Hello there - I am using the EDIT button to answer your post directly .. it's a bit of an experiment but maybe it will work. Let's see!
In the past when I've had containers or potted plants in the yard or in the house, after a while they begin to look overgrown and unsightly.
How do I keep my container gardens looking compact and attractive?
Plants are living things and all things change - and of course you know that. But to keep your containers looking attractive, you need to work on them often (probably daily), keep them fed and mulched and trimmed and pruned will stop them getting straggly and floppy; and the last point I would make here is to get advice and choose the right sorts of plants. Perennials would suit you better as they come back year after year with your care, and are generally self-seeding so also stretch the budget.
Main idea though is that you have to look after your containers or the plants will go unruly and scraggly and need to be replaced as they bolt or grow untidily and or die off.
I can't afford to be constantly buying new small plants to replace the overgrown and 'ratty' looking ones.
Do I just have to accept the fact that I will need to replace the plants in containers frequently?
The answer to this is included in the above commentary but is a YES and a NO. It will depend on how you look after your pots; what the conditions of growth are and what plants you have chosen to grow.
Hope that this edited answer help and works,
Say cheers from Lestie
Last edited by Lestie - ContainerGardens; 01/08/13 01:23 AM.