Women’s Independent Press

1. Don’t skimp on drainage -While this may sound like an odd first tip, it can be a matter of life and death for your plants. When there isn’t a big enough hole or holes for water to get out of your pot, your soil becomes too wet and the roots of your plants can rot which causes the plant to die.

2. Evaluate your light-To figure out how much direct light your container will get, place it where you want it and then time how long the sun hits it.

3. Feed your plants- Most potting soil has no accessible nutrients for your plants, you need to add those. The vast majority of plants will need fertilizer added to your soil in order to grow and thrive.

4. Make a list before you go to buy plants- saves you the trouble of figuring that out at the store

5. Choose plants that like each other- When you are choosing plants for your container make sure that they will play well together. This means that all the plants in one pot should all require the same amount light and moisture. If you combine plants with different needs, some of them will not thrive.

6. Read and save the Plant Tag- Plant tags are critical. They will tell you how big your plant will get, how much light, water and food it needs and how much care it will need-if it’s an annual or perennial and what zone it will survive in.

7. Sometimes plants die- The more plants you grow, the more plants you will kill. It’s that simple. The trick is to know when to give up on a plant. In a mixed container garden, it makes sense to give up rather early, so your whole container doesn’t look ugly.

8. Acclimate your plants - Plants can sometimes withstand a lot of abuse. I have found that many plants don’t like abrupt changes and if you acclimate them, over a period of time to changes in light, exposure to the elements, water or temperature, they are generally happier.

9.The more potting soil the better-The more potting soil you use, the more water retention you will have which will give you a much great margin for error when it comes to both watering and feeding your plants. .

10. Garden how you live- Container gardening is hard work. It takes time and attention, and while it doesn’t have to be expensive, it can be. Even if you cover all your bases, some plants with thrive and some will not