I am one smart mutha f’er.
Seriously, I came up with an idea that is pure genius. Everyone will be doing it and you can thank me now for my ingenuity.
So here it is: Grow your perennials individually in pots and move them around at will. It’s like moving your furniture around when you’re bored. Hell, your garden could have a new and unique look each day.
Some other advantages for following this method:
- Plants that do not do well in your soil type (like my clay) can now be used wherever you like
- Plants that may not typically be tall enough for a certain area can now gain a few inches in a container
- You can strategically hide these plants from critters by easily placing them in protected areas
I feel like I’ve opened up endless possibilities with this concept. What? You’ve been doing this for years already? Really, I’m that late to the party? Whatever, I’m still taking credit and will soon label this method with a catchy name and trademark it. Try and stop me.
Here’s a little sample of what I can do with one of my favorite perennials that typically does not perform well in my poor draining soil and has been eaten by the deer and rabbits in the past. I give you Sedum ‘Matrona’:
Here she is hidden behind Catmint:
I can spruce up a boxwood by placing it behind it:
Let’s play on the pink theme and throw it in with a Pennisetum (Fountain Grass):
How ’bout tucked in front of a yellow Arborvitae:
In a container vignette with Cordyline:
Hell, I could put it on an ottoman and let it lean if I want:
So what do you think? There is a bit of an art form to it by making sure the container works within the garden bed and can be partially hidden. But the beauty is that if it doesn’t work, try it somewhere else with ease.
Damn I’m good!
John
but…the watering!
Every time someone suggests plants in pots I just see them withering from thirst in my mind’s eye.
At least here in the midwest, I can plant something in the ground and it will establish and I can squirt a sprinkler at it a few times a month when things get really desperate in midsummer. The same thing in a pot and I need to be out there with a watering can at least every other day.
Is your climate not like this? Do you just enjoy watering?
hahaha….no comment!!!
Plantingoaks – yeah, probably should have mentioned the watering. It can get tedious in summer. How bout using those self watering containers?
Debbie – c’mon, comment, it’s OK. LOL.
If extra watering is too much work, have you experimented with burying the pot in the flowerbed?
You are so funny. Now, if I could just figure out how to take the plants with me when we go to sea every ten weeks and stay there for ten weeks. Oh, yes, I can take them out of the country, I just can’t bring them back! Nah, I’ll let them stay home and be happy here.
It always takes a man to come up with the best solutions..Thank you mankind for inventing the washing machine..you have saved us from using the old rock near the shed..and now this!! Whoa!! and I had to be born a woman!
Love your blog…
Enjoy time…
Ah, we can move them around, take photos of the best combinations to use in our blogs… the possibilities are endless!;)
Actually…..I have planted perennials in pots for several years. Sorry! Now I will admit come fall I put them in the ground. Next spring I will fill the pots with new perennials. I probably shouldn’t have posted, huh? So, I will just say…. great idea!
I do this. With sandy soil I have to water pretty much constantly anyway. I use it to extend the garden onto a bit of ‘overly paved’ and to create easy height. But I have to say my climate is warm enough that I don’t have to worry about them at all overwinter. Otherwise it would be a no deal.
Yes it is like rearranging the furniture, but here in the south, containers are needy water hogs.
I think I’ll tap on your idea and expand it to my raised beds. By putting wheels on them I can rearrange my whole garden “Don’t you just hate knock offs” <|;-)
I’ve always done this with annuals but not perennials. I love being able to redecorate my yard whenever I feel like it.
Love Di ♥
Weigela Wine and Roses are the best gifts all the year around. People would like to select them for different season.
Hi John,
I love your concept, but pots dry out much quicker than planting directly into the soil. I can barely keep my hanging basket watered enough. I do plant annuals in pots and like you said “move them around”. Let us know how your revolving garden is doing.
Yep, I own this concept. You’ll have to send me royalties. I put all my tender perennials and exotics in pots–they live inside during the winter and outside, strategically hidden around the garden–in the summer. As far as watering, I do sink about the bottom quarter of the pot into the soil, but you still have to water more frequently, although less than when they’re sitting on a shelf.
Very funny post. I certainly appreciate your pictures of your mobile plant. 😀 Pots can get heavy though. Not to mention the weight of fully grown plants. Congratulations on “your idea” though. BTW, most of my plants are not planted in the ground nor are they planted in pots. I move my tillandsias around at will and can even do so on a daily basis if I wished it.
I know you’re being cheeky, but I’m going to use this idea in early spring in the areas of my garden where I neglected to plant evergreen elements. Instant fullness!