What you need to know about taking care of a container garden

Container gardening allows you to grow a variety of plants in a limited space. Here are some easy ways to take care of your container garden.

• If the containers are movable, you can rotate them to show off your most attractive blooms.
• Clay pots, whiskey barrel halves, planter boxes and window boxes are all attractive options.
• With plastic pots inside, you can use wicker baskets, bowls, wooden crates or cans with interesting labels.
• Containers need drainage holes to ensure that plants do not sit in standing water.
• Drill holes in plastic using a regular drill bit. For ceramic pots, use a masonry bit; as you drill, hold the bit very steady to avoid cracking the pot.
• Fill containers with potting soil. It is lighter and richer than the soil from your garden — and it's weed-free.
• Work a slow-release fertilizer into the soil to make your container plants very easy to care for. Or lightly fertilize container plantings every two to three weeks during planting season, because watering flushes nutrients from the soil.

Annuals, perennials, small shrubs, vines, vegetables, herbs and small trees can be grown in containers as long as there's enough space and light, the soil is prepared properly and the plants are fed and watered regularly.

• Beginners will have the best luck with annuals. These grow quickly and bloom for a long time.
• Look for plants labelled as ideal for containers, or those called "patio" varieties.
• When mixing plants in a container, use contrasting flowers and foliage.
• Combine tall spiky plants, such as salvia, with draping plants, such as ivy or lobelia; add filler plants, such as shorter marigolds or ageratum.

• The soil in containers, especially porous containers such as terracotta, dries out quickly. In very hot weather, containers in a sunny spot might need to be watered as often as twice a day.
• If you have many pots clustered together, you can buy a drip-emitter system to slowly water all the pots at once. Once this system is set up, all you need to do is turn on the spigot each time. Using a manual-on, automatic-off valve will make watering even easier.
• If all or most of your containers are watered from one spigot, consider using an easy-to-carry, lightweight hose to make watering easier.
• If you're going away for a day or two in hot weather, set your container plants in pans or buckets with a few inches of water in the bottom. The water will wick up, keeping the soil moist.

• Reduce the need for watering any plant by planting it in a plastic pot, then placing the plastic pot in a larger decorative container. Fill in the gap between the pots with soil. This will help keep the soil in the plastic pot cool and moist.
• Cut your container garden watering in half: add low-cost polymers to your potting soil. These tiny particles, which look like coarse salt, swell with water when wet and release it when plants need it most.
• Work the polymers below the first five to 7.5 centimetres (two to three inches) of soil, to prevent them from wicking moisture away from the roots.

A container garden is a great solution for smaller areas. Consider these tips and create a unique garden in no time!