Here's how to put together great planted containers!

• When planting in containers, unless you are willing to wait for your plants to fill in, you should fill up the pot with as many plants as will fit and still grow happily - that's the secret to a lush look.
• The soil should be exactly flush with the top of the pot.
• When choosing the plants for each container, choose a plant that is spiky or tall, some that are bushy, and some that are trailing. There are some exceptions to this rule, as you will see in the examples below. But the proportions of the pot in relationship to the height of the plant arrangement should be considered. Generally, the larger the pot, the taller the central plants should be.
• Be sure that your plants all like the same conditions of light, soil, and moisture.
• For summer, no pots smaller than 12 inches in diameter. Otherwise, you will have to water them more than once a day during the hottest days!
• Contrasts in  foliage color and texture will give that "wow!" effect that you see in professional container plantings. The trend in stylish plantings lately has been to highlight the contrasts between chartruse (yellow-green) foliage and bronze or deep purple foliage. Varigated (with white or yellow) makes a vibratnt contrast also.
• Use Water Grabber, Water Saver, or other absorbent polyacrylic crystals in plantings that will be in the sun and are not planted with drought tolerant plants. (See sidebar to your left.)
• Mulch! Don't forget to use something as mulch on any exposed soil in your planting to prevent dehydration. Very small ground bark is nice, or you can be creative, with marbles, pebbles, or anything that will keep moisture in and prevent the soil from washing out over the edges of the pot when it rains.
• Feed your container plantings often. The municipal gardeners who create and maintain the beautiful hanging baskets in Henderson, NC have told us the secret to a lush look all summer: feed your pots often! They add timed release plant food as they are planting, working it into the soil, and then water every week with 1/2 strenth water soluble fertilizer like Peter's Plant Food.

  The pots shown left and above were photographed at Habersham Gardens Nursery in Atlanta. Note that in each pot, there is something spiky or tall, something bushy, and something trailing. The soil comes up to the top edge of the pot, not lower, so that the plants spill out effectively. The overall impression is lush!

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 A Drought-Tolerant Container Planting

 One very cold day in March, while the wind was blowing and the temperature was a  28 sad degrees outside, we were snug in the potting shed with a sunny prospect: planting up a few drought-resistant container plantings that will last through the summer and into fall. We plan to place all of these plants out into the garden come fall, as they are all hardy! We used two strawberry jars, which are too small for growing strawberries in our heat, but will do just fine for these lovers of sun and drier, gritty soil. Follow the steps below to make your own container planting!

Above: 2 strawberry jars, with the length of pvc pipe drilled with holes that we will insert as we plant, so that water can be poured into the top of the pipe and it will trickle out the holes. Tall strawberry jars need this because the water can flow out the sides and never reach the soil near the bottom. We used a mix of pearlite, potting soil (or compost), and some buider's grit.

A selection of drought- tolerant sedums for our project. Note how many different colors and textures there are in just one plant family. Shown in back, l to r:  Yellow Creeping Sedum (S. makinoi 'Ogon' - the foliage is red in winter with yellow flowers in summer); Angelina Sedum (S. rupestre 'Angelina'); Hens and Chicks (S. 'Braunii'); Golden Stonecrop (S. floriferum 'Welhenstephaner Gold'). Front, l to r: Grey Stonecrop; Tricolor Stonecrop (S. spurium 'Tricolor'); Bronze Hens and Chicks.

 In the midst of the planting process. Plants like sedums can be divided before planting by laying the plant with its soil block on its side and slicing it in half with a sharp knife. Fill in the soil as you layer in the plants. Feed them into the holes from the outside to avoid damage to the plant stems.

 A finished planting. The spiky bronze leaved plant is Bronze New Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax.) In a few weeks, the plantings will fill out even more.

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CRITTER TROUBLE? DO SQUIRRELS AND OTHER ANIMALS THROW OUT THE PLANTS AND DIRT FROM YOUR POTS? TRY THIS!

We had lots of trouble with squirrels messing up container plantings till we came up with these tactics. For best results, use them in combination:

• Mulch your pot with slate chips, tumbled glass, or pebbles.
• In any area in your planting where there is open soil, and the plants have not filled it in yet, bunch up a strip of black plastic bird netting, about 6 inches to one foot wide. Pin this to the area that is exposed, with a long wire u-shaped pin made from a coat hanger - at least 6 -8 inches long. Then add mulch as suggested above. Plants will grow up through the mesh, and you can gently rearrange it as needed over time.
• Dust your plants and mulch in the container plantings with a thin coating of red pepper. Animals will not return to that planting.