4 clever ideas for using container plants to decorate an outdoor space

Whether your space is a deck, balcony, patio or porch, it can serve as a delightful outdoor area when furnished with beautiful plants and gorgeous containers. Here are four creative ideas to help you achieve precisely that.

Nearly every house or apartment has a place outdoors where you can grow a few special plants when the weather is warm.

• Some may be indoor-outdoor plants – houseplants that you keep indoors in winter and move outdoors when the weather warms.
• Others may be herbs, patio-size tomatoes, or plants with special talents for bringing colour and drama to outdoor living areas.

Here are some handy tips on how to best embellish your outdoor space with containers for your plants.

• Colourful containers that coordinate with the colours in your house or the cushions on your outdoor furniture will relieve the sameness of (for example) terracotta pots.
• Keep in mind that the colour of the container will affect the temperature inside the pot. Dark colours absorb solar heat, while light ones reflect it.

• Make it easy to replant large containers by using removable plastic pots buried just to their rims. Use mulch or Spanish moss to hide the plastic pots from view.
• When you want a seasonal change – let's say from pansies to begonias – simply switch the pots for a whole new look.

Need some inexpensive containers for plantings on your patio or apartment balcony? Use old buckets.

• Don't forget to put drainage holes in the bottom with a hammer and a large nail.
• To make the buckets more attractive, paint them with enamel paint – you can add simple graphic patterns like polka dots, chevrons or stripes to up the design factor.

When planting shallow-rooted plants in a deep patio container, don't go to the bother – and expense – of completely filling that huge container with potting soil.

• Find a smaller flowerpot that will fit upside down in the base of the deeper pot and occupy a lot of that space. It only "looks" fuller, but doesn't use as much soil.