Photo courtesy of Lily Sweeney.

Change is coming.  A great shift from the rote and routine, schedules and deadlines.  The walls of our compartmentalized lives are being razed, and the tethers loosened.  Schools are racing to the finish line, and soon our lives will follow the arrhythmic beat of Summer’s drum.  Memorial Day marks the beginning of Summer – a season less regimented and predictable.  A season to slow and savor.  A season less contained?

Well, yes, depending on context, but when it comes to container gardening, Summer presents both the perfect reason and perfect season to create and plant these beautiful and functional vessels.  In fact, container gardening has become one of the top five landscape trends for 2016, and this year, more than ever, people are thinking outside the, er, container.

Containers offer the perfect solution for a litany of issues – from small spaces to bad soil.  They can also be mobile and moved around the yard/patio to suit your needs.

Although there are no hard and fast rules about what you can plant, there are some basic guidelines to follow to insure the container’s health and get the most out of your plants:

1.  Any vessel can serve as a container as long as it can hold soil and provide drainage.

2.  Consider the size of the container before adding plants.  It’s important to account for the mature size of the plant, so there is ample room for it to grow and flourish.

3.  Just like garden plants, make sure you are siting your containers correctly.  If your plants require full sun or shade, make sure the container is positioned in an area where it can get the light/shade it needs.

4.  Soil tends to dry out faster in containers, so make sure you are watering properly.  Self-watering containers are also an option.

5.  Containers aren’t just for flowers.  Consider planting vegetables or a combination of the two.  Dwarf vegetables work especially well as do herbs, and they are both harvestable and beautiful.

Container gardening is actually quite liberating, and they can be used almost anywhere, no matter how big or small the space, and flowers are no longer the rule of thumb.  Vegetables, herbs and succulents are all very popular, and because of their size, containers are much easier to manage and maintain.

Not sure where to start?  Contact Sweeney’s.  Perhaps you already have a container but need help in choosing plants.  Or maybe you have the vision for the perfect container but don’t have the time.  As always, Sweeney’s is here to help, and we can barely contain our excitement in making your container garden dreams a reality.

Plant of the Week:

May Night Salvia

Upright, spiky indigo flowers bloom from June – August and make great cut flowers as well as container plants.  Prefers full sun and moist, well-drained soil.  Drought and heat tolerant.

“Being a child at home alone in the summer is a high risk occupation.  If you call your mother at work thirteen times an hour, she can hurt you.”

-Erma Bombeck

Best wishes,

Kim Sweeney

“The patriot’s blood is the seed of Freedom’s tree.”

-Thomas Campbell