Creating a Summer Planter

There are many things that I feel prepared to tackle in the homemaking world however, in gardening, I am quite a novice. I found myself asking Becky, our resident gardener at Pineridge Hollow, pretty much the absolute basics. Whether you dabble in gardening more than I do, or this is your first lesson as well, I'm sure you can find something new or useful in what Becky had to share with me.

We talked about putting together a great planter. First things first, you need a container, plants and soil. The most important part is of course, the plants. Let's start there.

When choosing plants for a container you want to select your plants from 3 categories: spiller, thriller & filler.

• The "spiller" is a plant that will climb over the edge of the pot and grow down as opposed to up. It's purpose is to blend the pot with the plants.
• The "thriller" is a plant that really catches your eye - something bright, colourful and tall.
• Then you fill in the rest of the pot with the "filler" plants. These are medium sized, any colour or variety you like. You are going to be caring for these plants and looking at them everyday. Pick colours and shapes you love!

Make sure you have at least one variety of plant in each of these categories. You also want the size of the plants to match the size of the container, so choose at least one plant that's about the same height as your pot. This keeps the arrangement balanced to the eye. (Becky also says to not worry about the rules, it's your planter so do what will make you happy!)

Stuff your planter full! You want it to look nice for the entire duration of our short summer season. If your planter starts to become overgrown later in the season you can always pull plants out at that time!

Now for some care tips!

• Make sure all of the plants that you choose for the planter have the same sun requirements.
• Water your plants in the morning or evening (twice a day when it's really hot or later in the season). As your plants grow they are going to need more water! Keep that in mind.
• Fertilize your pots in July. Typically the fertilizer that comes in the soil of the plants you buy will be used up in about 6 weeks. That makes July a great time to fertilize again!

So there you have it. Lesson one in gardening from our friends at Digging Deep Greenhouse here at Pineridge Hollow. We can't wait to see your beautiful planters! Happy gardening!