Container TLC

摘要

Growing plants in containers is one of my favorite forms of gardening. Come August, however, I've had it with deadheading and lugging watering cans. Last spring, when I was preparing to pot up my containers, the memory of spent, sticky nicotiana blossoms clinging to my fingertips came rushing back, and I wondered—is all this fuss and fluff worth it? Do containers really need that much care, or is it just a lot of hype? That's when I decided to embark on an experiment. I planted several sets of identical containers and gave one pot in each set only water and the other the royal treatment: fertilizer, primping, and pruning.