Design 101 - Guest Blogger Sarah Kinbar on Urban Container Gardens

My first visit to New Orleans—just this fall—was a wake-up call for me on the importance of balcony gardens, which are the heart and soul of the French Quarter. Block after block, my eye was drawn to the balconies decorated with the most useful of garden accessories: glorious planters, alive with trailing ivy and pothos, bright with geraniums and petunias. There’s a reason these plants are standard fare for planters—they’re so easy to care for, they make a bold statement visually and they graciously accept the home of a small planter filled with healthy soil.

French Quarter, New Orleans from David Paul Ohmer's Flickr PhotostreamThe abundance of hanging baskets and planters in the French Quarter began with one starry-eyed city-dweller who dreamed of the red geraniums gracing Paris’s endless balconies. She put out her terracotta containers, and then so did a neighbor. Planters are catching. My friend Beverly DeMers, whose urban porch in Lancaster, PA, became a model for container gardening in her neighborhood, has invited neighborhood kids to help her plant and care for her planters. Their parents took note, and soon they put their own planters out.

Home Infatuation Terra Cotta PlantersSuch organic neighborhood beautification is spurred on by urban groups who have discovered the good effects of blooming and leafy planters that break up the monotony of city streets. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden launched Greenest Block in Brooklyn in 2003 (see this year’s winner below) and since then has encouraged friendly competition among urban gardeners whose natural sense of one-upmanship has improved the look of Brooklyn’s neighborhoods.

Greenest Block in BrooklynThe appealing display of successful container gardens begins with some practical choices:

Q: Which planters best compliment your patio, terrace or rooftop space?
A: I’m an old-school terracotta girl, but stunning containers of every size and shape come in a plethora of materials. There is something for every décor style. Found objects like old tires, watering cans and aluminum tubs have served as containers for creative gardeners, too.

Q: Where do you place them once you have your containers?
A: Dimitri Gatanas of Urban Garden Center in New York City encourages his clients to consider how all the garden elements—planters, furniture, accessories—work together, and to be sensitive to the view from inside. After all, your terrace can be seen from indoors and should include planters that are beautiful focal points as well as framing the view of the city beyond. “All my gardens frame the views of the city from a lot of different perspectives,” he says.

Q: Is there certain soil that is best?
A: I suggest going with an organic potting soil. If you use garden soil, it will get clumpy because it doesn’t contain materials that loosen it up, so do go with soil intended for planters. Also, don’t fill the planter to the top of the rim. Stop a few inches below the top so the water doesn’t spill over when you irrigate.

Q: Which plants to grow?
A: Gatanas suggests going with the tried-and-true. “There are lots of choices and I try not to use my client as a test lab,” he says. Always important: “I like designing with shapes, textures, heights, and color,” and all of that can be provided by the exciting range of plants available at the garden center.

You can follow Sarah Kinbar at her blog Good Garden Ideas.