Container gardens can add a special touch to your home fall landscape
If you’re searching for a special way to decorate your front porch or patio this fall, consider container gardens that can be planted in everything from pots to wheelbarrows.
And don’t forget to add special autumn touches that will make your gardens a beautiful part of the fall landscape.
“Pumpkins make great containers,” noted Valerie Sesler, Penn State Extension, Fayette County Master Gardener coordinator.
In fact, the beautiful golden orbs can be used both inside and outside your home. You might consider creating a pumpkin container garden as a centerpiece for a special event.
“The pumpkins will start to deteriorate over time but you can have them inside for a dinner or party and then taken them out,” said Sesler, who explained the pumpkin should last a couple of weeks, depending on temperatures. “If it’s hot, it will rot faster. If it’s cool, it will keep longer.”
When it comes to container gardens, let your imagination run wild.
“Anything that holds soil will make a good container. You can use a barrel, a galvanized tub. I saw someone put an old rain boot in a garden and it looked great. One of the best things I’ve seen are pallets,” said Sesler, referring to small structures that support goods being lifted by a fork lift. “You stand them up and on the side of a wall so they make little shelves. You use something to hold the soil — landscape fabric or plastic and staple it to the inside. Then you put plants in the soil. They hang over so you don’t see the pallet. You see the plants.”
Sesler said it’s better for plants if your containers have a hole in them for drainage: “With as much rain as we’ve been having, you don’t want your plants to drown.”
But she noted that if you’re using something old like a wheelbarrow or tub, it’s probably rusted in the bottom and will drain anyway.
One word of caution: don’t use a container for edible plants if you’re not sure what it contained.
After you’ve selected your containers, there are a variety of plants to use that are festive for fall.
Sesler said, “Coral bells are a great container plant because they have a mound-y shape. They grow in a mound and they are a perennial. If you took it out before the cold, you could plant it in the ground. They have such a variety of colors. Some are so dark purple, they almost look black. They would look great in a pumpkin container and probably fill a whole pumpkin.
“Ornamental cabbage and kale are bred for colors; purple, greens, some white with purple. They are edible but don’t taste good. You can put them in the ground or containers. They’ll take cold weather,” continued Sesler, who also recommended purple fountain grass, which is an ornamental grass with a deep color.
Sesler added, “I think herbs make a nice filler for containers because you can eat them: cilantro, thyme and oregano. They spill over so they’re nice fill for ornamental containers.”
And, of course, what would fall be without mums?
“Mums are our go-to plants for fall,” said Sesler. “There are so many different colors. They’re just beautiful.”
So when is the time to plant your fall flowers?
Sesler said, “It’s not going to be hot for much longer. If you plant them now and it becomes 90 degrees, keep them well watered. If you insert your finger an inch into the soil and it’s dry, you should add some water.”
When you plant a container garden in autumn, Sesler said to treat it as you would any container garden, noting, “If you use new potting soil, it should be enough nutrients to last through the fall.”
And you can leave fall plants out a long time.
“There are plants that will stay way past frost. I leave them out until they don’t look good anymore,” said Sesler. “Some people leave theirs out all winter. Some will not look great but insects will use them for shelter.”
Sesler said if you want, you can plan to take your plants out of the container later in the season and install them in the ground.
“If you have a nice container, you want to take care of it,” said Sesler, explaining the colder temperatures could cause damage to some containers.
Clean these containers, take them inside and store them for next year.
So if you’re looking for new decorating ideas, you might consider a container garden this fall.
“They’re very striking,” said Sesler, “like a focal point. When people come on your patio and see a container garden, that’s where your eye is drawn.”