Spring Time Creative Container Gardening

It's Spring!

Time to plant all of your favorite garden vegetables and annual flowers.

 Even though we are getting past the danger of frost that can create a devastating blow to much of our garden, when these late frosts hit. Consider planting more tender plants in containers. When planting in containers you can create a small garden that can be easily transported to a safe location when there is a frost warning for your area. Container gardening can be fun for all gardeners and can help get those of us that have less space to cultivate our interest in gardening. Many people when thinking of container gardening think of expensive terracotta or ceramic pots, but I think it can be more fun to think of interesting and creative containers to plant vegetables and flowers in. I got these great galvanized buckets from Bucket Outlet that have turned in to great container garden pieces that look great along with other plants around my home. The only thing I had to do to these buckets was to drill a few holes in the bottom to give them proper drainage.

Here are a few pictures of some of my buckets that I used for containers.

Hens and Chicks (Laid on it's side, and drilled holes in sides)

Tomato Plants (Sitting outside my back door, I can't wait to have fresh tomatoes!)

Annual Container (I have two of these sitting on my front steps)

The buckets I used for these containers are these 6 quart galvanized buckets.

Just remember to drill holes to insure proper drainage with these buckets. 

Also be Creative, if you have any pictures you want to share of your bucket containers,

email me at kenneth@redhillgeneralstore.com.

Harvest the Rain

Rainy days remind me of the value of water. I took this photo today as I was walking, thinking about how I wish I could collect these drops of rain and save them for the dryer days of summer to water my plants. When the rain returns to earth, it brings with it the things of the air. The air is clean and sweet in the mountains, so it is not surprising that it makes the fruits of our labor sweeter, too.

Harvesting rainwater is a simple best management practice for gardeners that has the dual purpose of saving money and water resources. At Red Hill, they sit their buckets outside to capture the rain, then use it to water their flowers. Better yet, you can connect a rain barrel to your existing gutter system to store the free, fresh water to keep your gardens, flowers, and lawns fecund all summer long. Here is a lovely picture of Red Hill's dusty miller and geranium flowers glistening with rain today in Hillsville.

Want to learn more? Check out this fact sheet from the Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension on the sustainable benefits of harvesting rainwater to treat stormwater runoff.