This year I really got into containers. Sourcing unique containers is a blast and when I couldn’t find the perfect color… well, spray painting pots always makes me feel like I have my own HGTV gardening show because that seems to be 1/3 of what they do. I’m really happy with how the containers turned out. These were planted by me but the plants and the design were provided by Karen, who runs the best annual and perennial farm in Virginia.
Of course, annuals and perennials offer only fleeting beauty, and frost eventually claims even their most beautiful blooms. Every year I do containers for one of my Fredericksburg landscape design clients, and by this time of year the plantings can end up a little tired and worn. To create an evergreen planting that would last all winter, last year we planted dwarf nandina in each planter. I like the juxtaposition of a wild and woolly, loose textured plant in a rectilinear, metal container:
Even if it works, doing the same thing twice is boring. This year I decided to go with a clipped, rounded boxwood in each container. Business is really good in our industry right now, so the two beautifully shaped boxwood I saw at my wholesaler three weeks ago were gone when I came to get them. This is what I had to work with:
Luckily I had good music and good pruners, so I set to work. They got matching haircuts, and with a little potting soil and a few maroon pansies this is the result:
Over the last 18 months I’ve come to really appreciate the beauty that containers can add to the landscape. Whether you own a business or you want your houseguests to experience beauty every time they come to the front door, contact me. I’d love to provide your containers.
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