Looking for Container Gardening Ideas?

No soil in your back yard? No problem! Containers let you garden in bits and pieces and are perfect for small homes. Varying container sizes and styles lets you fill nooks and crannies — and even walls — with natural textures and colors. Best of all? No muddy shoes to track dirt inside!


Credit: Kimberly McKinnis/Flickr

Containers create mini-climates, so you’ll want to choose plants that thrive in specific conditions. Ferns love full shade, so this frondy fellow is quite happy under a covered porch, although it’ll need regular hand watering. A second-hand wash stand makes an eye-catching container.

Credit: Amy Kinser/Kinser Home

Containers come in all sizes, shapes, and materials to fit every budget and style. When you’re creating a container garden, make sure the color and size of your pots sync up with your scheme — whether a formal entry or a devil-may-care patio.


Credit: Deborah Silver

Compact, easy-to-reach containers put plants right where little hands can dig in. Assign a container or two to each of your kids and teach them how to care for plants, and you’ll be sewing the seeds of home ownership pride.


Credit: Wife, Mother, Gardener blog

Sidewalk planters are a great way to add color and greenery to urban settings. Choose drought-resistant plants that need little maintenance. Hardy plants, such as these evergreen boxwoods (Buxus), ivy, and impatiens, thrive in tough city climates. Deep containers require less frequent waterings.


Credit: Robert Urban/Urban Productions, NYC

When it comes to containers, a little imagination can go a long way toward creating great curb appeal. These home owners proudly display their last initial with a living vertical wall container full of drought-tolerant succulents.


Credit: Belinda Furby

A little planning makes sure your container garden has a good mix of textures and a unified color scheme. Pinks rule this wide terra cotta container, with shade-loving impatiens, begonia, and coleus all tinged in rosy pink hues. An asparagus fern adds a crinkly background. All have similar requirements for water and light.


Credit: My Little Bungalow

A small recirculating water pump turns this big, bowl-shaped container into a bubbling, happy water feature with soothing sounds. Water-loving plants include cardinal flower (Lobelia), dwarf papyrus (Cyperus), marsh buttercup (Ranunculus), and water hyacinth (Eichhornia). Make sure electrical connections are protected from the elements.


Credit: la fattina/Flickr

Old furniture and salvaged building materials have potential as low-cost containers for gardening. This throw-away dresser gets a new life as a three-tiered container garden. The succulent plants shown are in individual pots and propped up on bricks so their heights are about even. Holes drilled in the bottom of the drawers ensure good drainage.


Credit: Grizzly Bear Modern

By keeping multiple small pots in a single master container, you’ll create a unified setup that lets you swap out individual plants easily. When grouping plants, make sure they have similar requirements for water and sunlight.


Credit: Elle in Wonderland

If you don’t get too worked up about the style of your containers, then low-key and low-cost potato sack containers may be for you. Gardening in a bag keeps soil neatly contained and free of weeds, and burlap sacks simply decompose — they’re the ultimate in sustainable containers.


Credit: Beth Evans-Ramos @ http://mamaknowshercocktails.com

If you like these, you may want to take a spin through HouseLogic’s library of slideshows.