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

Hello Angie and all ...

I have done some deck gardening as well as pots in the garden. They do get overgrown. This year at the end of summer I emptied a number of them but they are still outside.

Empty pots etc. are fine for all reasons though I have also found that the longer you leave them empty and in sight, the more guilty you feel and the more container gardening becomes a chore.

See I did that way back so that is why now I would suggest that you hide your empty pots until you can fill them again or if they cannot be moved (i.e. in the garden or too heavy) then fill them with soil and use different coloured pebbles as a pattern as an interim decor measure.

The ones on the deck are still there except that the ceramic pots were cleaned and brought in so that they wouldn't crack in the freezing temperatures.

Smart move this, and again I say, use the pots for something until the season allows you to grow your flowers in the once more.

This past spring I decided to use an Earth Box system. I covered the pot as directed but wonder about how to start it up again this upcoming spring. Are you familiar with Earth Boxes?

Full answer in a separate post coming soon to this - I need to think a bit and do some homework - I have not used earthboxes before so bear with me please!

Can anyone else help.

Thanks Angie and all and all.

Cheers
Lestie

Hello all - LOOK, scroll up ... my edited answers worked - hope you like the idea!

Cheers now