Choosing an appropriate container for your gardening purposes is a fun and creative endeavor.  A suitable container can be anything that holds soil, provides drainage, and has enough room to accommodate the plants you wish to grow in it.   Obvious choices include Terra Cotta, plastic pots, concrete planters, whiskey barrels, bushel baskets, and wire frames to hold sphagnum moss, but literally anything that holds soil and has drainage will do, so use your imagination!  Old rusted watering cans make charming planters, as do wine crates, old wheelbarrows, garden carts, 5 gallon paint buckets, and even old shoes or boots.  Use what you have available and make your container garden an extension of your own unique personality!

Window boxes or over-the-rail deck planters are wonderful for people who live in apartments or townhomes, or are otherwise unable to grow a conventional garden for whatever reason.  There are styles and price ranges for every taste and budget, so what are you waiting for?  Windowboxes in the front of the house add charm and value, while deck plantings done right can turn a bland deck into a fabulous retreat.

The down side to container plantings is that the plants require somewhat more maintenance than their counterparts in the garden.  They depend on you for their nutrients and water, and as such, they do require some semblance of commitment.  However, the rewards far outweigh the drawbacks, and for the lazy among us, there are self-watering containers that will reduce the workload to almost nothing.

Having said that, please see the checklist below for choosing that perfect container for your environment.

• Do choose a container large enough to hold enough soil for the mature versions of the plant(s) you are going to use.

• Make sure the container has holes for drainage (drill holes, if necessary).

• Avoid black or dark-colored containers that will be in full sun - they get too hot.

• Decide where you are going to place the container beforehand.  A 5 gallon paint bucket will do in many situations, but would be out of place at the front door.

• Make an effort to coordinate the color of the container with the plants you intend to use.  A bright orange container would not look great with pink impatiens growing in it.

• Consider weight and location when deciding on the container.  A fully planted whiskey barrel is not going to move easily once it has been filled with soil and planted.