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Dear Friends of the Mulch,
Container gardening is accessible to just about everyone, regardless of living space, climate, soil, and personal mobility. It can be as expansive or as small as you choose; and not only does it offer flexibility and the option to experiment, container gardening lets you enjoy plants in areas where a traditional garden is awkward or impossible. Even with limited space in an urban apartment, you can grow fruits, vegetables, flowers and shrubs just about anywhere.
Interested? Then take a look at the tips and products we've collected here for your perusal this week!
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Warm regards,
Lars Hundley
Clean Air Gardening
P.S. Not only is it the start of gardening season, but it is tax time as well! To that end I want to pass along a great resource that can help you take advantage of green tax incentives that will provide you with significant savings when you file this year.
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Container Gardening Basics
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| While we'd certainly never advise you to abandon your garden plot, container gardening has certain undeniable advantages over traditional gardening. First of all, containers tend to be easier to access than the ground, which is especially important for those with physical disabilities.
Another big advantage of container gardening is that you're not limited to the soil Mother Nature has provided; you can provide your own, and amending it to a particular plant's specifications is relatively easy.You can also experiment with plants, and optimize or control environmental conditions.
Under the proper conditions, plants in containers can thrive in all types of environments: rooftops, decks, balconies, stairs and even on the stoop of your mobile home. In any case, they can be moved easily, whether to transport them to a new home, move them into better sunlight, or so you can isolate plants that are diseased or that require special treatment.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind while planning and growing your container garden:
- Be sure your chosen containers have good drainage.
- Consider whether you want to grow plants indoors or outside.
- Consult with a local nursery and/or County Extension Agent about what to plant.
- Use a good potting medium, not garden soil.
- Group plants with similar needs together.
- Add time-release fertilizers when planting, or water soluble fertilizer every 2-4 weeks.
For our complete guide to container gardening, along with a list of plants well-suited for containers, click here.
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Vegetable Grow Bag
These nifty fabric "pots" are inexpensive, and incredibly effective at growing vegetables. All you have to do is add some potting medium (it'll hold up to 15 gallons!) and plant your plant. If you don't like the look of fabric, you can put it inside of a large decorative pot!
LEARN MORE
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Deluxe Patio Growing Box
We've mentioned this new item before, but it's worth repeating, as it's quickly becoming one of our most popular self-watering planters. It's also my new personal favorite container for growing vegetables. With a large-capacity reservoir, you can go out of town for weeks and not worry if your plants will survive. Plus, it's rugged, durable, and large enough to handle just about any flowering plant or vegetable.
LEARN MORE
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Better Than Rocks Planter Drainage
 Planning to use a big container that you already have for your vegetable garden? Don't forget to add some of this stuff first. As you can see in this cut-pot demo photo, this material is made from 100% recycled plastic. This makes for great drainage and will also make the pot lighter, if you need to drag it around the patio to find the perfect sunny spot. Better Than Rocks is easy to use, and easy to cut to the precise size you need.
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Strawberry Jar
If you're thinking about growing strawberries, don't just use any old container. Try this little number instead. See all those holes in the sides? This special strawberry jar is equipped to hold many strawberry plants all at once, so you can guarantee yourself a bumper harvest from every pot. It's nice and cheap, too, and you can always grow flowers and other fruits/vegetables in it if you want (or even at the same time!).
LEARN MORE
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Green Tax Incentives Guide
 In the wake of the recent Stimulus Package, combined with the economic rescue legislation of 2008, numerous green tax incentives have been implemented at the federal and state levels to encourage energy efficiency, green buildings and renewable technologies. If you want to take advantage of the new Green Tax Code, but have no idea how to go about it, then the Green Tax Saver is a must read for you.
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On the Blog: Best Vegetables For Containers
Although you can grow just about anything in containers, some vegetable varieties are specially bred for container growing in limited spaces. In this blog entry, we discuss some of our favorites.
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What Would You Like to Read About?
Since we added this section to the newsletters a while back, we've gotten some great responses! We appreciate that, and we thought we'd start addressing some of those suggestions here.
Q. I live in an apartment complex with a well-shaded north-facing patio in Abilene, TX. I'm having problems finding native shade plants. It may just be a local problem, but surely there are others in similar areas that would like the issue addressed in your very informative publication.
A. Given the natural conditions in the Abilene area, most native plants are optimized for sunny weather -- so ornamental shade-loving species may be hard to find. We recommend that you consult the local county extension agent for the exceptions.
If you can't find native plants that like shade, you can get other shade-loving plants that are appropriate for the conditions. For a relatively dry area like Abilene, you'll need plants that can handle both a lack of shade and a lack of water. From a floral perspective, hostas are a good choice. They're leafy and large, unlike most shade plants, and quite attractive. Foxgloves are also ideal, as are the Stella de Oro daylily, cast-iron plant, English ivy, vinca (periwinkle), and Japanese pachysandra.
As far as veggies go, some cool-weather salad plants such as lettuces and radishes can handle light to medium shade, but they tend to require a good bit of water.
Q. I would like to know about plants that deer are not going to munch on, and also I would like to know about environmentally friendly lawn fertilizer. I live in Montana, in the Bitterroot Valley.
A. Deer-resistant ornamental plants that can handle the weather extremes of the Bitterroot Valley, which sprawls across USDA hardiness zones 5-6, include carpet bugle, lilly-of-the-valley, vinca (periwinkle), Japanese pachysandra, yarrow, columbine, pinks, bleeding heart, foxglove, iris, and many more. For more information and a much longer (if partial) list, click here.
As for environmentally friendly lawn fertilizer, you've come to the right place: take a look at our Buyer's Guide to Organic Fertilizers. For information specific to lawns, check out this guide. We carry a wide variety of great lawn fertilizers, from corn gluten meal to rich liquid lawn fertilizers to fish meal.
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We'd love to hear what you'd like to read more about. So far we've had a great response, so please keep those ideas coming.
Just hit reply, and tell us what you'd like us to write about. We look forward to hearing from you!
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Contact Us!
You can contact us in the following ways: Email | Telephone: 888-439-9101 | Website Clean Air Gardening, 2266 Monitor Street, Dallas, TX 75207  
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