Ideas for arranging potted plants soften hardscapes and provide liveliness that can be readily altered with the changing of the seasons as the plants develop and fade. Furthermore, they let you combine plants in a single container or garden bed that wouldn’t often go together. Make the most of all the magnificent possibilities by creatively grouping many containers together, particularly in areas like your porch or patio where you don’t have much soil or rain.
Make sure to stick to a planting theme, such as a combination of vibrant annuals and perennials, a monochromatic look created with flowers and foliage, or even a lush arrangement of tropical houseplants, to make your ideas for potted plant arrangements look like an expert landscaping project that lasts all year long.
Ideas for Mix-and-Match Container Plant Arrangements
It’s simple to put up a container garden with all of your favorite annuals and perennials if you choose plants with comparable care requirements. When planting, choose a range of sizes and textures for maximum effect. You may use neutral containers to bind the arrangement together even if you choose plants with very diverse aesthetics, and you can repeat certain plants across many pots. To allow each plant to be seen from a variety of perspectives, adjust the height and size of each planter, placing the taller ones toward the rear. Selecting a few big statement planters that serve as the grouping’s anchors is also beneficial.
You’ll need a few focus plants, just as in any garden. The eye is drawn to this cluster by the creamy white foxglove blossoms, the purple salvia, and the tall bird of paradise. Then, to make your grouping seem lush and full, fill in the gaps with vibrant leaf plants, such as heuchera.
Make a grouping that is monochromatic.
A unified notion for a potted plant arrangement is to choose plants with complementary color schemes. For this arrangement, dark pink and red hues liven up a monochromatic patio. Red caladium and burgundy heuchera fill in the front, while a tall, dark pink cordyline creates a lovely focal point in the rear. The form and color of their bigger relative are echoed by smaller cordylines. The reds and yellows in the surrounding greenery are reflected in the calibrachoa blooms named “Aloha Kona Hot Orange.”
If you aren’t able to find planters with varying heights, you may still raise some of your back pots by stacking them on cinderblocks, pots that are turned upside down, or even stairs if you’re setting up the containers on your porch. You may also change out which pot is raised above the others, giving you additional possibilities for organizing the containers. Your vibrantly colored plants will remain the main attraction when you choose neutral planter colors and shapes. Utilizing an odd number of containers will improve the group’s visual appeal.
Try a Collection of Tropical Houseplants in Containers.
You may utilize a few of your favorite houseplants to create a temporary tropical container garden for the summer even if you don’t live in a climate where you can grow tropical plants outside all year long. You can transfer them inside for the autumn and winter when the weather becomes too cold to keep them outdoors (use lightweight planters to make them easy to transport). Begin with the larger plants, like the glossy rubber tree and the towering fiddle-leaf fig. Next, add medium-sized plants to fill in the space, including taller cacti, snake plants, and sago palms. Add a few shorter plants to the front of the arrangement to finish it off. Cacti and succulents are ideal for this placement since they’ll remain tiny and provide the arrangement some intriguing texture and color.
Changing up the height, texture, and size of your plants is the best way to arrange them in a container. Consider utilizing a few different colored pots to provide a pop of color to the arrangement if the plants you’re using have predominantly green leaves. Even though the colors are varied, they will all merge well if you utilize a similar planter type.
How to Maintain the Fresh Look of Your Containers
Make sure the plants you choose have comparable requirements. For example, don’t put one shade-loving plant next to multiple sun-loving pots if you’re attempting to fill a sunny location on your patio. Selecting plants with comparable water requirements also makes it easier to water them all at once.
A great way to arrange potted plants is to group pots together tightly soon after planting in order to give the impression of fullness. Plants fill in and mature, so space pots apart. To maintain the best possible appearance for your container garden, move plants that are in full bloom to the front of the garden or raise them over other plants. Slide plants that have outlived their usefulness into less conspicuous locations. To assist offer plants the nutrients they need for healthy development, apply a balanced fertilizer to your pots about every four weeks.