Garden Designer’s Roundtable-“Container Style”

When we move into a new house, condominium or apartment, many of us dream about how we can start personalizing our space and really give it our personal signature. Adding your personal flair to a garden in the form of a long term design plan or potentially even construction takes planning and lots of money.
You can easily get that instant gratification by adding a container garden or maybe even more than one special
container in various focal point places for your garden, patio or balcony. A personal statement that is unique and
defines your garden personality can be made in a million different ways such as through color, theme, scale or drama.

The little nursery where I work has me design containers for sale as well as custom designs for customers. I also create container gardens for my own “Personal Garden Coach” clients and of course myself! I need to have a VERY flexible design attitude to be able to change with the customer or client as well as creating container gardens for anyone who may fancy them at the nursery. This may mean that I design a container that is pink and feminine one minute and then create a modern contemporary creation for a bachelor pad the next! This gives me a wonderful perspective for using plants in a large number of ways that may not be typical, in other words, I have creative license to use whatever my imagination allows.

I think that one of the most valuable ways to understand the potential for containers in your space is through pictures and I have many! A number of them are just quick snaps that I take at the nursery very quickly as I put them out for sale and others are from my garden, clients garden or shows I’ve attended.

Some women get all crazy about shoes, for me it’s pottery!! OK, make that any container really. As long as it has drainage, or even the potential for drainage, it’s fair game in my book. I’m not going to go into all of the myriad of possibilities for various container options or we could be here all day. Let’s just suffice it to say for this post, that any and all are just fine by me!

A container as a focal point is a design strategy that is used by many as a way to draw the eye to a particular point or area in the garden. One of my favorite new containers is seen best from inside my house, silhouetted against my neighbors home. Here are a few pics of the garden and the focal point pot as it was installed and as the garden began to mature over the seasons. In the foreground is a spectacular Hydrangea Paniculata that blooms right there in the window for a full on summer display!

Frequently I allow the container to determine the design of the plants. I will choose a container that inspires me for a particular spot and then let the plants show off or support the shape and color of the container.

I hope you enjoy these pictures that I’ve assembled here. Leave me a comment and share how you make your containers special!

Close up details are fun in containers too!

Don’t forget to have a little sense of humor.  🙂

Garden Designer’s Roundtable is wonderful group of garden bloggers who also happen to be terrific designers. Please visit their posts on “Containers” as well.

This month’s bloggers!

Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT

Jenny Petersen: J Petersen Garden Design : Austin TX

Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO

Laura Livengood Schaub : Interleafings : San Jose, CA

Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In the Garden : Los Altos, CA

Rochelle Greayer : Studio “G” : Boston, MA

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT

Shirley Bovshow : Eden Makers : Los Angeles, CA

Tara Dillard : TaraDillard.com : Atlanta, GA