Potscaping

Potscaping is a great way to bring instant color to the garden, even if you don't have a lot of space. It's also a great way to disguise an unattractive area. Pots are mobile, and you're not locked into a specific landscape design. Each season you can change out the theme to suit your mood.

Container Selection
With oodles of containers to choose from, gardeners are limited only by their imagination. Glazed pottery and terra-cotta pots look good anywhere, but there's nothing to stop you from using half-barrels, worn-out boots or even an old car. One creative gardener turned a scrap satellite dish into a planter brimming with color.

Landscaping with potted plants offers the perfect solution for disguising an unattractive area.

Potscaping provides the perfect opportunity to recycle, reuse and repurpose.

When considering which plants to use, use the "one-two-three punch" theory. Use a tall plant, a medium-height filler plant and a trailing plant to connect all the elements.

Choosing a Color Scheme
Since color is what our eyes see first, it's one of the most important qualities to consider when choosing your plants. A combination of cool colors, such as blue and green, create a subtle effect, while red, orange and yellow conveys warmth. Other important considerations include form, texture and line.

Planting Pots
If you're unsure how to plant your pot, think of it as a one-two-three punch. First select an upright, spiky or bold foliage plant as the exclamation point of the pot. Plants to consider are cordyline, phormium, ornamental grasses, canna or elephant ear. Then plant the filler plant which has a medium height and is more round, connecting the elements. This includes coleus, begonia, geranium and more. Finally, the spiller, like ivy, sweet potato vine, million bells or petunia, trails over the pot and softens the whole look.

The real beauty of potscaping is anything goes. Try potting up trees, flowering shrubs, perennials and annuals. With pots, you can indulge your fantasy of a tropical garden, even if you live in a frost zone.

Many people who live in condos use a screen of tropical greenery created by potted plants lined along the patio. Many tropicals grow well in sun or deep shade. A potted zen or green-foliage garden is also popular. Involve children by having them plant flowers in old cans.

Container Care
When gardening in pots, it's important to remember that potted plants need a little more care than their counterparts in the ground. Because the pots are exposed above ground, the soil dries out more quickly. Keep potted plants well watered and fertilized.

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