Suzanne DeJohn

You can create beautiful container gardens with a little planning and some ongoing attention. It all starts with picking the right plants and arranging them in an attractive container. Then, after you’ve got things growing, you’ll want to keep the plants pest-free to keep them looking their best.

You can find lots of reasons to grow herbs in your home garden. Most herb plants are both ornamental and useful; most are fragrant, many taste good, and some are highly nutritious. Plus, herbs are just plain interesting — many have colorful names and equally colorful lore associated with them. Grow your own herbs, and you get the freshest harvest, you can control how they’re cared for and stored, and you can grow unusual varieties.

If you're considering organic gardening, take a look at the benefits of making the switch to a more earth-friendly way to cultivate your yard. To ensure healthy-growing plants, survey your property to find which plants are best suited for your landscape and garden, and check out non-toxic ways to control pests and fertilize organically.

Planting just one variety of bulbs per pot ensures that all the bulbs in the pot will bloom at the same time. Mixing varieties in a container, on the other hand, results in flowers coming at different times, which has much less impact. If you want different flower colors and bloom times, grow different varieties in separate containers.

Strawberry pots, also called strawberry jars or pocket planters, have holes cut into the sides as well as an open top. The pots come in a range of sizes, but most have between 8 and 15 pockets sized for small plants, including herbs and flowers. Alternating themes or repeating patterns work well if you don’t want a different plant in each slot.

Planting wire baskets isn't as easy as planting plastic hanging baskets. But whichever type of basket you are planting, begin by choosing the right type of soil. A successful soil mix for hanging baskets must be lightweight and able to retain moisture.Make your planting mix.One way to achieve a suitable mix is to start with a bag of high-quality potting mix and add perlite or vermiculite at the ratio of three parts soil mix to one part additive.

Having the right tools available when you’re growing plants in containers can make some of the chores easier. Most of the following items are available at garden centers or through mail-order suppliers. Hose-end bubbler: Screw this attachment to the end of the hose and use it to soften the flow of water so you don’t wash out soil.

Combining the right plants with the right container can make for a traffic-stopping display. Follow these guidelines for creating container plantings that suit your style: Choose a combination of tall plants (thrillers), shrubby plants (fillers), and trailing plants (spillers). Select plants with contrasting forms — tall and spiky, gently arching, soft and flowing.

The plants in your container garden can benefit when you let certain insects and animals hang around your yard. Invite these beneficial creatures into your landscape to help you control pests: Lady beetles, green lacewings, tachinid flies: They feed on small, soft-bodied insect pests and their eggs. Plant a variety of flowers, especially umbrella-shaped ones like yarrow and dill.