No large yard? No problem! Today I am sharing how you can take any small space and transform it into a lush garden area using containers, and just about anything can be used as a container with a little creativity!
I am excited to once again be joining several blogging friends for another fun Pinterest challenge! This month’s theme is container gardens which is something I love! If you are coming over from South House Designs or if you are just dropping by today, then welcome!!!!
Our gorgeous inspiration photo for this month’s challenge comes from Organized Clutter. A special thanks goes out to Cindy of County Road 407 for hosting this challenge. You will find links to all of the beautiful container garden ideas posts at the end of this post.
If you don’t have a large yard or if you have health issues or lack of time that prevent you from large scale gardening, you can still create a garden area that is easy to maintain and looks lush and full using a variety of traditional pots and planters as well as unique containers for interest.
Let’s start by taking a look at this blank wall by the side door entry at the yellow brick home. Here it looked rather boring and sad, but by adding some beautiful urns, containers, and planters filled with a mix of evergreen and seasonal plants, the eyesore of an entry easily transformed into something special.
For several years I kept a vintage plant etagere by the back door and kept it styled with pretty pots, containers and garden elements.
I like using a mix of traditional garden pots as well as fun, unexpected thrifted items as containers, such a a vintage, tarnished silverplate creamer as a succulent planter.
The plant stand was always evolving through the various seasons.
I later moved the plant stand to my backyard cottage garden area and just used an old garden trellis and beautiful containers for interest in this area.
One year for Mother’s Day my husband surprised me with hundreds of tulip bulbs. He then planted them all for me in November as part of the gift. That was THE YEAR of the most beautiful spring container garden!
Another blank wall along the sidewalk to the side entry became a lush garden with a raised cedar bed filled with all kinds of herbs, flowers and vegetables and surrounded on the bottom and sides by container plantings.
I really became entrhalled with the idea of concentrating on container gardens after discovering Claus Dalby on instagram. His beautiful book, Containers in The Garden (affiliate link) really inspired the design of my own container gardens.
Container gardens are perfect for those of us with chronic health issues, back pain or lack of time and space. Really they are perfect for anyone!
The last couple of years at the yellow brick home I wanted something in this spot that would look great year found, so I used a large urn with an evergreen arborvite as the focal point. Notice the bird bath in the foreground is also a “container” for succulents.
I purchased this French wooden box with forced spring daffodils at Home Depot a few years ago and it has always been one of my favorite spring containers to plant up ever since! Once the daffodils were spent, I planted them in the yard and they bloomed beautifully the following spring.
*Home Depot once again has these in stock this year! Some are filled with hyacinths and tulips!
The next year I created a mixed spring container planting using tulips, tete e tete daffodils and pansies.
Another plant etagere on the front porch at the yellow brick home was a favorite spot for small container plantings and seasonal accents.
A simple hanging basket from the dollar store looks beautiful and elegant filled with simple pansies.
I always keep my eyes open for rustic, european style pots and containers when I am thrifting. Just about any combination of plants looks beautiful in them, as long as the water and light requirements are similar.
Of course fall is a wonderful time to create beautiful containers!
Thrifted vintage buckets or old coffee cans make fun and interesting containers in a junk-lover’s garden!
Another tried and true trick for the impatient gardener (like me!) is to use pots and containers to fill negative space and gaps in the garden, either while waiting for plants to grow or to place on top of difficult to garden areas such as those with lots of roots or poor soil.
My dad’s tricycle from the 1950’s made a fun garden accent “container” with a basket filled with succulents on the front and a big galvanized bucket of fountain grass in the back. As a bonus the tricyle filled a lot of blank space.
Don’t be afraid to mix rustic country or vintage containers such as an old galvanized bucket with new pots or more elegant planters and urns. They can all work together to create interest in a container garden.
I hope you have enjoyed seeing some of my container garden ideas and that it has inspired you! This summer I plan to transform our small backyard and deck using mostly containers, and I will be sharing lots of posts on this subject in the weeks and months ahead so please do plan to stop back by often.
Next up on today’s challenge is Barb at French Ethereal. She always has lovely gardening ideas! Don’t forget to check out all of the other beautiful and interesting container posts via the links below.
Happy planting!
Amber
Happy Spring and almost Easter my friends! There’s just something about the sunshine and all the possibilities of the spring garden that reignites my nesting instincts, how about you? After suffering from the winter doldrums and just being overwhelmed from the stress of moving and renovations, I am finally getting into some kind of groove as far as decorating our new spaces and blogging more. With that in mind, I am starting a new “Coffee Table Talk” monthly series about what’s on my early living room coffee table! *This post contains affiliate links.