Viewing post #210431 by kqcrna

Definitely team ground for me. I can grow most anything in the ground. I grow a few tomatoes in ground each year, sometimes a few carrots or beet and a few herbs. All of my perennials are in ground but a few annuals in containers each year. Containers are a challenge. The Good Lord has yet to create the plant that I can't kill in a pot. I can be a negligent plant Mom, and things growing in ground in my clay soil tend to do well in spite of mistreatment. My clay soil holds moisture well, so things don't dry fast in the ground. After having been amended with my homemade compost for 20 years or more, my garden soil is much improved over the native soil we had initially. But when summer heat comes, things in containers are always in danger of drying out, lacking adequate nutrients, being overwatered by rain or blown around and broken by midwest storms.... Clay or ceramic pots hold up better to those issues but they're also heavy, and expensive.

I do grow a few containers each year, but fewer each year, and some turn out better than others. My inclination is to over stuff them which can make for a challenge in terms of watering and feeding. But I love stuffed containers. Pretty containers are hit or miss.

My neighbors try to water my plants for me while I'm on vacation. I have too many plants, and no real gardeners for neighbors, so my plants definitely suffer when I'm on summer vacation.







Karen