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B8 Thursday, May 13, 2010 Portsmouth Daily Times
Field Trip
On May 6, Portsmouth Even Start took a field trip to Boneyfiddle Garden Shop where the
students planted flowers into flower pots made especially for their mothers for Mother’s
Day. Owner Laurel DeAtley donated her time and the flowers to the class. Students
attending were Nevaeh Crabtree, Jadynn York, Kiana Breech, Ethan York and not pictured
Janaya Cooper. For more information about ABLE/Even Start, call (740) 372-2812.
Container gardening is
a great alternative for
people who don’t have the
time or space for a full
garden or flowerbed.
Often, however, container
gardeners may feel they
have to choose between
beauty and practicality.
When you can only plant
so many containers, what
do you fill them with —
flowers or veggies?
“Both,” says container
gardening guru Pamela
Crawford, author of “Easy
Container Combos: Vegetables
and Flowers.” “It’s
possible to artfully combine
flowers and vegetables
in single, stunning,
beautiful containers,” she
says. “Practical and pretty
can go side-by-side on
your patio, deck, balcony,
or even interspersed in
your landscape.”
Author of nine gardening
books, Crawford was
a seasoned floral container
gardener when she
decided to tackle the task
of figuring out a way to
make vegetables look
pretty in containers. “Did
I ever get a surprise when
the first 100 or so vegetable
combos looked just
awful,” she says. By the
end of the growing sea-
son, she had planted
1,768 vegetables, all
transplants from Bonnie
Plants, and arrived at
some insight into how
you can make a container
garden both beautiful and
bountiful.
Here are her top container
garden tips:
1. Less is more — Keep
it simple
“My first container
attempts included mixing
too many different vegetables
in the same container.
The results looked
like a mish-mash,” she
says. Instead, think simple,
like one tall vegetable
in the center surrounded
by a few flowers. Upright
tomatoes with begonias
and coleus planted along
Plants With Color!
• GLOBE BLUE SPRUCE
• BLUE STAR JUNIPER
• JAPANESE RED MAPLE
• ROYAL RED MAPLE
• GOLDEN LACE JUNIPER
• GOOD MOP CYPRESS
• BLUE ATLAS CEDAR • BURGANDY BARBERRY
• PURPLE SAND CHERRY • VARIEGATE GRASSES
• MOONSHADOW EUONUMUS
• GOLDEN BARBERRY
Landscaping
the edge are quite attractive.
Or, plant one tall
herb, like rosemary, and
surround it with a shorter
vegetable, like lettuce.
2. Use pretty pots and
hardware
Even tomatoes look
good in attractive pots,
supported by nice
obelisks or attractive trellises.
Try planting one
crooked-neck squash in
the middle of a large,
ceramic pot. Or plant a
tomato in a Talavera
(bright-colored geometric
design) pot with an iron
obelisk to support it.
3. Pick your pot pleasure
Almost anything can
serve as a container for
your garden - flower pots,
PHOTOS AVAILABLE AT
www.wootenslandscaping.com
740-820-8210 or 740-289-3289
WE HAVE BEAUTIFUL RED &
PINK KNOCKOUT ROSES!
PSALM 37:5
REMEMBER TO PLAN BEFORE
YOU PLANT WE SPECIALIZE
IN LANDSCAPE DESIGN!
354-3353
LOCATION: U.S. Rt. 23 N. 2 Miles From Portsmouth
LAWN & GARDEN
Now is the time to get outside
and prepare outdoor living
spaces for the entertainment
season ahead. Don’t
waste those gray, overcast
days, which are great for
other DIY projects. One task
that can be tackled on a dreary
day is prepping and cleaning
your deck.
Staining your deck is one
of the best ways to protect
your investment from the elements,
keep it looking nice
and make it easier to maintain.
However, professional
results don’t rely simply on
laying down a coat or two of
stain - any deck project
should start with proper
cleaning and preparation.
And, while you may want a
perfectly sunny weekend to
stain your deck, prepping can
be done at any time. Below
are simple steps to help
achieve great-looking results
that last:
Gather your tools and
materials. Plan to have the
following within reach as
you prep your deck:
Broom or leaf blower
Ladder (for decks off
ground)
Rags
Tarps
Buckets for mixing
Synthetic brushes (2 to 4
inches)
Rollers
Long handles for rollers
Roller frames and roller
grids
pails, buckets, wire baskets,
bushel baskets,
washtubs, window
planters, even large food
cans. Larger veggies, like
tomatoes and eggplants,
will need a larger container,
at least 5 gallons for
each plant. “Use the
largest containers you can
afford, and that you have
space for, especially with
warm season vegetables,”
Crawford advises. “The
plants will look better and
last longer because the
roots will have more room
to grow.”
4. Don’t forget drainage
and do consider color
Whatever type container
you choose, remember
proper drainage is vital.
Your container should
have holes at the base or
in the bottom to permit
drainage of excess water.
Color is also a consideration.
Dark colored containers
will absorb heat
that could possibly damage
the plant roots. If you
must use dark colored
pots, try painting them a
lighter color or shading
the container.
5. Flowers look fabulous
combined with vegetables
Interesting looking
Cleaning product. Flood
wood care offers wood cleaning
and stripping products to
help clean and brighten surfaces
dulled and grayed by
the sun, dirt and rain.
Check your surfaces. To
ensure your deck is both safe
and beautiful, be sure to
inspect the area for bad
wood, dry rot, loose nails,
loose spindles and broken
boards. Replace boards as
needed and secure any loose
nails and spindles.
Prepare yourself, the deck
and the surrounding area.
Make sure you take all safety
precautions before embarking
on your deck cleaning
project. Wear gloves, safety
glasses and old clothing -
shorts are not recommended.
Before starting, cover any
areas you want to protect,
wet down plants and shrubs,
and wet your deck surface
plants like squash, okra or
crooked neck squash can
stand alone in a pot. But
others, like eggplant and
spinach, look much better
accented with flowers.
Beans, lettuce, peppers
and spinach are among
the easiest veggies to start
with in a container. Veggies
that require little
space, like carrots and
radishes, or that bear over
a long period of time, like
tomatoes, are also great
for container gardening.
Steer clear of artichokes,
asparagus, corn,
pumpkins and potatoes,
which don’t look good,
are too big for a pot or
require you to dismantle
the whole container garden
in order to harvest
them.
Flowers that pair well
with vegetables in containers
include dragon
wing or wax begonias,
coleus, fountain grass,
lantana, lavender, pansies
and purple-heart tradescantia.
6. Stabilize with centerpieces
surrounded by
smaller plants
Floral container gardens
usually look best
with a large plant in the
center and smaller plants
with water.
Clean, scrub and renew.
Work the cleaner into the
wood, working from the bottom
up to reduce streaking.
Be sure to keep the surface
wet with water and let the
wood cleaner stand for 20 to
30 minutes before rinsing.
Once cleaned, wood should
dry for at least 48 hours
before applying stain.
The cleaning process for
an average-sized (300 to 500
square feet) deck should take
approximately five to six
hours. And, since Mother
Nature won’t harm your
work, cleaning can be done
on a gloomy day. A properly
cleaned deck should be
stained within 30 days. After
30 days, a light cleaning with
bleach and water before
staining will do the trick.
Courtesy of ARA
content
Practical meets pretty: Container gardening for beauty and bounty
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or call (740)
353-3101
today.
ARA content
When it comes to
container gardening,
keep it
simple, don’t
break the bank
and pick what
you like.
Classifieds work! (740) 353-3101
Put a gloomy, dreary day
to good use: prep your deck
ARA content
Put a rainy day to use by preparing your deck for spring and sum-
mer rains and heat.
around it. The same
holds true for combo
containers that mix flowers
and veggies. The
large plant is called the
centerpiece. Great vegetable
centerpieces
include peppers, tomatoes
and eggplants. Collard
greens, cabbage,
kale and mustard greens
make good-looking coldseason
centerpieces.
7. Don’t break the bank
Warm-season vegetables
do much better in large
containers with at least a
16-inch diameter. Since
attractive, large containers
can be expensive, look for
less expensive alternatives
if you don’t want to break
the bank. Since many
warm-season vegetables
fall over without support,
try wooden trellises painted
in contrasting bright
colors to help support the
plants.
“I used to avoid placing
vegetables in planting
containers because I
thought they were unattractive,
but now I know
better,” Crawford says.
“Now I will always have
vegetables tucked in
amongst my flowers.”
Courtesy of ARA
content