do have several chartreuse and teal plastic pots (faded now ☹) in my garden. Then there is the whole range of composite (I don’t really know what that means, but they seem different from “plastic”) containers that come much closer to imitating stone or concrete.

Because stone and concrete pots are SO heavy, the fake ones have great appeal and they are usually a little cheaper and obviously a lot easier to deal with and move around. I used to swear that I could detect a fake pot from 100 feet, and my wife started challenging me. Now we play a  “real or fake” game when looking at pots, and I no longer win more than 50% of the time. They make some darn good fake stone pots these days and I have quite a few in my garden. They are light and look quite good for many years. I have some now that I have had for 20 years that haven’t weathered  so well, but I consider 20 years to be a worthwhile investment, and they still are not so bad that I am replacing them.

Since I have a real penchant for the more rustic side of style, I love using old (or new) corrugated aluminum troughs and half whiskey barrels as containers. And they are very practical.  The only challenge is getting holes in the bottoms for drainage. It requires a decent drill and the right bits to get through the metal or a large enough bit to make a sufficient hole in the bottom of any wooden container. I use a 3/4” paddle bit to penetrate the whiskey barrels.

The corrugated aluminum containers are great for creating water gardens. There are many plants that can live in water, and it is very cool to put them in a container that is filled with water and only needs added water every 2 weeks to a month. I have done this with canas, cala lilies, elephant ears, papyrus, Japanese iris, some sedges and sweet flag (Acorus.)

Next time you see an old tub or a nice pot that catches your eye at a garden center or even at a big box store, give it a shot and make it a focal point in your garden. I bet you will be glad you did.

   Mel Bellar is the owner of Zone4 Landscapes and a passionate Andes gardener.~

I love pots in the garden. I like houseplants in pots and, of course, a good container garden.  Stroll through my garden and you will see pots tucked in all over. My wife loves the container garden on the back deck, which is the home to our meager vegetable and herb plot. Having it right outside the door to the kitchen makes it easy and accessible when cooking. Throughout our landscape and home there are pots in a plethora of shapes, sizes and materials, and each one is chosen with care, purpose, and an eye for aesthetics.

You might not think of putting pots in the garden, but they make great accents, adding structure and visible interest year round. And they offer a great opportunity to add some colorful annuals that will not be overrun by more ruckus-making perennials.  Pots also can provide homes for some overly aggressive plants that I just will not put in the ground. For instance, I have 7 containers in my garden with an extremely aggressive false spirea, Sorbaria sorbaria “Sem,” that has beautiful lush yellow-green foliage with red, new growth.  It looks great in pots and needs no watering or attention, thriving year after year without wreaking havoc in the garden.  The trick to having pots in the garden is to choose large pots that can stay out in the Winter without breaking from the freezing and thawing. Large pots are ideal because small pots dry out very quickly and require much more watering. Granted, all pots in the garden require watering if there is no rain for a few days, but small pots are much more problematic. Over the years I have spent many hours dragging a hose or watering cans all over the garden to water the containers. Now I have eliminated some of them in the farther nooks of the garden and have strategically placed them where they are easier to get to with the hose.  Gardeners are always afforded plenty of opportunity for learning and fine-tuning!

Choosing the right material and look is as important as the container size. Terracotta and pottery pots can be beautiful, but not if you want to have them overwinter in an unsheltered location. Save these pots for houseplants or on a covered porch. Who wants to empty pots and turn them over, or drag heavy pots into an already cluttered garage in the Fall?  We all have enough to do to prepare for Winter.  For areas exposed to the elements, choose concrete, stone, wood, metal or some sort of plastic or composite. Now, I may be (uh-um) a snob about some things and I happen to recoil from plastic pots in most cases, especially plastic pots attempting to emulate some natural material like terracotta, stone, or wood. Having said that, if there is a nicely designed plastic pot that is boldly proud of being its plastic self, I can accept that and I do have several chartreuse and teal plastic pots (faded now ☹) in my garden. Then there is the whole range of composite (I don’t really know what that means, but they seem different from “plastic”) containers that come much closer to imitating stone or concrete.

Because stone and concrete pots are SO heavy, the fake ones have great appeal and they are usually a little cheaper and obviously a lot easier to deal with and move around. I used to swear that I could detect a fake pot from 100 feet, and my wife started challenging me. Now we play a  “real or fake” game when looking at pots, and I no longer win more than 50% of the time. They make some darn good fake stone pots these days and I have quite a few in my garden. They are light and look quite good for many years. I have some now that I have had for 20 years that haven’t weathered  so well, but I consider 20 years to be a worthwhile investment, and they still are not so bad that I am replacing them.

Since I have a real penchant for the more rustic side of style, I love using old (or new) corrugated aluminum troughs and half whiskey barrels as containers. And they are very practical.  The only challenge is getting holes in the bottoms for drainage. It requires a decent drill and the right bits to get through the metal or a large enough bit to make a sufficient hole in the bottom of any wooden container. I use a 3/4” paddle bit to penetrate the whiskey barrels.

The corrugated aluminum containers are great for creating water gardens. There are many plants that can live in water, and it is very cool to put them in a container that is filled with water and only needs added water every 2 weeks to a month. I have done this with canas, cala lilies, elephant ears, papyrus, Japanese iris, some sedges and sweet flag (Acorus.)

Next time you see an old tub or a nice pot that catches your eye at a garden center or even at a big box store, give it a shot and make it a focal point in your garden. I bet you will be glad you did.

   Mel Bellar is the owner of Zone4 Landscapes and a passionate Andes gardener.~