Looking for an easy way to add color and interest to your garden or patio? Disney horticulturist Debbie Mola has the perfect solution: a compact container garden! Just select the container of your choice (pot, window box, hanging basket, etc.) and you're ready to get started. While demonstrating how easy it is to assemble a delightful medley of plants, Mola discusses the benefits of container gardening with host Kim Haworth. In addition to their ample versatility, says Mola, container gardens also provide a great way to experiment with different arrangements and don't require an entire overhaul when just a few plants need to be replaced. To create the container garden featured here, Mola uses a large imitation terra-cotta pot for her container garden -- its lightweight structure will keep the potted garden from becoming too heavy to move easily. (Terra-cotta lookalikes are comparable in price to their heavier clay counterparts.) To keep soil from washing away through the drainage hole in the bottom of the pot, Mola cuts a circle of weed-barrier fabric and places it in the bottom of the container. Since keeping weight manageable is a priority when working with larger containers, Mola fills the first few inches in the bottom of the pot with StyrofoamB. packing peanuts (figure A); the peanuts also help ensure good drainage. Next she adds another layer of weed barrier fabric on top of the Styrofoam pieces to prevent them from working their way up to the surface of the potting mix, which will rest on top. Mola explains that soilless mix -- not topsoil -- is the best choice for container gardens (figure B). A good mix should contain ample amounts of peat moss and perlite to encourage drainage; this ensures that the plants are able to dry out in the time between one watering and the next. Mola recommends filling the container to within one or two inches of the brim; the mix should be pressed down firmly (figure C) until it's nice and compact. Once the potting mix is in place, it's time to add fertilizer. Mola recommends using a slow-release variety (figure D), which can simply be sprinkled over the surface of the potting mix. This will nourish the plant with each watering and will last three to four months. And last but not least -- the plants! Mola advises choosing varieties based on personal preference for color and shape, but she adds it's essential to select varieties with light requirements that are compatible with the container's placement. She also offers this tip: Keep in mind how the plants will look once the container is in its designated space. Will it be placed in a corner or against a wall? If so, placing taller plants along one edge will provide an attractive "background." For containers that will be viewed from all angles, plants of the same or similar height will probably work best. After selecting the plants and deciding how they'll be arranged in the container, it's time to place them in the potting mix. Here Mola shows how to prepare the roots for planting by gently teasing them out of the root ball after removing them from their individual containers (figure E). This will allow the roots to grow and expand easily in the new pot. Once the roots are loosened, Mola presses the plant's root ball firmly into place in the container, building up the potting mix slightly around the base of the plant to make sure it's secure. This initial plant -- a relatively tall flowering variety -- is placed near the edge of what will be the back of the container. Along the front edge Mola adds a trailing plant, first teasing out the roots as before. (She repeats this same process for all remaining plants.) After filling in the center and around the edges of the pot, the container garden is complete (figure F): a stunning addition to a garden, patio or balcony. Note: For a tour of Disney's Epcot Center map, click here , available using  .
RESOURCES :
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Rodale Press Inc. (Organic Gardening Magazine)
Emmaus, PA 18098
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Fax: 800-813-6627
Email: customer_service@rodalepress.com
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Model: 0806942436
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(April 1996)
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Scribner Book Co./Simon and Schuster
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Phone: 212-698-7000
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