Little did I know that in a few hours I would discover squirrels digging in my newly planted containers! So now the question is what to do about the squirrels. Mammals can do a lot of damage to a garden, both through digging and by eating newly planted seedlings. Now if we manage to get our patio door latch fixed so that we can let the cats in and out easily they could guard my patio plantings. But the cats sleep at least 12 hours a day, so that isn’t a complete solution.

Since I’m mainly gardening in containers I don’t have to worry about groundhogs and moles like many gardeners do. (The solution there is to dig down into your soil, lay down some sort of gardening fence, like chicken wire, underground and then place the soil on top. Imagine making an underground cage for the roots of your plants so that the digging animals can’t get inside.)

For rabbits, squirrels, and mice or rats, which can all be garden pests, I would advocate protective coverings for your new plantings. There is nothing tastier than newly sprouted seedlings and mammals know that. Essentially, you need to make a cage above ground for your plants. The problem with this is it’s not very attractive. The other alternative is to fence your entire garden, but building a squirrel proof fence is a lot of work! My grandparents regularly put out poison and traps for rats and moles, but I can’t imagine trapping for squirrels. Anyway, once you start down that road you will have to continue, periodically to maintain your traps or put out more poison because new individual animals will move into the area around your garden, replacing those you kill. I kind of enjoy watching the squirrel hop around on the lawn, so I’m not planning to kill them. I would rather limit their access to my delicacies.

Technorati Tags: container gardening, Patio Gardening, pests, squirrels

photo credit: la fattina

This fall I’m starting a brand new patio garden at my new home in Eugene. One of my first steps was acquiring some nice containers. My patio does have some soil around the edges, but it’s fairly shady and the soil is filled with tree roots, so I’m focusing on planting in containers for now.

Plants in containers are much more susceptible to overheating, lack of water, or drying winds than plants in your garden beds. In order to be successful in growing plants in containers you need to choose your containers carefully. Here are six common mistakes gardeners make when choosing containers for their patio garden:

• Terra Cotta – Most gardeners love the look of terra cotta. The problem with terra cotta containers is that they lose moisture rather quickly. The biggest danger for plants living in containers on a patio is uneven moisture. Most plants need damp roots and will die if you let them dry out frequently. If your patio is very damp and shady terra cotta may be a good choice.
• Dark Colored Containers – In sunny weather dark colored plastic, metal, or wooden containers can heat up quickly damaging you plants’ roots.
• Containers with No Drainage – It’s fun to recycle vintage containers for planting, but you can’t plant directly into a container without making sure it has some sort of hole in the bottom so that excess water can drain out. Plants breath through their roots, they need oxygen. If you over-water a container without drainage you could drown your plants.
• Containers that are Too Small – Small containers can’t hold much soil and so dry out quickly. In dry or windy weather you can water in the morning and the soil in a small container may be dry again in a couple of hours.
• Recycling Containers Without Sterilizing – In healthy garden beds the microorganisms in the soil help fight off plant diseases, but potting soil from your local nursery is sterile. Containers that you buy new from a nursery shouldn’t be carrying any plant diseases but if you get containers used you should always wash them with soap and water and then rinse with a diluted mixture of a little hydrogen peroxide and a lot water. This treatment should kill anything nasty that could be lingering from old plantings.
• Forgetting to get saucers or pot feet – Pot saucers are important for small containers, without them water will run straight through your potting soil and might not soak in. For larger containers pot feet can be used to keep your pots off the surface of your patio. All your containers need something to keep them off the surface of your patio because otherwise you risk permanently damage or staining.

I have been frequenting garage sales and have managed to acquire several attractive, barely used containers for my patio garden. The smallest containers I use are at least six inches tall and wide and mostly I like much larger containers. Besides being easier to care for large containers allow me to group different plants together to create attractive displays. Normally I’m not a big advocate of using plastic, but I don’t feel bad about saving nice plastic containers that might otherwise go to a landfill. You can also get attractive wooden containers or biodegradable containers made from corn. I haven’t tried the new biodegradable containers yet, but I’m hoping that they will be a durable, attractive alternative to terra cotta and plastic. What are your favorite containers? Do you buy your garden containers new or up-cycle them?

Technorati Tags: choosing garden containers, container gardening, organic gardening, Patio Gardening