Understanding Bad Shopping Habits

Posted on: 24 March 2016

If you would like to start a garden, you may have decided to use outdoor planters instead of planting your flowers or vegetables directly into the soil of your property. Outdoor containers can make great gardens. The containers are often decorative, so they offer visual appeal. In addition, since they separate your plants from the ground soil of your property, you have more control over the soil in which your plants are growing and can easily make needed adjustments to the moisture levels or fertilizer. Here are two things that you should consider when selecting planters for your garden:

Consider an adequate size for your containers.

You probably already have in mind the type of plants that you will be placing in your planters. This is important because if you choose a planter that is too small, it may not contain a rapidly growing plant well. The roots of certain plants expand quickly and may overwhelm a small planter.

In addition, since a large planter can hold more soil, it retains moisture longer and does not fluctuate with external temperature changes as easily. As a result, the plants in your garden are better protected when you use large planters. You can find large outdoor planters online or at a local home and garden store. 

Is the bottom of the planter closed?

As you are selecting your planters, be sure to choose pots that have holes in the bottom. These holes allow proper drainage for the soil. Without drainage holes in place, the soil can retain too much water near the bottom of the planter. This can cause roots to rot and plants to die.

In order for the holes to be sufficient, they don't have to be huge. They just have to be adequate to allow water to drain out. After purchasing your planters, you can test their drainage ability by placing a small amount of soil in the container and pouring water into the planter. Observe how well the water drains out.

If the manufacturer-installed holes in the planter are insufficient, you can attempt to add a few holes to the base of the planter yourself. However, if the planter is made of pottery-type material, it could crack or break. It is best to purchase planters with sufficient drainage. Nevertheless, if you love your planter but the material cannot be drilled, consider using the decorative planter as a cover for an ordinary drainage pot. You can plant your plants in the ordinary pot and simply place the pot inside of your decorative planter.

If you need to purchase large outdoor planters, visit the sites of some suppliers online.