Create Stunning Summer Containers | Design Lesson

Planters can make such an exciting addition to almost every garden. Join me to learn my approach to creating stunning seasonal planters, with examples from my own garden and ideas for yours!

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[Music]
welcome back to Garden Studio I’m Tessa
Pinner a designer and Gardener in
upstate South Carolina Zone 8A today’s
video is all about planting seasonal
containers this is one of the most fun
topics because it lets us get really
playful in a way that maybe we couldn’t
do on a larger scale there is a
possibility of having just Fun World in
a container and that’s sometimes all you
need containers can be such a strategic
design tool bringing softness color
green interest to an area that might
otherwise not have any it gives you yet
another layer to the Garden environment
it lets you switch out by season and try
new things I think of containers the
same way I do in of seasonal Decor
inside the house things that you would
switch up by season to just have fun and
make the environment feel a little bit
different throughout the
year as we go through this video I’m
going to walk you through my personal
design philosophy and process of putting
together a container and there are a
couple of ways of doing that and I don’t
actually do all of mine containers the
same way so I’ll walk you through that I
will also share with you a couple of
lists of the things that I have found
that I love now this is very personal
and a extremely subjective thing but I
always like to hear from designers what
they have tried and enjoyed so that is
what I’m going to be sharing with you in
a slide format and of course I’ll be
doing a sketch or two we’ve all probably
heard the old adage Thriller filler
Spiller and that is a very helpful
formula to use when trying to decide
what plants specifically need to go in
in a mixed container I have done a
little illustration here of the kinds of
things I look for in a plant that I want
to provide these different functions the
first being the Thriller is usually
where I start with a container that’s a
mixed container Thrillers are all about
the wow factor that can be in several
different ways it could be that they’re
really tall plants have a very distinct
color or Texture or Leaf structure or
really Punchy blooms it could even be
that you’re creating something like a
tutour or a trellis that’s coming out of
the pot growing something up that I
would consider that to be a thriller it
really can be anything that is providing
the visual anchor for the planter the
second function is fillers fillers
provide an essential function of nuance
and I find three different main kinds of
fillers the first one being something
that is primarily textural so this would
be like the diamond euphoria that I am
so fond of and you’ll see twice later in
this video it Sparkles it gives texture
it gives airiness it’s interest also
great as fillers are blooming plants
with smaller flowers I have a whole list
coming that has some of my favorite
fillers in it but the primary thing here
is that it’s not going to be the the
most eye-catching part of the container
but it gives you that secondary layer of
interest and finally
Spillers this is the dimensional element
of coming out and over the edge of the
container whether that’s a pot window
box or some other kind of raised bed or
other container this can be either
blooming purely foliage
you can also have a bit of fun with the
shape of your trailers you can braid
something like Ivy into rope like swoops
it is most often seen in kind of Frenchy
settings but also a bit cottagey
approach to a Spiller
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when planting a container I find it most
logistically helpful to fill most of the
container with potting soil to about 3/4
or even a little bit more from the top
that way I can still Nestle in my plants
get them placed stand back and look at
them and then go back and fill in around
with additional potting soil I find this
a little easier than filling it all the
way up and then having to try to move
the soil out of the way way then it
might be too full it can get messy it’s
nice to be able to place your plants and
then fill in the rest of the way pack it
down very lightly go over it with some
slow release fertilizer and water
everything
in so this is a standalone
planter against a green backdrop it has
other elements in its environs but right
here the view that you have of it is
essentially green backdrop and planter
and I think of a planter in this
scenario almost like a stage what are
you going to do on your stage that’s
interesting if this is the show then you
should make it good so I love to combine
some unexpected things if I get to do a
special combination planter like this
it’s about let’s well let me just count
two species of cadium with slightly
different Leaf veining so you get this
idea of cadium but there are there’s
some Nuance in it this one over here has
a slightly pinkish red stem so I pulled
off
that with this annual
nesia as another element of my filler I
have annual Diamond Frost Euphoria which
is one of my favorites it has this
almost Lacy Cloud effect and it gives
you a little white Sparkle with without
being overtly flowery which is
nice I always like to put an unexpected
element in my mixed containers at least
one and if I’m having to reduce it to a
formula I I like at least five different
things in a container of this size which
is about two feet across so I have the
cladium I have the Euphoria my two
surprises are actually perennials when
you do an annual seasonal planter it
doesn’t have to be all annual plants you
can put in some perennial plants for
interest and I love doing that
specifically for texture and just the
element of surprise so this is an
Astilbe which will bloom a blush pink
here before too long and then the flower
Spike will stay as fun structure this
over
here is a pink Japanese anemone which
will start blooming in octob October
when probably the rest of this might
have gotten to feel a little bit boring
by that time so by putting those couple
of surprises in there there’s this
element of of fun and when it’s done I
will put the perennials out in the
garden so that is no waste and I will
probably take the caladiums inside and
over the winter them in a pot depending
on how the combination does maybe I’ll
pull them out again next year and do
this again
some of the money that I put towards
this planter will keep on giving for
Seasons to
come though mixed containers may be what
we all think of first there are also
times to do Planters that are all one
thing I will show you a setup in a
minute in my garden that I have employed
this technique different Planters but
each with only one plant in them
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this arrangement of Planters here would
be an example of the family idea and
this is a technique that I learned when
I was gardening in England at Great
dixter which is famous for its container
displays and they do they do this to an
extravagant level with dozens of
Planters outside the front of the old
Tutor House and also on stairways in
various other places in a courtyard
there are really imaginative
combinations possible but the key here
the key idea is that when you’re
planting up Planters to mix these
elements together you’re doing a single
thing in each one you’re not doing three
different kinds of plants in this
planter and two in this and four for in
this I’m doing a single idea in each one
and then what makes up the composition
is the mix of the Planters as their own
entities into a drift a composition and
the cool thing about this that you don’t
have when you plant everything in one
planter is that these had white violas
in them until a couple of days ago and I
was able to just remove these two pots
refresh this bit the others are
permanent it’s herbs a shrub and a tree
but by switching out just a couple of
individual containers I’m able to
refresh the look of the whole
Arrangement so
easily this is also a good tip if you
are in the market for containers
somewhere but you don’t quite have the
budget to spend on one of the
appropriate scale for the space and this
is a huge thing to think about with
containers is just like anything else in
Art and Design we have to think about
the size of the elements in relationship
to each other that goes for the planter
itself versus what’s in the planter that
goes for the whole entity plants and
planter in the environment that they’re
in do they look in scale with the
doorway if this is what they’re next to
the set of stairs the level of open
space around them all of this is
something and as you train your eye most
people aren’t going to be able to put a
exact reason on why something feels
right but if it feels right versus not
feeling right often that is down to the
proper scale or not of the object in
question so I am going somewhere with
this the scale of a single planter has
to be perfect the scale of a grouping of
Planters can collectively be good so if
you can’t afford the single one planter
that would be perfect for your spot
maybe you could do a grouping of three
and make sure that whatever you put in
one of them gives you the height that
you need it doesn’t have to be flowers
it could be a shrub it could be a small
tree you could do that family grouping
and give yourself heft in some other
ways and then save up for that perfect
amazing planter of your
dreams one helpful tip if you are buying
for specific Planters and you’re at the
Garden Center I highly recommend finding
a flat space whether that is your cart
or a table or the ground and exactly
laying out the composition you have in
mind and this is partly to prevent what
happened to me here where I was one
plant short originally and had to go
back and buy two additional that can be
completely prevented if you just lay out
your entire composition you come with
the measurements of your planter or your
window box then you know you’ve left the
garden cender with exactly what you
need is important to think through at
what distance you are going to be
viewing your planter so this planter is
two very different distances the window
right behind it is actually my kitchen
sink and I don’t know by what miraculous
means the dishes just multiply but there
are always hours worth of dishes to do
every day so I look out over this window
box a lot and it brings me a lot of joy
to see something beautiful out here and
it will only get better as the season
progresses that said the other view from
which this will be seen is really far
away and right now it doesn’t look like
a whole lot but all I really wanted for
it was to give a little bit of present I
don’t need big Punchy blooms I’ll have
those with the hydrangeas next door just
needed something in here
to hold its
place and to give me a little bit of
white
Sparkle let’s say just for fun that you
live in an apartment and you don’t have
a garden you know what I would say to
you get yourself a couple of incredible
Planters or even just one and plant it
up every season and give yourself the
gift of having something fresh
throughout the year be better to do one
fabulous planter than to do a whole area
around it but not very well so if you
have to choose between doing a little
bit on the ground or doing a really big
punch in a planter I’d pick the planter
every time all right hope you all have a
great week and happy planting
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