POT-SCAPING

Pot-scaping simply takes containers of plants off their traditional pedestals, such as balconies, decks, windowsills, and moves them into a broad landscape.  It involves the artful grouping of container-grown plants.  These groupings become mine-gardens, adding a touch of color to bare patches in the landscape.

Container gardening is showing up in beds and borders or standing alone.  Busy homeowners find decorating their yards with “spots of pots” an easy way to splash color through the yard.     

 

The possibilities for container gardening are endless.  Anything that grows in the garden will grow in containers: annuals, perennials, dwarf trees, shrubs or vegetables.  Tropical plants in containers are becoming very popular here.  Many homeowners are decorating their decks, patios and landscapes with tropical container plants that have bold textured leaves, like banana trees, citrus trees and elephant ears.  Some exotic varieties, unless brought indoors during winter, won’t survive Ohio’s winter weather.   (In the past few years, some hardy tropical plants that can be used in this area, have come on the market.  Be sure to check the care tag for zones.)  If you do try to over-winter the non-hardy type, place plant in a large south-facing window.  Then move it outdoors in the summer.  You will not corner the market on fruit production, but it will form fruit.  Some people treat the tropical plants as annuals, replacing them every year.

Containers come in a variety of sizes, shapes and materials.  What you choose will depend on the type of plant and the location.  Beware of decorative planters that lack drainage holes.  This creates water-logged soil and rotting roots.  Research shows that the old practice of placing a layer of gravel in the bottom of the container, to give some room for water to accumulate with out saturating the soil, doesn’t really work.  If you want to use a decorative planter that doesn’t have a drain hole, put your plants in a regular flowerpot and place it inside the decorative container.

The new lightweight containers made from polished styrene and foam core, are making container gardens more versatile.  You can move pots around more easily, to change the dynamic of your outdoor space.   

   

It seems gardeners are putting high priority on plants with long term, all season color.  The experts tell us the big colors  are red, gold and purple.  If you like these colors, then go with the trend.  If you want something else, remember landscaping is 98% personal preference and your point of view is the most important view.

  TOM’S TIMELY  TIPS FOR JUNE

 • Move houseplants to shaded areas outside 

for the summer. Be aware that plants will need more water 

during hot and windy weather.

• Heavy rains encourage slug problems. Check for slugs during rainy periods and hand pick the pests.

• For hanging baskets in cool, shady locations, use tuberous begonias, ferns, impatiens or fibrous 

rooted begonias in combination with trailing plants, such as English Ivy.

• Remove old flower heads from annual bedding plants to keep them blooming.

• Remove foliage from spring bulbs after it turns yellow and begins to dry.  Set out bedding plants to 

cover the bare spots using care not to damage the bulbs.

• Use bark mulch around young trees to protect them from lawn mower damage.

• Spring flowering shrubs such as spirea, viburnum, lilac and forsythia should be pruned as soon as they are done blooming.

Tom McNutt is a professor emeritus at The Ohio State University and a retired TV garden expert.

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