Container Gardening For Dummies

by Bill Marken, Suzanne DeJohn, The National Gardening Association

The easy way to get a green thumb in container gardening!

Want to spruce up your indoor or outdoor space with annuals, perennials, vegetables, and succulents? This updated edition of Container Gardening For Dummies gives you clear, concise step-by-step instructions for cultivating delightful gardens in everything from a redwood window box to a hanging basket to an old watering can. It also includes color photos to inspire your designs.

Getting the dirt on container gardening � discover the advantages of growing plants in containers and learn how to maximize your garden conditions to help plants thrive

Picking a pot to plant in � take a look around your living space and determine the best location and type of container for your garden

Enjoying a summer fling � get the lowdown on the best single-season flowers, vegetables, and bulbs for container growing

Putting down roots � find out which perennials, trees, shrubs, fruits, and berries give year-round impact

Designing and decorating � take advantage of ideas and inspiration for creating eye-catching container gardening displays

Open the book and find:

Things you need to know before planting

A quick primer on climate

What to look for in a soil mix

How to work with perennials and annuals

Information you need to help you choose plants

Why and when containers need water and fertilizer

Guidance on replanting, repotting, and pruning

Tips for preventing insect pests and diseases

Ways to liven up your space with trees, shrubs, and vines

Learn to:

Choose, plant, and care for flowers, fruits, trees, and shrubs

Grow vegetables and herbs just steps away from your kitchen

Cultivate charming gardens in any climate

Prevent insects and diseases from invading containers the eco-friendly way

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Reference, How To, Plants

398 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 27, 1998

Reviews

[Kai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for the newest of beginners

Very basic information that is sometimes too specific and too step-by-step to be useful for other applications. The promised section on vegetables in containers was much smaller than hoped. Good information overall, but not as useful to veggie gardening or those with more experience.

[BookBec · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very accessible information about a broad range of container gardening issues.

[Laura Jurjane Moosgaard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did learn a thing or two, but it's too small and compact for my level of dummy. I'll be looking for something heftier.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you, like me, have absolutely no idea what you're doing when it comes to plants, and forget everything you've learned from year to year, this book is for you.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read for a beginner or even someone with moderate knowledge on container gardening.

[David Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I read to research this post was Container Gardening For Dummies which is a very good book which I bought from kindle. I thought with summer starting I should do some blogs on gardening. If someone has mobility problems, container gardening which is raised off the floor is ideal for them. Equally if you only have an outside porch or must grow things in window sills, this book is ideal. You might even have a garden but the soil is poor quality for one reason or another. You can grow stuff in containers in the garden and can use a relatively small amount of soil because you only have to fill containers. One thing they recommend is use seed starting compost to start your plants off. Later in the year add wood mulch and manure to the soil you have left over and you have a fine compost. One very popular plant in container gardening is strawberries especially alpine strawberries which only have short roots. The plants are attractive and lets face it practically everyone likes strawberries. One drawback is strawberries take 2-3 years of growth before they produce any fruit. Another popular plant is lavender which is quite hardy and is evergreen in a warm climate but will die back before it regrows in a colder climate.The book I read to research this post was Container Gardening For Dummies which is a very good book which I bought from kindle. I thought with summer starting I should do some blogs on gardening. If someone has mobility problems, container gardening which is raised off the floor is ideal for them. Equally if you only have an outside porch or must grow things in window sills, this book is ideal. You might even have a garden but the soil is poor quality for one reason or another. You can grow stuff in containers in the garden and can use a relatively small amount of soil because you only have to fill containers. One thing they recommend is use seed starting compost to start your plants off. Later in the year add wood mulch and manure to the soil you have left over and you have a fine compost. One very popular plant in container gardening is strawberries especially alpine strawberries which only have short roots. The plants are attractive and lets face it practically everyone likes strawberries. One drawback is strawberries take 2-3 years of growth before they produce any fruit. Another popular plant is lavender which is quite hardy and is evergreen in a warm climate but will die back before it regrows in a colder climate.

[Ben Kellermann]

The easy way to get a green thumb in container gardening!

Want to spruce up your indoor or outdoor space with annuals, perennials, vegetables, and succulents? This updated edition of Container Gardening For Dummies gives you clear, concise step-by-step instructions for cultivating delightful gardens in everything from a redwood window box to a hanging basket to an old watering can. It also includes color photos to inspire your designs.

Getting the dirt on container gardening — discover the advantages of growing plants in containers and learn how to maximize your garden conditions to help plants thrive
Picking a pot to plant in — take a look around your living space and determine the best location and type of container for your garden
Enjoying a summer fling — get the lowdown on the best single-season flowers, vegetables, and bulbs for container growing
Putting down roots — find out which perennials, trees, shrubs, fruits, and berries give year-round impact
Designing and decorating — take advantage of ideas and inspiration for creating eye-catching container gardening displays

Open the book and find:

Things you need to know before planting
A quick primer on climate
What to look for in a soil mix
How to work with perennials and annuals
Information you need to help you choose plants
Why and when containers need water and fertilizer
Guidance on replanting, repotting, and pruning
Tips for preventing insect pests and diseases
Ways to liven up your space with trees, shrubs, and vines

Learn to:

Choose, plant, and care for flowers, fruits, trees, and shrubs
Grow vegetables and herbs just steps away from your kitchen
Cultivate charming gardens in any climate
Prevent insects and diseases from invading containers the eco-friendly way

Read More

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not really done with this since it's more of a go-to reference, but I have found it useful. It really does give you the basics from the ground up, which is what you need if you're the type of person who kills jade plants and cacti (that would be me).

I have been thinking about putting out some containers on my patio. In the event that I actually plant anything, I will definitely return to it again for help.

The book has great lists for what to grow in shady spaces, sunny spaces, easy-to-grow plants, small trees that like containers, etc. It talks about soil mixtures, repotting, pest control, and so forth in a very accessible way.

I wanted a book that assumes you know NOTHING, and this book generally does a good job of that. I would have liked more color pictures, and also I found the discussion of hardiness zones confusing and got the wrong idea entirely until I worked it out in my head. But otherwise, it was a really helpful reference book.

[Heather Pagano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gardening explained. Not only did this book teach how to care for plants, it explained why a factor is beneficial or harmful to the plant's health. I learn best not by memorizing a bunch of dos and don'ts, but by understanding the logic behind how to make choices. This book did an excellent job of explaining that logic, covering both basic principles and practical specifics. The container aspect eliminated a lot of the ground soil analysis and garden bed preparation, which allowed me as a beginner to focus on learning everything else. I feel more confident buying and growing houseplants, vegetable gardens and herbs, and planting pretty flowers outside. I am so excited to start my three chosen planting projects from the suggestions and the end of the text. My only complaint is that the color photos promised throughout the text of the book were missing in the Kindle version.

[Gofita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has provide me with countless tips on getting my containers filled with flowers! Or will, anyway, as soon as I get to the flower shop. The chapters are short and informative and they provide various chapters on container selection, soil selection, chapters on how water and fertilize and what flowers work best in which climate.

I would recommend this one to anyone starting out. Very informative.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty standard for what I expected. I needed to know the benefits and costs of keeping my plants in containers instead of just planting them outside, because I'm sick of bringing them inside everytime the weather dips below freezing, only to take them right back outside because my cats love to chomp on them. I liked it enough to check out regular Gardening for Dummies, too.

[زاهي رستم · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even its a great book, and u can learn more from it, but the big problem here is: u cant use these information outside USA and Canada.. maybe not all information, but most of them.And in ME there isnt any study about zones like USA. If we have zone maps, maybe the book can help.

Read it if u r not from here or there ;)..

[Leah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one will get donated to the local library as soon as the full version arrives. I accidentally ordered the Portable Version by mistake. Highly recommend you skip this and just dig right into Container Gardening for Dummies.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best thing about the "Dummies" books I have read is that they get experts on the topic to teach and explain not only what to do, but why. I recommend going to this Container Gardening book if you have any interest in doing it. Read the book before you make mistakes on your own.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4 of 5

This was my second time reading the 2nd Edition. It's packed with lots of useful tips, techniques, and even mistakes to avoid. A go-to resource for any container gardener, but especially newbies.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! An in-depth look at container gardening that proved quite helpful for this newbie. Added to my wishlist almost immediately.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introductory reference. Took the for Dummies thing a little far though... an entire chapter is devoted to removing plants from a plastic container.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for basic info for a total novice (didn't know what I didn't know!), limited pictures so challenging to understand when they gave verbal descriptors of a variety if plants in several chapters.