Trends for 2022

Whether you want to overhaul your patio or just spruce things

up here are a few things to remember.

1.  Balcony Gardens - Small is beautiful as well as functional.

Bring in a collection of pots and plants herbs, bulbs, flowers,

or anything you are interested in.  You can use small colorful

pots for a stunning look, or stay with natural terracotta and

let the plant materials shine.

2.  Recycling products into garden planters.  You don’t always

need to go out and purchase planters for your patio or porch,

you can turn old boots, kitchen pots or colanders, tin cans,

a child's toy truck into garden planters that are both

decorative and functional.  This is really fun & creative.

3.  Garden Art.  Don’t just add chairs, and a few pots to your

patio.  Dress it up with decorative garden statues, garden

spheres, colorful wall animals, or pot feet.  All come in fun

and playful ideas.  WE love colorful carpets, candles, pillows

, and draped fabric.

4.  Supersized Planters - If you have limited space like a

balcony, use a large lightweight Poly Resin planter for a

stunning effect.  It’s huge, colorful, and adds very little weight.

If you have a ground-level patio, go with a few extra large

planters.  The pots themselves look like garden art, you can

display a mini palm or evergreen, surrounded by colorful

flowers or grasses.

How to Prune Most Common Evergreens

We love potted Evergreens!

The planters add beauty to the simplicity of the plant and the plant stays green all year long which compliments the planter!  The best of both worlds!  The only thing we can’t stand is seeing a beautiful pot with an overgrown, scraggly, lopsided evergreen.  So, if you properly prune them on a regular basis they will look their best for years to come.

Here are some tips like what parts to trim, how much to take off, and when is the best time to trim.

Whether the plant is pine, spruce, rhododendron, or camellia, you need to know where the new growth will originate.  Then trim away any dead branches, cut back to live wood or the base of the plant.  Cut off broken or damaged branches and remove any crossing or rubbing branches.

Arborvitae – Fast growing, tolerates heavy pruning.   Prune in early spring, and reduce a branch by no more than one-quarter its length.  New growth will emerge from buds along the pruned branch.

Boxwood – Thinning is key to maintaining.  Dense growth in the interior of the shrub can cause disease.  Thin it out by cutting overgrown stems no more than one-third each year.  Lightly prune to the desired shape.

Camellia – Slow-growing rarely needs pruning.  If it gets lanky, encourage new growth by trimming each branch back by no more than one-quarter of its length.  Cut just above a node.  The best time to prune is after it flowers.

Pines – produce new growth at the branch tips in spring.  To keep it compact prune each new growth back by one-third to one-half its length.  Don’t prune into woody stems because new growth won’t develop there.

Spruce – Prune in Spring.  Reduce the length of branches by cutting each one back to a lateral branch or bud.  Bottom branches will die with age and can be removed.

Seaside Garden Idea

Even if you live miles away from the sea you can create your own garden in a sunny corner with seashells and succulents.

Materials
Seashells
4 Terracotta Flowerpots of various sizes
Compost or potting mix
Gravel
Variety of plant materials

Glue the seashells onto the terracotta pots and leave them hardened overnight.  The next morning, pour some pea gravel in the bottom of the flowerpots.  This creates a better drainage situation for the plants. Try to cover the drain hole without blocking it totally.   You want the water overflow to easily drain out without taking a lot of potting mix.

Place the planting materials selected in the pots adding more potting mix around them and pressing down to eliminate air pockets.  Try grouping the plants in the pots to create an interesting look.  Once done place on a windowsill, out on a patio table or front porch stoop.

Planted Containers

After the last couple of years, we are all starting to spend more time at home.  We are turning our patios and back yards into a safe, comfortable oasis, where we can entertain and share meals.

One of the easiest ways to turn a drab area into something special and functional is with planted containers.  Growing plants in garden containers can be rewarding as well as decorative and functional.
It is worth taking a bit of planning and designing in advance to assure your planted containers will be a success.  If you neglect this, your containers will show suffering and eventually distress.

So, what to do?  Start by deciding where you want containers, how big the pottery should be, and what type of garden pots you want to purchase.  There are so many different things to consider.  Do you need to move the potted plants because of shade/sun issues?  If so maybe you should consider Poly Resin.  These are durable and LIGHTWEIGHT.  32 shades of colors to choose from mean they will match any color décor you already have.

Maybe you want something indestructible and hefty in the garden or patio planters.  How about our American Made Cement Planter.  Custom made to order, with a choice of colors, we ship these across the US.  Since these pots are poured into molds you can get them in huge sizes that can hold trees and more.

I

f you aren’t aware of Sandstone garden pottery, you need to check them out.  They are silky smooth looking, super durable, and have a choice of colors also.  We even offer an exclusive line of Frank Lloyd Wright Sandstone Pottery that is stunning.  When you are looking for long-lasting & stunningly unique then consider this line. 

Lastly, for over 20 years we have imported Italian Terracotta clay, Bright glazed pottery, and Mexican Talavera.  All are best sellers.  They won’t hold up to freezing temps but a green thumb gardener would not plant in anything but terracotta.  This material breathes and is super healthy in a natural sense for all your planting materials.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at 800-420-1808

Entrance & Step Garden Planter Ideas!

The entrance to your home tells the world a lot more about you than you think.

Virtually all entrances will benefit from potted garden planters.  It’s a decorating delight and an easy way to soften harsh lines.  You can add color, fragrance, and beauty to your front entrance by placing colorful planters around overflowing with grasses, succulents, flowers, shrubs, or palms.  So many choices.

The choice of a container will depend on the size of the area around the entrance and the design you are looking for.  Do you want the pottery to be brightly colored and filled with small flowers so the attention is on the planters? How about a large terracotta pot overflowing with green ivy and a palm shooting out the top opening of the pottery.  You will notice the plants and not the container on that type of style & design.

Are you going for a contemporary look with planters that have smooth lines, mono colors, and clean lines, or a more formal entrance design with a garden urn or towering vase?

Maybe you don’t have a lot of space but you do have steps leading up to your front porch.  You can place two larger garden containers framing each side of the front door.  If you have only the steps to work with, try placing smaller pots on the different levels of steps, up next to the railing so that they won’t be obstructive and cause issues.

When it comes to the planting materials for any of the entrance pots suggested above, just look at how much sun or shade they will get.  Are they under a porch awning or exposed to direct sunlight all day.  Once you select the perfect planters, filling them will not be an issue but a super fun adventure.

Lastly, whatever style, size, or planting materials you choose, please, please, please keep them cleaned up, watered, fertilized, and well maintained.  It won’t matter how much you spend on a garden planter if they are ignored and not taken care of.