8 Ways to Create Gorgeous Container Gardens​ at Your Home Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply.

8 Ways to Create Gorgeous Container Gardens

Pots of bright flowers and foliage add beauty and are easy to care for

DigiStu/Getty Images Containers bursting with flowers and foliage add “wow” to a patio or porch. But how can you take ornamental pots from ordinary to extraordinary?
Basic color, design and care principles give displays that professional polish, say the experts who actually design containers for some of the country’s top botanical gardens. That said, don’t worry too much about hard and fast rules. It’s important to go with what you like, and horticulture is “very forgiving,” says Adam Dooling, curator of outdoor gardens and herbaceous collections for the New York Botanical Garden. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. “I just encourage people to experiment. And I like the idea of finding new ways and breaking the rules,” he says. “If you experiment and it fails, just try again.” No matter what you put in a pot, it’s important to set it up for success: Choose a container with drainage holes, then add potting soil and perhaps some . Adjust your watering habits to the container (clay pots dry out faster than plastic) and your site. And when pots are dry, water “like you mean it,” says Jim Sutton, associate director of display design at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. That means soaking the soil enough so that water runs out the bottom of the pot. Shallow watering only encourages shallow root growth. Then comes the fun part of designing your display. Start by visualizing the architectural space where the containers will sit. Your colors, for example, might look different up against a brick wall as opposed to gray shingles. Next, consider the effect you want to create — soft, wispy ferns or dramatic towering canna lilies, for example, says Dooling. Then, head to the garden store and experiment by grouping plants in your cart like they might be in the pot and playing with some of the following fundamentals:

1 Thriller filler and spiller

This is the classic mantra for planting containers. Thrillers are the eye-catchers, says Tim Pollak, assistant production manager of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Fillers cover the soil, hide the stem of the thriller and add volume to the design. Spillers drape over the edge of the pot, softening the edges and expanding the vertical line. Some plants, like petunias, might fill and spill, doing double duty, Pollak says. One combination might be dramatic begonias (thriller) with colorful coleus (filler) and trailing sweet potato vines (spiller). jorgeantonio/Getty Images

2 One plant one pot

, Sutton says, while being more .

4 Consider texture and shape

Entertainment $3 off popcorn and soft drink combos See more Entertainment offers > “You can have daisy flowers, you can have flowers that are cup shaped, you can have flowers that are dangly or are ear drops or earrings, if you will,” Pollak says. Foliage also adds texture — shiny, smooth, fuzzy or feathery. “Maybe some plants have big leaves, heart-shaped leaves; some plants have fern-ier, lacy-like leaves.” kschulze/Getty Images

5 Play with color

If you want to be scientific about which colors complement each other or make each other pop, use a color wheel (tutorials available on YouTube). Otherwise, just experiment with mixing colors. Or, go monochromatic and play with different textures, experts say. Keep sight lines in mind, Pollak says. “One thing about darker colors — blues and purples — they’re really great to see when you’re up close, but when you’re from a distance or driving by, and you have big containers by your front door and use a lot of blues and purples, they get lost.” If you want to go with blues and purples, then consider adding a pop of white or yellow, he says. If you want to stay up to date, check out the color of the year as determined by Pantone, the color consulting company. .

6 Keep them mostly compatible

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