The idea behind a mailbox garden is to bring eye-catching color to the base of your mailbox, lamp post, or bird house pole. If planned properly, this garden should be able to cheerfully greet visitors season after season. For a truly spectacular garden, make sure to include plants with flowers that bloom at different seasons, cover the entire color spectrum and/or have interesting foliage or year-round interest.

It takes some pretty tough plants to put up with the harsh growing conditions surrounding a street-side mailbox. Because most mailbox locations are surrounded by pavement, this special garden takes plants that thrive in full sun and can tolerate heat and drought.

With the exception of perhaps one taller focal plant or a vine that wraps around the post, most plants in a mailbox garden should be varieties that stay under 2' in height. This way you don't block the view of your home or interfere with backing out of the driveway.

Before planting, prepare the area. Shape the bed, remove any existing weeds or sod, then dig down at least 6-8 inches and turn over the soil, mixing in a soil amendment 50/50 with the existing soil. Add a starter fertilizer to the entire area. This will mix into the soil when you plant your plants.

Remember, it takes 3-4 months for most plants to get established. For best results, water regularly and feed every few months during the growing season with a good flower food and your plants will reward you with long-lasting beauty.

We have a great selection of plants perfect for mailbox gardens. Stop by for a visit and one of our staff of nursery professionals will be happy to help you make your selections.

Landscaping with spectacular floral and foliage garden vessels will put pizzazz into your summertime outdoor living spaces. Get ready, here we go with all the tips necessary to turn each one of you into a patio garden designer!

Designing a container garden or grouping of containers requires exactly the same process as designing an in-ground garden. You are designing a garden space. With the containers and the plants that you select, a small garden will come to life. For those of us with only patio or balcony space for plants, it is our garden!

First, take time to imagine the dream patio garden that you desire. Many questions will flood your mind as you begin to envision your future garden. Or, for those less sure of just what to do, consider what your answers are to these questions. Don't become overwhelmed. We can help you in every step of the process.

What are your desires or needs for this garden space? How should it function--as an entertainment center, serene getaway, or wildlife habitat? Do you want an informal or formal style? Believe it or not, knowing the theme of your patio garden is the number one step in this entire process.

Of course, the size of your space is a defining element. Your patio size helps you define the size and number of containers to consider and naturally, the ultimate plant sizes, too. For example, on a small 5 by 5 foot patio, you might not want to have a large-leafed philodendron and a banana tree.

Take into consideration the microclimate of your patio. Is it sun or shade, or both? Is it protected from or exposed to winds? Knowledge of your microclimate in this patio area will be important for you during your plant selection.

Which plants are your favorites--tropical, woodland, native plants or cottage style? Do you prefer foliage plants or flowering plants? Are you considering planting trees or shrubs, or creating splashes of color using annuals and perennials? Perhaps you are an eclectic gardener and simply want all of the above.

Selection of the containers is a big part of the process. There are so many different sizes, shapes, materials and colors of containers. Do you want pottery, cement, plastic, wood or metal? Mixing these four main elements can make for a very eye-catching collection of containers.

Perhaps you have decided to select the containers first before considering what plants you plan to have for this patio paradise. In doing so, your containers' personalities will lead the way during your plant selection. You won't want to put a collection of pansies and snapdragons into a container that could easily hold a 10- foot tall tree. And of course, that tree, even if you found it as a seedling in a small one-gallon pot, should not be planted into a tiny pot.

Alternatively, you may be the type that marches right into the plant section of our garden center and picks out plants based upon the theme that you want to create. Your next stop will then be the container area. The plants selected will define the size of the containers that you choose, and also should really help you with shape and color selection too. After all, you don't want to take home a silver-blue Eucalyptus pulverulenta (Silver Mountain Gum) and a burgundy Cordyline and plant them into an orange pot! Well, we hope not anyway!

We are excited about your new venture into container gardening! Select a high quality potting mix, and add in a controlled release fertilizer. Also, remember that moisture retention is frequently a problem with containers, so mix in a soil polymer that will hold on to the moisture between waterings.

Your patio retreat will become a reality as these ideas are transposed into concrete concepts. Whatever your choice of theme, plants and materials, your patio garden retreat should bear the mark of your personality. Hurry into our garden center and begin looking around at the many plant and container selections. And remember, have fun with this whole process! That's what creating a garden is all about.

By Tamara Galbraith

Want a quick and easy method of repotting your container plants...that doesn't even require a new pot? It's a technique I call "lifting," simply because that's all it entails.

Over time, potting soil tends to break down in containers, causing the plant's rootball to shrink and sink. In many cases, all you have to do to revive it is to remove the plant and soil, add some new potting soil and a little compost in the bottom of the pot, tease the plant roots gently and put the plant back into the same pot. Add soil around the edges as necessary.

Because most containers angle outward toward the top, the act of "lifting" gives your plant more space all around its perimeter. Of course, if you pull the plant out and there are roots circling the bottom and packed in quite tight, it's time not just for repotting, but for a bigger pot. Don't go too much bigger, though; just go to the next size up, not from little to huge.

Be sure to leave about an inch of space between the top of the plant's root ball and the top of the pot's rim when potting up, however, so that water sinks in during irrigation instead of just running off and over the top, taking the soil with it.

Click for printable coupon.