Container Gardening
By Isabelle Boulay, Tue Jan 10th

Gardening fanatics, with no space for a garden, like apartmentdwellers and those in shared housing, can be assured gardeningis not inevitably gone from their lives. You can always build acontainer garden on a balcony, patio, deck, or sunny window. Notonly the joy of flowers but vegetables and some fruits can begrown. You can raise perennials, annuals, and even shrubs andsmall trees all in a container.

Container can present it's own set of challenges. Itrequires proper planning just like any other kind of gardening.You'll need to find your USDA zone (to identify plants suitablefor your zone), see how much daylight you get in your apartmentor balcony, and from there you can select the best plantvariety.

When buying plants be prudent and choose ones with a healthyappearance and good natural shape. Trunks should be straight.Stay away from plants with twisted, slanted or deformed stems,which can affect the healthy growth of a plant. Try to buy yourplants from the local nursery unless you have the rightconditions to raise seedlings indoors.

For your container, glazed

ceramic pots with drainage holes area good choice. Terracotta pots are nice looking, true, but dryout quickly and leave your plants without moisture. Woodencontainers are good, but can be susceptible to rot. Cedar andredwood are fairly rot resistant and make nice containers butmake sure the wood is not treated with creosote or other toxicmaterials that can damage the plants.

Although you in general don't want to keep your container gardenplants outside when the temperature dips below 45° F, there areplants that are frost resistant for colder climates. Eulaliagrasses, Mexican feather grass, Cornflowers, Lavender cottons,Jasmine, Million bells, and Stonecrops, stand up to the frostwell.

If you follow these few suggestions you will be off to a goodstart with your new minature garden creation.

About the author:Isabelle Boulay writes for www.OnlineTips.org, where you canfind information on installing fiberglass insulation and How to Replace anEntry Door