Container Gardening

Some people might feel that their gardening potential is limited by a lack of yard space, but that's just not true! You can grow fruit trees, grape vines, berries, herbs and fresh vegetables right on your patio, balcony or porch using a container garden. In these videos you'll learn how to choose and prepare the right containers for your space and plant needs, tips for getting the right soil and drainage, planting advice, and maintenance tips for growing healthy organic plants in containers.

For more great container gardening, check out My Fruit Tree page!

Making Drainage Holes in a Metal Container

I love the weather-proof shine of galvanized metal containers! These simple vessels add an urban feel to my garden making it instantly chic and sophisticated. I have also found that these containers work perfectly for planting delicate edibles like Mint and Arugula. I leave them out on my patio and both grow back in the spring with no work from me!


Surprisingly, metal containers like the ones you see here, are ultimately reliable in the New England winter and are actually better and much less expensive than terracotta or glazed containers, which need to be moved into the shed or garage when the weather gets too cold. If you don’t, they’ll crack.

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Container Gardening Tips

In this video, I am joined by Mark Highland, soil scientist and owner of Organic Mechanics a soil company. Take a look!

Soil, water, and light are all you’ll ever need to successfully begin a lush, fruitful container garden.  Oh, yeah, you will also need a container and something beautiful and/or delicious to plant

One of the first misconceptions about container gardening is that you should only plant one item per container. I thought that too, but I was wrong! Container Gardening actually offers you the same flexibility that in-ground planting offers you. You just have to be mindful of similar water needs in order to plant a grouping together and you have to be mindful of soil lines, so you don’t smother your plants with too much soil.

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How to Grow an Olive Tree in a Container

Perhaps it’s my Spanish heritage, or my love of peace, but for some reason I just love olives!  The fact that they are a symbol of peace makes it a no-brainer for me to try to grow my own olive trees.

Of course, living in New England, was going to be a problem for my peaceful gesture but I still was compelled to plant olive trees no matter where I lived. I did the research and found that it was possible with a little extra effort.

Olive trees are grown best in zones 7-9. Living in Zone 6, which is where Boston falls, misses the mark, completely. However, what I did find was that it is possible to grow them in containers, which is right up my alley.

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Container Gardening: How to Plant Blackberries

I am adding blackberries to my container garden, and I am very excited. I am going to be planting Apache Blackberries. What's neat about these particular blackberries is that they are thornless. Unfortunately my timing is off. Had I started in April, I would have been seeing some blackberries as early as June. But since it is the middle of summer I will have to wait for my blackberries until next year.

It's worth the wait.

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