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Making a Spring Planter

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This weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a spring planter seminar at my local garden center. I thought I would share a few tips as we get ready to plant our spring flowers.

The seminar began with a lecture by Sara about the importance of fertilizers and feeding our plants...we all know it’s important, but sometimes we neglect to fertilize. Sara reminded us to think of feeding as giving vitamin supplements to our plants—very important for their health!

There are a lot of options from soil already containing additives, such as slow- release fertilizer. And, of course, there are a lot of options on QVC.com to check out. Remember, always follow directions very carefully so you do not overfeed your plants. It could harm them instead of help them!

Also, remember to change the soil in your pots every year. Using old soil does not suffice. Choose a lightweight potting soil mix with good drainage...and make sure your pot has more than one hole for drainage, as a single one may get blocked. You can add holes to a pot using a drill or screwdriver and mallet if needed. You can also add cracked pottery, stones, or packing peanuts to the bottom of your pot to create drainage for your plants...the more drainage the better!

When selecting your pots, it’s helpful to remember that a larger pot needs less watering. If you are not good at watering daily, choose larger pots which may require only weekly or twice-weekly watering.

You can also create a false bottom in larger containers with milk jugs or an upside-down pot, then add your lightweight potting soil, stopping a few inches above the rim to allow for planting.

Tammy, who has worked at this garden center for 16 years, was an awesome wealth of knowledge. She explained the difference between creating spring and summer planters…in spring, select plants already in bloom that you can later move to your garden. For summer planters, include plants and even veggies like kale that will develop color into the summer.

When choosing plants to put in a planter, you need to choose three elements, always in odd numbers: thrillers, fillers, and spillers.

Your thriller should give height to the pot. I usually do an ornamental grass, but Tammy suggested choosing a perennial that can be replanted in the garden. I chose an orange poker plant.

I chose a filler that I will later replant in my flower boxes—heuchera in a set of three. I also used violas which I plan to replant in my garden.

My spiller was a set of three hedera ivy to add movement and drama to my 12” pot.

As a reminder, look to incorporate 7 to 9 plants per pot, depending on the size of the pot…but always odd numbers! Look for color and variety in the leaves. Also, make sure to check the watering needs and exposure levels when selecting plants that will be living together. They must complement each other in every way, not just visually!

Divide your planter visually into thirds when planting a planter to be viewed in every direction, placing the thriller in the middle. If your planter will be front-facing or side-view, place the thriller towards the back of the planter.

My favorite part of the morning was meeting lovely QVC viewers, sisters-in-law Janet and Susan, who made beautiful planters too! Hope to them on my next outing, when we will learn to make another succulent wreath!