One of the top things Pleasant View Gardens is known for is its container designs, specifically its tropical summer pots. If you’ve been curious about what a tropical container can add to your landscape or want a few tips to get started, the wait is over!
Is A Tropical Design Right For You?
While any home can benefit from the vibrant pop of color that a tropical pot offers, there are a few situations that particularly call for it.
- Home Entrances: Containers help to frame the front of your house and create a welcoming display for any guests you’re having over. They also put a smile on the homeowners face each and every day. .
- Balcony Displays: When it comes to apartment living, a balcony is often the only place you have to flex your green thumb. Embrace the summer season with some showy plants that are sure to brighten your space for the season.
- Rental Properties: Can’t plant in your own space? You can still create an outdoor oasis with your own tropical designs.
Easy fall/spring cleanup: Sometimes you have the best of intentions to plant a gorgeous landscape, but the reality of making that happen is a little trickier. A low maintenance option to get some more color in the warmer months is to set up some beautiful containers. All you have to do at the end of the season is empty out the containers and you are done.
Tropical Containers Stand Out
- Distinctive Foliage: Massive leaves, glossy texture, and outstanding color all lend themselves to a lush display (cordylines make an excellent option here!). While many often first think of flowers as the most exciting element of a display, tropical plants have dazzling leaves with interest that will endure for the entire season.
- Enduring Blooms: Most tropical plants will feature plants that will flower throughout the entire season with proper deadheading. Begonias are a frequent standout in this department.
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Tips For Success
- Pick plants with similar care characteristics. Think about how much sun, water, and wind that your plants will receive. The more alike these characteristics are, the better! Some plants are more drought-tolerant than others (i.e. succulents) while others will want daily watering. Be mindful of this when you make plant selections.
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- Pick a good container. A larger container will hold water longer. Consider the color of the pot that you choose as well. Neutrals are easy to pair with most shades, but you can also work with a bolder color. It just requires a bit more forethought. Lastly, and perhaps most crucially, make sure that your containers have drainage holes! This allows any excess water to run through the pot and will protect your plants from root rot.
- Plan how you will water ahead of time. All plants need water in the summer months, but container plants need more than your average landscaping shrubs. One of the disadvantages of containers is that they will dry out more quickly. Any plants inside of them will die during a prolonged period of dryness and you should plan on doing supplemental watering outside of what they receive from rainfall. While a watering can is a classic option, you can also set up an irrigation line that runs on a timer so that you don’t have to think about watering much at all. There are also planters that you can buy that have a water reservoir built into the pot that will greatly reduce the amount of supplemental watering you have to do.
- Dirt matters! Pick a soil mixture that includes compost. This will continue to feed your plants throughout the season. Avoid putting anything with a clay-like texture into your pots.
Design Tips
- Try to stick to a color palette of about 4 different hues. This may at first sound limiting but it will make the decision-making process a lot easier. Of course you can always choose to add more colors to a design, but you have to become much more intentional with balancing leaf textures and plant placement.
- Make sure that you have a “thriller” plant that takes center stage with your design. This will serve as a focal point for the entire container (common picks include birds of paradise or fiddle leaf figs). This is also going to be the largest plant that you select so you will want to ensure that your selected container is large enough to support it without tipping over. Think of how you will typically look at the pot. If it’s from all angles, you will likely want to position the thriller element of your design in the center of the pot. However, if you’re placing it against a wall, it will be more effective if you place this focal point closest to the wall against one side of your pot.
Fillers and spillers. Lastly, you will want to select some plants to go around the main focal point of your pot. Make sure that these elements won’t grow as tall as your intended focal point and still meet the sun/water requirements of the design. Ferns or begonias are common for shadier locations while lantanas and verbena will thrive in full sun. To keep your design interesting throughout the season, choose a “spiller” element that will grow over the edge of your container. As the season progresses, this effect will appear more dramatic and constantly give you something new to look at. Tradescantia and sweet potato vines are a couple of tried and true favorites.
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Following these tips and tricks will make your container designs shine throughout the summer season. Call us at (612) 978-3487 for any assistance or if you have any questions.