And, if you’ve been drawn in by magazine photos of perfectly coiffed houseplants in designer containers, it’s possible to capture that designer look and give your plants a cheerier, more creative home without spending much money.
Just go shopping in your own house, said Amy Dube, a plant and repurposed-container expert with Digdropdone.com, a blog about planting bulbs.
“There are so many things you can do that don’t cost a lot of money,” she said. “The trend now is renewing the old. You’ll find a lot of vintage-styled pots and containers in the stores. You probably already have something similar. It just takes a little searching and a creative eye to find it.”
Just about anything can be made into a plant pot. Some suggestions: mugs, vintage glassware, fine china, mixing bowls, pitchers, cocktail glasses, metal pails, tin cans, old Crocs shoes or rubber rain boots, wooden boxes and abandoned dresser drawers, punch bowls, teapots and teacups, metal tea tins, baskets and old pots and pans.
“Anything that will hold dirt will work,” Dube said. “Shop your kitchen, your shed, your garage and your attic. There are so many things we all have that we can use without spending a lot of money.”
Many household goods turned planters stand well on their own, such as fancy china or vintage glass bowls. But with a little craftiness, other items can wow.
The easiest treatment is paint, which can even be used to give some of your existing pots a holiday face-lift.
“I like to think of it like a quick fix,” Dube said. “If I have a pot I already like but it’s not festive enough for the holidays, I cover it with a quick coat of gold or silver spray paint. It turns something simple into something designer.”
Some designers are repurposing plastic animal toys into posh planters with a quick coat of brightly colored high-gloss paint. Other folks have transformed tin cans with knit cozies, baubles, paint and gift wrap.
Once you have a fabulous container, what do you plant in it?
Dube also planted amaryllis and paperwhite narcissus in painted and gift-wrapped cans for holiday gifts or centerpieces.
But any houseplant can grow in a repurposed planter. Just match the size and growing needs of the plant with the capacity of the container: For instance, smaller, slow-growing plants go in smaller containers.
The National Gardening Association says that arugula, lettuce and mesclun greens, fernleaf dill, Grolau chives and Spicy Globe basil can grow well in containers on sunny windowsills in winter. Growing fresh greens can be as simple as planting a few seeds in an old coffee mug.
No matter what you plant, mind the drainage.
Indoor containers should have large drainage holes and a saucer to catch excess water, the Ohio State University Extension said. Check periodically to make sure that roots aren’t growing through and blocking the drainage holes. If you don’t want to drill or punch holes into your container, double-pot the plant by setting the plant in a smaller, correctly drained pot inside the decorative pot.
Mind your soil, too. When planting or transplanting houseplants, use a potting mix that isn’t contaminated by diseases or pests, according to the University of Illinois Extension.
Most houseplants will perform well in a mix of equal parts soil, peat moss and perlite or vermiculite. Soilless mixes aren’t recommended, because they contain few nutrients. Avoid garden soil as well, because it doesn’t generally drain well in pots and might contain diseases or insects.
Otherwise, get creative with your pots.
“You really can mimic what the stores are selling,” Dube said. “Look for anything you can use in your home that you can spruce up.
“It’s trendy and it’s exciting for gardeners to be able to try new things without spending a lot of money.”
Denise Trowbridge is a Columbus freelance writer who covers garden topics.
cdecker@dispatch.com
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