Container gardening is gaining in popularity, says Kristin Pategas, program manager of the Disney Institute's teaching garden. As she explains to Paul James, host of HGTV's Gardening by the Yard, it gives gardeners the opportunity to work in a small, controlled environment and to get the most productive plants for the time, money and effort invested. Disney's gardens feature plants and containers from around the world. Containers come in many beautiful and distinctive varieties. Greek pots have beehive shapes and finger-etched horizontal grooves; pots from France are distinguished by their smooth lines, slick sides and dramatic three-dimensional emblems. Decorative Chinese pots have a worn, rustic look that makes them ideal for older, more established gardens. Plastic pots that simulate terra cotta are attractive, sturdy, recyclable and lightweight. Gardeners who lack the space for ground-level containers can incorporate trellis planters and window boxes into the landscape. These containers break up the flat surface of an otherwise bland wall and offer creative opportunities to splash fragrance and color almost anywhere. Window boxes don't have to be a traditional square shape, nor must they hover under a window. Wire hanging baskets lined with sphagnum moss offer another easy window-box option. Always select a basket size appropriate for the coordinating hanger and vice versa. An 8" basket is a good compromise between size and weight. When potting new plants in wire baskets, always wear disposable latex gloves as a precautionary measure against picking up undesirable organisms that are common in sphagnum moss. Scoop a handful of damp moss, wring it out, bundle it and stuff it into the sections of the basket, packing each one as tightly as possible. After packing the basket, ensure the moss will stay in place by holding the basket at waist level and letting it fall to the ground. If the moss remains intact, the basket is ready for potting. If moss falls out, reinsert damp clumps tightly into the bare sections until the basket passes the drop test. Next, fill the basket with a commercial potting mix or your own combination of 60 percent peat, 20 percent perlite and 20 percent vermiculite. Now add the plants. Hangers come in two types: open hook-shaped and closed eye-shaped. The latter is preferable to the former because closed hangers won't fail under the weight of a heavy basket. After selecting a hanger, turn the unsecured wire ends up, and bend them over simultaneously to ensure that the basket hangs evenly. Space the wires along the circumference of the basket, feeding the end wires, one at time, around the top of the basket from the inside out. Wrap the wire back around itself, and conceal the end by pressing it into the sphagnum moss. Repeat for each wire. An addition to the hanging basket is a lock-snap swivel, normally used to attach fishing tackle. For this application, however, the swivel allows a suspended plant to rotate while holding the hanger stationary on a ceiling hook, lamppost, etc. This prevents wire fatigue on the hanger and offers easier access for maintaining plants.
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