Growing container gardens in Colorado

It’s officially spring! Which means that many people around Colorado are beginning to plan out their gardens. If you’ve got the gardening bug but no room for a plot, consider a container garden – a smaller-scale garden grown in a portable pot, barrel, basket, box, or even in cement blocks. Container gardens are great for beginner gardeners, apartment renters, or those with limited mobility. They’re also a great way to showcase specific plants or for advanced gardeners to show off their skills.

Selecting plants

Container gardens are easy to change each year, which makes them a great option for annual blooming plants. However, many plants thrive in containers as long as they receive appropriate sun exposure, water, and fertilization. Container gardeners can choose from an array of annuals, perennials, bulb plants, grasses, woody plants, and herbs. It all depends on the environment and the gardener’s creative vision! There are so many options that the Colorado State University Extension published a fact sheet on container gardens with plant suggestions to help get started.

One idea is to grow a salad bowl garden. Leafy greens can be planted early in the season, are easy to care for, and grow quickly, allowing for multiple harvests during Colorado’s short growing season. You can supplement salad greens with other vegetables that grow well in containers, like beets, tomatoes, and dwarf varietals of cucumbers, eggplants, and carrots. You might even start a salad dressing garden with herbs like thyme, oregano, and rosemary. A whole meal out of a few pots!

Container garden maintenance

Container gardens require slightly different maintenance than in-ground gardens. They need to be watered more frequently because water evaporates quickly out of the exposed sides of the containers, especially in Colorado’s dry climate. Self-watering pot systems are a convenient way to make sure container gardens are getting enough water.

Because of the frequent watering, selecting a container with good drainage is key to a healthy container garden. Plants like water, but they don’t like to be water-logged! Every container should include multiple drainage holes, which can be added with a drill.

Plants that are tightly planted in a container will quickly absorb the fertilizer nutrients that are found in potting soil mixes. It’s important to supplement soil throughout the growing season with water-soluble fertilizers.

With these tips from the CSU Extension, anyone can grow their own container garden! For more gardening information, check out the Extension’s gardening fact sheet series in our digital collection.