Container Gardening in Shade

Container gardening in shade will add interest and even a bit of whimsy to those areas you have all but given up on.

Containers

You will find many beautiful containers for sale through catalogs and garden centers. Also, look around your home and see what you have. Any container that will hold soil will do. Make sure you can drill the necessary drainage holes.

Be creative. Consider using:

• old boots
• clay drainage pipe
• watering can
• bucket
• wheel barrow

Put large containers where you want them while still empty. They are heavy when filled with soil.

Drainage

Good drainage is essential to prevent roots being damaged from too much water. Cover the drainage holes with pieces of broken clay pots, and/or add a layer of pebbles or polystyrene in the bottom of the container.

It's a good idea to raise your container off the ground to make it harder for bugs to enter through the holes.

You can stand you container on feet or bricks. This helps your container to drain more effectively as well.

Soil

Soil for container gardening is different from soil used in the ground. Container soil needs to drain well and still hold enough moisture and nutrients to grow healthy roots.

There are a lot of good mixes on the market. You can make your own using equal parts of:

• soil
• peat moss
• compost

• sulphur
• leaf mold (cut up leaves) or
• extra peat moss

Watering

Whatever plants you use for container gardening in shade, remember that they need regular watering and feeding to keep them well established and looking good.

To cut down on how frequently you need to water, when filling your container with soil, add:

• water retaining crystals
• controlled release fertilizer
• peatmoss

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