The folks at Fred Meyer recently reached out to me to see if I’d be interested in teaming with them on a post about container gardening. Of course, this is right up my alley so I agreed! When I told the kids that I’d be headed to the Fred Meyer Garden Center, they wanted to come along for the ride. (They share my love of plants and gardening.)
So what’s so great about container gardening, anyway? Here are some of the potential benefits I can think of – maybe you can think of others, too:
- Plants in containers are portable. Plants grown in containers can easily be moved as you please. Perhaps you’ve decided you’d prefer the container in a different spot in your yard. Or maybe the plant would do well in a sunnier spot. Or maybe it’s a plant that’s not frost tolerant and you’d like to move it indoors for the winter.
- Plants in containers may be easier to manage. Container gardening is a great option for kids or persons with limited mobility. While you will need to stay up on watering and fertilizing, other tasks like weeding and pruning may be easier to tend to.
- Plants in containers can bring nature to otherwise sterile spots. A bare porch or deck can be transformed to something special through the use of a few containers. Many people enjoy bringing potted plants inside or into an office for a touch of nature.
Of course, it can be overwhelming when you start thinking of all the potential container + plant combinations out there! To get you started, I thought I’d share 8 simple tips for getting started with container gardening. Since this is a frugal living blog and we’ll be shopping at Fred Meyer, I’ll make sure to keep these ideas as budget-friendly as possible!
Tip #1: It’s OK to use a variety of planters!
It might seem like a good idea in theory to buy all matching containers filled with all matching plants – but in practice you may find it’s very challenging to keep those plants looking 100% symmetrical all growing season!
Take the pressure off yourself (and save some money) by experimenting with a number of different planters and containers. Dust off any you have laying around (that aren’t broken and in good shape, of course!). I also found a number of really fun styles at Fred Meyer – terra cotta planters, ceramic, glass, even sturdy plastic. Lucky me, they were all 25% off during my visit. I even found a section on clearance!
Here is my favorite seating area in my garden:
As you can see, I combined a number of different container styles and plants. While it’s not matchy-matchy, it still definitely works to create a peaceful space in my garden.