Whip up a delectable combination. Follow these steps from East River Nursery's Greenhouse Professionals!
1. Select Your Container
You can use almost anything for a container, but we recommend at least a 12" diameter that will hold a good amount of soil to support good root systems. Colorful ceramic pots have been hot sellers at East River Nursery for the past few years. Larger sized pots can be filled with styrofoam or pot lifters so you don't have to use so much soil.
2. Select Your Soil/Potting Mixture
We like our Pro-Mix
Most of the time, we have customers tell us they pick up just any kind of potting mix while out shopping at a home store, drug store, etc. Granted, you might spend a little less cash at one of those establishments, but we feel that consulting professionals at your local garden center is the way to go. We absolutely swear by our growing mix we have been using in the greenhouse for the past 2 years. Pro-Mix contains Biofungicide & Mycorrhizae. These are the additives that will get you the healthiest soil possible, which means you will also have the best looking plants in the neighborhood!
3. Make Sure to Feed Your Babies
This is probably the 2nd most important step. We like to add slow release fertilizer like Osmocote to our potting mix while planting to make sure all the plants are fed all season long. After the plants are growing, we recommend fertilizing weekly with a water based formula like Bloom Booster to keep the color coming all summer.
4. This is the Most Fun! Select Your Plants
We never get tired of seeing all the new introductions that the plant people come out with every year. We seriously consider all the qualities of the plants we grow, wanting the very best for our customers. Here are some of our favorite plants that are outstanding performers:
We include the petunias in almost every planter we create! You'll see these in the downtown City of Huron planters this season. The Charm Series is a heavy producer of literally hundreds of small flowers that bloom all season long.
Having a tall feature plant in the middle of a large container can really put some extra 'Wow' in your yard. Try the following for a showy spike of color:
These all get quite large, so make sure you have a container to match the size of the plant.
Trailing plants can really add pizzazz to a pot or a hanging basket. Try the following for a really grand basket:
5. Don't Forget to Water
Next to soil selection, fertilizing and watering come in a close 2nd. Plants need to stay hydrated to perform at the best level. Going on vacation? Ask a friend or neighbor to mind your babies while you're gone.
Looking for something different?
Try planting a variety of evergreen and flowering shrubs in a container. Some of these can be planted in the ground for winter when the container season is over.
