Advice for a potted garden
Every garden or patio has dead space that provides a challenge – this is exactly where a pot of colourful flowers comes to the rescue. The amount of sun and shade the area gets will determine what you plant in the pot. The front part of my garden gets less sun; this is where I’ve planted camellias, azaleas, fuchsias and bedding begonias, among others. The rest of the garden gets full sun, which is ideal for roses, salvias, pelargoniums, petunias and lobelias.
I add a layer of stones to the bottom of my pots to help with drainage; the pot is then filled with a 50/50 mixture of Grow Green Organics mushroom compost and potting soil that I pre-mix with bone meal and Garden Care Organic 3:1:5 to promote root growth and flower formation. A large pot gets two large handfuls of 3:1:5 and a handful of bone meal.
When a potted plant dries out, the plant goes into shock. This affects its growth ability and the plant may even die. We water our pots and hanging baskets every second day, except when we have had good rain; then we skip two or three days. Remember, light rain usually only wets the surface of the soil. Irrigate pots well enough for the water to seep down to the roots. Large plants like the lemon trees especially need a lot of water. This is done early in the morning, or late at night so that the plants don’t dry out during the day. The large pots in the garden are watered with a garden hose and the smaller pots and hanging baskets with a watering can so that we don’t waste water.
Poor drainage is often the reason why potted plants perish.
Before planting, I drill two to three extra drainage holes (about
1cm in diameter) in the bottom of the pot. All the pots are placed on cement or terracotta pot feet so that they are not directly on the ground; this helps them to drain better.
All the pots and hanging baskets receive plant food once a month. I alternate with Dr Fisher’s Multifeed Flowergro, Garden Care Nutrifeed and Agri-Boost Natural Organic Liquid Fertiliser. The orchids are also fed once a month: Garden Care Flowering Orchids when they are in bloom and Garden Care Growing Orchids the rest of the year. The roses get Ludwig’s Vigorosa every four weeks during the flowering season; this is sprinkled around the rose bush but not directly against the stem as it may burn it. Water plants well after feeding so that the food can dissolve immediately. Organic plant food doesn’t burn plants as easily; this is one of the reasons why I prefer organic.
To combat aphids or fungal diseases, the roses are sprayed with Efekto Rosecare 3.
I line my hanging baskets with hessian as some of the birds steal the coconut coir bit by bit to build their nests. Hessian is a natural product, holds moisture well and is available from the co-op. The same soil mixture I use for the pots is suitable for the hanging baskets. The baskets get a handful of 3:1:5, half a handful of bone meal and two to three handfuls of perlite to improve drainage.