From the Archives, 2004: Our first display at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. A good tip: pick a pot with a lip on it so you have something to grip if you have to move it or pick it up (not like the pots above!)
How to Plant a Miniature Garden in a Big Pot, Part 1
From the Archives, 2004: This pot is 17″ high and 14″ wide and big enough to put a path through the middle of it.
Planting a miniature garden in big containers creates room for more fun. You can break up the design into a couple of smaller gardens with paths leading to and fro, make a huge yard with several focal points happening around the edge of the pot, or have enough room for a small house or building, a particular favorite of fairy gardeners. We talk about the different kinds of pots that can be used miniature gardening in our new book Gardening in Miniature: Create Your Own Tiny Living World, but here are a few more tips on how to save some time and money – and your back – when working with very large pots or containers.
What’s Deep?
What do we consider a deep pot for miniature gardening? Any pot that is deeper than 14″, in my opinion.
Another popular question when planning a miniature garden in a huge pot is, “Should I put something in the bottom before I start planting?” Yes, and there are several reasons why you can go ahead fill that big container up with some sort of filler, leaving 8″ to 10″ from the top of the pot, before you add regular potting soil that will make you, and the plants, happier in the long run.
The miniature garden plants that we recommend to use are usually small to start with, so they don’t need a lot of soil to get growing. I find some types of plants tend to falter when planted in a huge container full of soil, as most plants prefer a smaller root environment when they are young. We call it “swimming in soil,” when the water wicks away from the plant’s roots to the bottom of the pot where gravity pulls it, and the moisture doesn’t stay around the roots where it is needed. Then the roots dry out, the plant starts to stress and falter. By using filler, it shortens the depth of the soil, prevents the water from wicking, the soil stays damp longer and the roots stay happy.
From the Archives, 2004: Planting miniature gardens in large pots leave more room for creativity.
Fill ‘Er Up
Another reason to use filler on the bottom of the pot is huge pots can get really heavy. The spot you choose may be perfect for that garden this summer and into next summer but you may want to eventually move it. The two most popular ways to fill up your pots are:
Styrofoam peanuts or popcorn: Most packing peanuts are biodegradable now so put them in a plastic shopping bag, tie the bag shut and place the bag upside-down in the pot so water doesn’t get inside and stagnate. If you are using a really big pot, use several of bags-full and fill the pot up to about 10” to 12” from the top.
Upside-down poly pots make a great filler. Smush them to fit them in.
Upside-down black plastic nursery pots: Start with big 1 or 2 gallon pots in the center of the bottom of the pot and work in the upside-down 4” pots, squishing them so they fill in as much space as possible. You can cut a couple of pieces of cardboard and layer it on top of the upside-down pots to create the “bottom” of the pot, or you can just start filling up the pot with soil.
We’ve heard of people using upside soda-cans and they would work only if they are rinsed out really, really well. Otherwise the sugar in the soda would draw unwanted pests to your container.
Note that this is for miniature gardening with small plants. Bigger plants mean more roots. If you are creating mixed containers of regular perennials and nursery plants you may want to use soil all through your container to leave plenty or room for root growth.
Stay tuned for Part 2! This was getting too long and I have more tips and techniques to share.
Like this? Then you’ll love our Mini Garden Gazette Newsletter published almost monthly. Join us, and thousands of other miniature gardeners, here.
