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Early Bird Lavender crapemyrtles in a trio of containers framing a brick stair entryway

Containing the Situation

  1. Home
  2. Containing the Situation
  • By Southern Living Plants Staff
  • August 6, 2019
Container gardening can provide lots of options—inside or outside

Container gardening is the practice of growing plants in some sort of receptacle rather than planting them in the ground. As long as you provide a healthy growing media and the proper amount of light, water and nutrients you can be a successful container gardener. And you hardly ever have to weed container plants.

An added perk: Anyone, from an adult to a child, can have fun container gardening and it is especially well-suited for anyone with physical limitations that may preclude yard work.

Another joy of container gardening is that almost anything can become a “container.” A terra cotta or plastic pot, a bucket or a box and, yes, even an old tire or toilet bowl (though your neighbors may take exception to some of those choices)—as long as a container is nontoxic, holds enough soil for your plant to thrive and allows water to drain away, you can plant in it.

What’s more, you can grow everything from herbs and vegetables to annuals and perennials to shrubs and trees in containers.

A lovely combination can be any of the collection of Loropetalums, such as Purple Pixie® or Red Diamond™, planted alongside Little Bonnie™ Dwarf Spiraea and Southgate® Splendor™ Rhododendron.

Blush Pink™ Nandina and Rosalinda® Indian Hawthorne all can be used in containers for a diverse mix of purple-to-black and pink foliage colors. Looking for something green to add to your container landscape? Try Mojo® Pittosporum, Yewtopia® Plum Yew and ‘Soft Caress’ Mahonia.

Keep in mind that container plants usually need more frequent watering than those in the landscape, especially if they are planted in clay pots. Also, container plants that are left outside all winter may need protection from hard freezes or, if you’re planting something in a large pot that you expect to move inside for the winter, set it on a wheeled base of some sort for easier moving.

The list of possibilities for beautiful, even fanciful container gardens is unlimited…use potted plants as living flower arrangements, accent plants in garden beds, on porches and patios or to add a lushness to any interior space.

No need to contain yourself. Just have fun!

Southern Living Plants Staff

View More Articles

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With evergreen foliage and lasting blooms, camellias make ideal container specimens

Container Plantings for The Porch and The Patio

Two distinct spaces with vastly different plant requirements

Complement the Garden with Colorful Containers

Emphasize the entryway, bring color to paved surfaces, or create a focal point.

Plants Featured In The article

Pittosporum
Close up view on Mojo Pittosporum foliage that is medium green with large cream colored margin

Mojo® Pittosporum

Pittosporum tobira ‘CNI Three’ PP16188
Mahonia

‘Soft Caress’ Mahonia

Mahonia eurybracteata ‘Soft Caress’ PP20183
Spiraea

Little Bonnie™ Dwarf Spiraea

Spiraea bumalda ‘BL0601’ PP24553
Rhododendron

Southgate® Splendor™ Rhododendron

Rhododendron hybrid ‘HOLDEN52’ PP30235
Nandina

Blush Pink™ Nandina

Nandina domestica ‘AKA’ PP19916
Loropetalum
Purple Pixie Loropetalum planted in a stone stepped wall of a bluff

Purple Pixie® Dwarf Weeping Loropetalum

Loropetalum chinense ‘Peack’ PP18441
Indian Hawthorne

Rosalinda® Indian Hawthorne

Raphiolepis indica ‘Conda’
Loropetalum
Red foliage and bloom close-up of Loropetalum Red Diamond

Red Diamond™ Midsize Loropetalum

Loropetalum chinense ‘Shang-Red’

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