This article is about 7 years old

No yard? No problem: Tips for gardening in containers

This April 26, 2013 photo shows a succulent arrangement on a patio table in Langley, Wash. Many techniques have been developed over the years to...Read more

WASHINGTON There’s good news for green thumbs lacking green space: You don’t need a big yard to have a beautiful garden. All you need are a few containers.

Kathy Jentz, editor and publisher of Washington Gardener magazine, shares tips and best practices for starting a spring and summer garden on your patio, rooftop or balcony.

This April 26, 2013 photo shows a succulent arrangement on a patio table in Langley, Wash. Many techniques have been developed over the years to help ensure that potted plants survive winter. One of the simplest is to bring them indoors as this gardener intends to do for a second straight year. (AP Photo/Dean Fosdick)
Picking pots The first thing you’ll need to build a container garden: containers. And Jentz said when choosing a pot, bigger is better. She gravitates toward the 24- or 36-inch double-wall plastic pots that are designed to look like terra-cotta or stone. Jentz said the air pocket between the layers gives your garden some insulation and helps keep the heat off the root zone. Once you select your pot, check the number of holes in the bottom. Jentz said a lot of stores will mark where the drainage holes should go, but you’ll need to do the drilling — and you might want to add a few more holes, while you’re at it. For a 36-inch container, one or two tiny holes isn’t going to do it,” Jentz said. (AP Photo/Dean Fosdick)
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This April 26, 2013 photo shows a succulent arrangement on a patio table in Langley, Wash. Many techniques have been developed over the years to help ensure that potted plants survive winter. One of the simplest is to bring them indoors as this gardener intends to do for a second straight year. (AP Photo/Dean Fosdick)
Getty Images/iStockphoto/Singkham
This April 20, 2009 photo shows tall and small flowers that complement one another in this springtime window box assortment in Belgium. This homeowner in the Belgian countryside refreshes her plant selection with the change in seasons. Window boxes are convenient containers that provide color, deliver edibles and supply fragrances. (AP Photo/Dean Fosdick)
**FOR USE WITH AP LIFESTYLES**  **FILE**   This July 1, 2004 file photo shows radishes in a variety of colors, including red, purple, pink and white in Concord, N.H.  Vegetable gardening is not a dark science, nor the stuff of incantations and secretive weeding on moonless nights. But it does take a little planning.    (AP Photo/Larry Crowe, FILE)
Watering from plastic watering can on the garden.
In this May 5, 2010 photo taken in New Market, Va., flowers planted in containers need watering more frequently than those planted in the ground but this French flower bucket, with its self-watering insert, makes things a great deal easier if you intend to be away only for a week or so. For vacations longer than that, consider hiring a garden sitter. (AP Photo/ Dean Fosdick )
Tara Kolla examines a seedling container, amid other vegetable seedlings that will be planted this spring in the garden at her home in Los Angeles' Silver Lake district Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010. Like many eco-minded gardeners, Kolla planted seeds, only to find that her garden violated local zoning laws and alienated her neighbors.  (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

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