By Janice Eaton Kelly, Sterling Pub., New York, NY
For anyone who enjoys container planting, this book could be one of your favorites–I know it’s one of mine. It’s that cool. I container garden for about 40% of my clients and for myself, and yet I own precious few container planting books. Why? Because many are redundant and uninspiring at best (seen that ten times in other places), and downright wrong at worst (plants potted together don’t have the same requirements, or drainage is not considered.).
This book features a number of different designers, each with an original idea that I can almost guarantee that you haven’t seen before, or a twist on something you may have. When you buy it, check out the design on page 79 (it’s a brilliantly simple Zen design that I’ve done several variations of) and page 97 (a painstaking but incredibly beautiful compilation). Let me know which one you create!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the planter on the cover. And I love container planting. What do you do about drainage with something like that, though?
A few years ago a friend bought me a table planting from Big Red Sun. It was set in their signature cubical metal box. The plant itself was a rather exotic-looking begonia. It looked fabulous for a while, but it eventually, and suddenly, went moldy. No drainage.
Obviously you could drill a hole in the bottom and put some kind of collection container… is that the only solution? i.e., is the planting on this book just set up this way for the photo?
Hey Julie, that particular potted planting is actually a bog garden created in an old wooden drawer! They lined the drawer with plastic, added gravel, compost and bog plants before finishing off with water and moss. So those plants like sitting in that water. Otherwise, with plants that need to drain, you either drill a drainage hole, put broken terra cotta shards at the bottom of the container (they absorb excess water), or use one container inside the other (the inner container is the one planted w/drainage hole, the outer one is the pretty container without a drainage hole.)
Ooo… I’ll have to check this out! I am horrible at designing containers- but really good at copying what I see in pictures!
A bog garden! Very cool. Wonder if I could get away with one of those in a house full of dogs…
Carri, you definitely should–I have a lot of books that I like to look at, but I’ve road-tested some of the designs and they are super cool.
Julie, we can find a spot for a bog garden. ; )