Do you lack the space to grow the vegetable garden you’ve always dreamed of? If so, you have another option! Container gardens are perfect for home gardeners with limited space to plant in. With some careful planning, you may be pleasantly surprised just how much you’re able to produce from a container garden on your patio or balcony.

The Planning Stages

First, you’ll need to collect the proper materials. The good news is that putting a container garden together doesn’t have to be expensive. All you need is a few simple gardening supplies and some seeds or plants to start (more on that later). Here are some tips to help you get started.

Choose Your Containers

First, you will want to measure the space you want to dedicate to your container garden. It’s really up to you how much or how little space you want to use. Once you’ve determined how much space you have to work with, you will need to purchase a few appropriate containers. Your containers can be plastic, clay, or ceramic, depending on your preference. Whatever you choose, you will want to make sure that your containers have drainage holes on the bottom. If you’re concerned about water flowing onto your patio or balcony, you will also want to purchase plates for the bottom of your containers to collect any water run-off.

About Container Sizes

The size of your containers is very important. Different plants have different needs as far as growing space, so make sure that you know how much room you will have to have between plants to allow your garden to thrive. If you’re dealing with a small planting area, you may want to take advantage of vertical space. For example, green beans do not require a large planting container, however, they can be strung up to grow vertically. You can also utilize things like hanging baskets for items like herbs and strawberries to further take advantage of vertical space. This will help you keep the footprint of your container garden small.

Pick the Right Soil

Choosing the right soil will make a big difference in how well your plants produce. Different types of plants have different soils needs. If you’re unsure what type of soil is best for your plants, it’s best to ask the advice of an expert. At Cal Blend, we help our customers choose from our wide variety of high-quality top soils and soil amendments. Our team can help you create a custom soil blend that is perfect for your container garden, ensuring you have a healthy harvest a few months down the road.

Should You Start with Seeds?

Many first-time gardeners wonder if they should start their garden from seed or simply buy young plants at their local grocery store. Ultimately, the choice is yours and both methods have their benefits. Starting plants from seeds does take longer, however, it requires less of an upfront investment. If you buy established plants, on the other hand, you can re-plant them in your containers right away and they should start producing pretty quickly. Keep in mind that if you start your garden late in the season, you may not have time to start from seed, so be cautious of what the prime planting dates are for your region.

When It’s Time to Harvest

After a few short months of caring for your container garden, it will finally be time to harvest. Many first-time gardeners are tempted to only take a small amount of their bounty off their plants at a time. However, this may be a mistake. Certain plants such as chilis and strawberries will continue to produce even after the first round of fruit is ripe. If you leave your bounty on the vine, your plant will continue to use energy to maintain it. Picking items off your plant as they become ready will allow your plant to send valuable energy to the next round of fruits or veggies.

What Will You Plant in Your Container Garden?

You may be surprised at how much you can plant in even a small container garden. If you do a good job of taking advantage of vertical space, you can grow an impressive amount of fruits and vegetables right on your patio. Some examples of edible plants you can grow in containers include:

• Herbs
• Cabbage
• Green Onions
• Carrots
• Beets
• Green Beans
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes

This is just a small example of what’s possible with a well-planned container garden. The most important thing to remember when planning your container garden is that you need to start with the right tools. Most importantly, you need to have quality soil in order for your plants to thrive. At Cal Blend Soils, we carry the largest supply of landscaping materials for gardens of all sizes. Come in today and one of our team members can help you find just what you need for your container garden.