Until you’ve had your hollyhocks in the sink you have never lived!

Container gardening has developed apace in recent years, particularly because so many now live in confined spaces where lawns and borders are impractical or impossible, but our desire to garden is undiminished.

Hollyhocks in an old sink is not a daft idea, and looks quite appealing, and I have often grown potatoes in an old plastic dustbin and had wonderful yields.

One of the beauties of container gardening is the ease of maintenance of flowers and crops and it is so much easier to control intrusive weeds and wildlife. The variety of containers is endless, and don’t always be attracted by the expensive ones in garden centres, makeshift models work just as well.

So what can you grow in containers?
Most things is the answer. Flowers, vegetables, shrubs and smaller trees all lend themselves to a container. The very first time I came across container gardening was as a child when I was fascinated by the miniature gardens made in boxes at a local flower show. We don’t see them now but it was an art to miniaturise everything, the grass, the greenhouse, the flowers into a Lilliputian land of wonder.

If you have a traditional garden there is still a place for using containers.
It localises feeding requirements, avoids many soil pests and allows you to experiment with layout without the need to dig everything up and disturb it. It is also handy for keeping inquisitive pets off prized plants.

Match the size of the container to the size of planting arrangement or root requirement in the case of vegetables. Tall flowers in tall pots perhaps with smaller flowers around the bottom, long rooted vegetables, such as carrots, in deep pots. And don’t be afraid to mix flowers and vegetables to make containers interesting. You can have hanging tomato plants now and combined with nasturtiums, whose flowers pods are edible, you can have your very own hanging salad basket!

Before you take a load of items to the tip think which might make a garden container.
Old laundry baskets are great, especially those with the vented sides. Fill one with sphagnum moss peat, the best medium for baskets, and pack it with bright bedding plants, upright and trailing, and use beetroot for green leaves. By the time the flowers have died back the beetroot will have swelled. Throw away the flowers and eat the rest!

Columnar containers are great for making your garden look much bigger than it is.
Trail lobelia down them to decorate the support and pack the top with petunia, candytuft, night scented stock and nasturtiums. It will look and smell good.

Don’t throw old mirrors away.
If you have a small garden pick a spot where the mirror’s reflection “doubles” the size of the view. It’s a handy trick of the eye and works particularly well next to water features.

Herbs and strawberries love containers.
Use every conceivable type of herb. Thyme, rosemary, chives, coriander and mint are the most popular. By the way, did you know that rubbing a mint leaf behind your ears, in fact on any exposed flesh, will prevent you being bitten on insect infested evenings?

You will get a much better showing from many plants if they are grown in containers. Geraniums love them, but be different, go for ivy leafed geraniums (pelargonium), they give a longer and bolder flower show.

Complement colours and sizes and your containers will give you a garden to be proud of, and one which needs far less digging and maintenance than a conventionally planted one. Just the thing for Third Age!

Graham Smith for Third Age.