My mom and grandma inspired my love of plants long ago when I was a child, and I loved helping them in the garden. When I got my own home, I started out with a few houseplants in simple indoor planters. Soon, I was planting my own vegetable garden, and decorating my home's entry with outdoor planters full of annual flowers. Most recently, we added a window box planter to dress up our plain old garage window, and it is full of red carnations, white Wave petunias, and blue morning glory vines.
No matter how small a space you have outside, you can grow your own flowers, vegetables, and herbs by using containers. Garden planters come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors, including decorative planters and high end planters so you can achieve any look you have in mind for your yard.
Your planter should have a wide opening, and a drainage hole or tray in the bottom. The size of your container depends on what you'll be growing. For example, deep rooted vegetables need a deeper planter. Setting the container on bricks or blocks will allow better drainage. You'll also need to fertilize frequently as the starter soil will soon be depleted of nutrients with frequent watering. Since plants in containers dry out more quickly than plants directly in the ground, I have had good success using polymer moisture crystals in my flower containers. The crystals absorb up to 300 times their own weight, soaking up excess water from around the roots so plants don't get too much water, and then it releases the water back to the plant's roots as the soil dries out.
So if you thought you couldn't have a garden because of limited space, or maybe you think you have a brown thumb, give container gardening a try.
