floral tips

Summer is all about fresh foods, cooking outside and eating all the colorful flavors the season has to offer. But living in urban spaces like New York doesn’t always allow you the freedom and space to plant a vegetable garden. Planting a container garden, however, is the perfect alternative, allowing you the chance to take advantage of the season and grow your own vegetables and herbs.

Decisions, Decisions.

Summer container gardens need to be able to stand up to the heat and sun, so choosing plants wisely is key. When picking out your container garden seeds, look for key words like: bush, compact and space-saver, as they are specifically made for container gardens.

Here are some great summer container garden choices:
- Herbs – Chives, Basil, Cilantro, Dill, Mint, Sage
- Tomatoes (Patio, Pixie, Tiny Tim, Tumbling Tom or Small Fry)
- Squash
- Arugula
- Edible flowers like Marigold, Lilac or Honeysuckle
- Cucumbers (Spacemaster or Bush Pickle)
- Peppers (Red Cherry, Sweet Banana or Robustini)
- Green Beans (Pole beans or Dwarf)
- Eggplant (Bambino or Slim Jim)

Container Concepts.

Vegetable or herb garden containers can be almost anything: flower pots, pails, wire baskets, buckets, wooden boxes, window planters, washtubs, nursery flats or bushel baskets are all great choices. Anything can work for your space as long as it has proper draining. It ensure your container garden is gets sufficient drainage, cut holes at the base or bottom of the container to permit drainage of excess water. Also, you should be careful when using dark colored containers as they absorb heat more, which can possibly damage the plant roots of your container garden.

Soil Solutions.

You can use soil in your container vegetable garden, but the synthetic mixes are much better. Peat-based mixes, containing peat and vermiculite, are excellent, as they allow the plants to get enough air and water. Mixing in one-part compost to two parts planting mix will improve fertility. Also consider using a slow-release or complete organic fertilizer to keep your vegetables few for the whole growing season.

Fool-Proof Tips.

Container gardens do not take a lot of time to create, but they do require that you pay a certain amount of attention to your plants, usually on a daily basis. This means making sure they are getting the right amount of sunlight throughout the day – not too much and not too little.

Also, try not to sit containers in full mid-day sun, as even full-sun requiring plants can heat up too much and damage the roots. Most container garden plants will welcome some relief from mid-day sun.

Follow these tips and create a container garden that reaps the benefits of the peak summer weather.

Call For more information on Urban Gardening, click here. Or to see some of our potted plant choices, click here.