Creating A Container Garden « Homemaker Cherry Menlove

Creating A Container Garden

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Robert the Husband says that I like to colonize areas. By this he means that if there is a space I will fill it. Whether that be with junk that actually needs to be sorted properly and put away or with an idea.

When creating a container garden in the space outside my back door I was definitely working on creating an idea.

I’m actually a fan of small outdoor spaces. I love the challenge of having an area that is totally contained and creating different corners within it. Essentially crowding it with items but making it seem larger by the time the project has been completed.

The first thing I did was to paint the side of this building white. Thus throwing light in to the space and making it seem larger when the the sun was shining on it and reflecting off of it.

From then on it was simply a case of working out what I wanted the space to be filled with……….

Colour was something that I wanted to feature a great deal in this space. Bright colour.

I filled the cartwheel flower bed with bee friendly Salvia and lined the edges with an ivy leafed pink geranium.

I opted for pink once again but this time a paler version when potting up this Fuchsia. It stretches up to the sky beautifully and is very easy to keep, flowering all Summer as long as it’s deadheaded regularly.

In the Summer months we love to eat as many meals as we can outside and having a table inches away from your back door is wonderful when it comes to al fresco dining.

This table was actually a makeover project, much like this area of the garden, and started off life as a horrid piece of pine. I’ll be sure to feature this project in the Before & After section of my site very soon.

Brightly coloured windmills sitting in butler sinks full of Strawberry plants. Lovely!

As this space is so close to the kitchen it seems totally obvious to have most of my herbs in pots within arms reach.

All the usual suspects are here.

Rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, marjoram and two big pots of basil.

I’m also growing gooseberries, blackberries, blueberries, apples, plums, cherries and pears. All in containers and all in this space.

Told you I liked to colonize!

Putting various pots onto wooden fruit and veg crates is a great way of creating levels and lifting the pots off the ground and enabling drainage at the same time. It’s nice to work with levels. Levels create interest and go a long way to creating different corners in the same space without huge amounts of effort.

I also created a pathway of sorts at the entrance to the container garden by lining up terracotta pots of geraniums. Try it. It works by way of suggestion instead of something altogether more obvious.

Another way of creating levels is by making this super simple pot holder from wooden boards and upturned pots. I decided to have mine painted white as I knew that it would set the rusticity of the terracotta pots off brilliantly.

I opted to fill it with two pots of Salvia that I bought last year, some purple basil and more thyme. Flanked by Borage and one of the aforementioned Strawberry sinks.

Everywhere you look the spaces has bee filled, decorated or planted.

Alongside the table I have also installed the daybed for chilling on when the heat gets a wee bit too much…….

….and over the other side are wicker chairs that are perfect for enjoying a long cool drink on.

This wee space has, without doubt, been one of my most favourite projects to date. It is small enough to never feel overwhelmed by and is so cosy. It is also a sun trap and the pots that I have planted up are growing so well and producing brilliantly.