My Secrets to Container Gardening Start to Finish | Proven Winners Idea Book | NEW Flower Varieties!

Hi, I'm Casey Lawrence and today I'm going to share with you how we plant up our vertical garden on our outdoor exterior wall. We have seven boxes on the wall and we separated them so that way it would help with drainage. We made sure to add drainage holes right on the bottom. Right here are the holes, that way they drain in between the boxes and that way they're not soaking all the other containers while they're draining. The boxes are 20 inches wide, 12 inches tall, and 12 inches deep. I always make sure to start off with a well-draining potting soil. And then I go ahead and I add a time-release fertilizer that lasts for up to six months. Now this does not mean we do not fertilize through our water during the season. This is just a really great backup plan during those really wet times that we're not able to water and fertilize ourselves. This is where it kicks in and gives your plants a beautiful boost. There are directions on here for use, but for every four inches it calls for one teaspoon. I've been using time-release for a while, so I can just eyeball my needs for each of my containers. And it's probably a good idea to wear gloves, seeing that I just wasn't, but I'd suggest it. And they don't say that there's a surprise included. All right, and then I just get in there and I mix it in. At least, you know, that four inch to six inch mark, because your plants are going to be not planted right on the surface. You want to really go down there, just kneading the dough. Now it's time to move on to planting. I'm going to start with this box here, but I'm not planting them just as individuals. Even though they are separate, I'm planting them as if they were all one big container. And you'll see what I mean once I'm finished. Before I get started, I just want to give you guys a warning if you are not familiar with my style already. But I am an overstuffer, which basically just means that I put more plants that are needed in a container. So the amount that I'm about to put in all of these containers, you can probably actually get away with only using half. But what's really neat is by the end of this video, you will see what didn't make it or what got overtaken. Some of your favorites, some that didn't do well, and I guess we'll have to see. Color Blaze Sedona Sunset, one of my favorite coleus. This is Graceful Grasses, the fireworks grass. Look how pretty that is with the green going into the pink. Truffula Pink Gumphrina can get up to 24 inches. This is Lantana, a luscious berry blend. A mouthful of words. It's also kind of come out down, kind of go up, kind of fill in in random places with these beautiful little bandana colored flowers. This one is called Unplugged So Blue. It's a salvia. It gets 14 to 24 inches. Supertunia Vista Jazzberry. Look at that gorgeous color. That's going to really be pretty coming off that corner there. Now in here, I'm adding a lot more trailers than I normally would. This one's called Maculata. I hope I'm saying that right. Normally, I would only do two or maybe even three trailers, but I'm going to push in four. That's right. I said four. But like I said, you'll be able to see what does or doesn't work out, and then we'll go from there. And because I am a little nervous about using the Terrenia. Because Terrenia, I have not always been good with growing. And yes, I've never really given up, obviously. But I know that it was improved, so I'm going to give it a shot anyway. But in case something does happen to it, I've got some backup plans that are ready to fill in for it. This one is the Proven Accents Sweet Caroline Medusa. I've never grown this one before, but the growth habit looks super cool. And I already love Lime Potato Vine, especially the Vigorous Growing Margarita. So I'm really excited to see this. I know it's not as long and crazy as that one, which is perfectly great because I don't want it to cover the next box. Now we've got the Coleus Albrito. This is a Color Blaze series. So with planting everything so close, yes, it does get really rooted in there. So by the end of the season, I water it every morning until it drips out. What I'm adding next is the Persian Shield. This one gets 18 to 36 inches tall. This is Heart to Heart Rose Glow Caladium. And what's really cool is we got to start these from bulb all by ourselves. So I'm actually going to kind of just break up a little bit. I'm not tearing, I'm just kind of rubbing. Only because I kind of want to break up that shape a little bit so I can continue to over stuff my containers here. You got to fit it in tight. The next one I'm going to put in is a Kufia. It's called Vermillionaire. I used to call this plant the cigar plant when I was little. These are Hummingbird Attractors. Anything that has that tubular flower, they love. Next is the Mazo Trailing Red. It's such a terrific performer. And it's also drought tolerant. So if you want to grow it on your own and you forget to water it, well, it'll still be alive for you. Because it's a trooper. This one is Supertunia Persimmon. And the flowers, I know you can't see them, but they look like a sunset. Proven Accent, Wojo Gem. I like that name, I always like it. This one is Color Blaze Cherry Drop. A beautiful trailing coleus. With this container, you're going to start noticing a little bit of duplication to the one that is on the opposite end on the upper. So there's some differences, but it's very similar. On the end, we're going to go with Color Blaze Sedona Sunset. And then we're going to come in right here with the Fireworks Grass. The Truffula Pink Gumphrina. Unplugged So Blue Salvia. This one is a little different because it's the Luscious Basket Tangelo. So the other one was the Cherry Blend. This one is the Supertunia Mini Vista. This is a Mini Vista now. And this is the Sweet Sangria. Next is the Proven Accent Maculata. Which is really a form of a vincavine. We're going to add those terrineas. We're giving it a chance. Alright, and we're going with the Medusa again. Just like the other box on the other side. We're going with the Color Blaze El Brito. Because we do have it on top on the other corner. So this is where I'm talking about how we kind of act as if it's all one container. And we kind of put little bursts of everything in a couple different spots. This is the Cufia again, the Vermillionaire. 18 to 28 inches. Heart to Heart Caladiums, this one's called Hot Flash. I love this one because of the shiny waxy leaf. Looks extra tropical. Unplugged So Blue Selvia, 14 to 24 inches. Alright, we're also going to add a cute little dark leaf potato vine in here. Next we are going with Supertunia Mini Vista Sweet Sangria. Super Bells Double Redstone. This is a new one for 2024. And then we have some Maisel. So this one we are starting out with Color Blaze Royale Pineapple Brandy. I really like it because of its lime leaves and that nice darker purplish color stem. Next is the Tangelo Lantana again. Next we're going to do Color Blaze Mini Watermelon. This one gets 12 to 20 inches. Next is Color Blaze Coleus Cherry Drop. This one will go up and over. Supertunia Persimmon. The flower gets a beautiful sunset looking flower. We got another little touch of Wojo's Gem for the jungle flair. And another little touch of Medusa. So this one mimics the last box just a little bit. So this is the Pineapple Brandy. This one's Color Blaze Mini Me Watermelon. Lantana Luscious Berry Blend. Maculata Vincavine. Supertunia Vista Jasberry. Super Bells Tropical Sunrise. And then Sweet Caroline Sweet Mahogany. Or Sweetheart Mahogany. Alright, we got one more left. We're going with Color Blaze El Brito again. Going on this corner because it's open and then these a lot of times kind of trail over. Not in any way do they have a trailing habit, but their growth will just naturally grow over. Another Cufia called Vermillionaire. My Hot Flash Caladium. Just kind of scooping around it. Unplugged So Blue Salvia. Supertunia Vista Fuchsia. Maisel. Super Bells Double Redstone. That one is so pretty. And Supertunia Saffron Finch. I have to add something for the beautiful yellow finches in the garden. Gotta represent them too, not just the hummingbirds with the Cufia. Well, we got them planted, so it's time to move on in the season and see what happens next. And welcome back. We are now six weeks into our vertical wall garden in the back here. So today I'm just going to go over some of my favorite varieties in the containers. We're going to give you a close-up view so that way you can see how everything's performing. And we're going to share some of those varieties that may have gotten taken over by more vigorous varieties. So that way you know exactly what you do not need to add into those beautiful combinations. It just looks so fun and happy. So there were some varieties that I really did have to go in there and control. And I'm going to show you that now. So I'm going to start over in this area, which is the second box in from the left. And I'm going to start right here with the Color Blaze Cherry Drop, this beautiful trailing coleus. This is a very, very vigorous grower. So this has taken a little bit of work to control so that way it doesn't overtake everything. It has really been wanting to take over this Persimmon Supertunia right in here. So as a growth kind of grows over here, I just snip it right off. And kind of just control it so that way it doesn't overtake it. And we don't lose that beautiful color that looks like a sunset on a petunia face. It's just absolutely gorgeous. And right where else it wanted to overtake was on this Lantana in the back. And by this time, if something doesn't catch up and it's not looking like it's going to, I just go ahead and leave it and let it get overtaken. Because it's not going to have time to do much here in Wisconsin. The other vigorous grower in this combination is Color Blaze Royal Pineapple Brandy. And that's this Coleus right in here. So with this Coleus here, it is super vigorous and I knew that it would be. That's to really fill in because I like all of the boxes kind of getting covered by the end of the season. The one thing that it did start taking over was the Color Blaze Mini Me Watermelon back here. So what I'm going to do is just go right in there and just break it off and take it out of there. That way it gives it light. This is going to be the last time I'm going to do that. Because I don't want to create a hole or gap. And if it can't keep up, then that's just one of those varieties that you don't add into the combination. Over in this box over here, we have the Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Mahogany Potato Vine right here. And I've also been having to control that a little bit because it's growing into the Mini Vista Sweet Sangria, which is this one right here. And that's a beautiful bright color. So all I do is just remove a few leaves that seem to kind of be, you know, blocking them from the sun. And I've noticed that the Sweet Sangria isn't as vigorous of a grower as all the other varieties that I've grown in the past from the Vista series. I wasn't expecting that. So when I placed it next to the Potato Vine, I really thought it would have just really bushed in huge. But I do feel like it's really taking off now. Like I said, our weather's been kind of a little bit cooler here in Wisconsin this year. Very odd. There's just, you know, a few of those little things that you just deal with as you go as a gardener in your garden. If I had to pick my favorite box this year, it would be this upper one up here. Right on the far left on the top. One variety that is my absolute favorite variety of 2023 this year is that Terrania up there. It's called Summer Wave Large Blue. I just absolutely love it. I told you guys when I created these that I was a little hesitant about adding that Terrania. And, you know, they kept telling me, no, no, no, no. It's, it's, you got to try this one. This one's really good and hearty. And you know what? I am so impressed by it. This is going to be a staple in a lot of my container gardens from here on out. And it gives you that true blue color. It does come in a couple other colors. But it is just so beautiful. And look at those cute little pops of the luscious berry blend. That's the Lantana right there. Just all the colors. It's just, I'm loving this wall. And I'm always a huge fan of salvias. So I tried out the Unplugged So Blue Salvia. And look at how awesome it is in the container. It just really adds that touch of blue. It draws the blue up from the salvia to the Terrania. So it really ties it in really nice. You can see it over there in that box back there. And this is actually my husband's new favorite vine right here. Look at how gorgeous those leaves are. I bet you any money that this would make an amazing house plant. A lot of plants that we grow out in our gardens do amazing in the house. Just as long as you have the right lighting for them. I really like the Color Blaze El Brito on top too. That coleus right there. Look at all of that fun color on there. And then you have the meso trailing down in here. It's getting little pink flowers on it. This gets full sun all day. I'm not always a huge fan of yellow within my containers. But I really wanted to try this variety this year. And it was so pretty and I loved the name of it. It's called Supertunia Saffron Finch. And I have to say I am so impressed with this yellow supertunia. From my past experience of growing yellow trailing petunias, they just have been kind of failures. They get flat on top. They're not super vigorous. But I have to say this supertunia, the Saffron Finch, has been so impressive, vigorous, healthy looking. No flat tops. It's just been awesome. And in fact, I've actually had to even pinch some of these back because they were overtaking the super bells over here. Really treat your flowers just like a bush. So if you want a bush to kind of fill out, look full and not spindly, what do you do? You trim and you shape it. That's what I do with petunias. And I don't worry about where there's a blossom or where there's, you know, anything that, you know, it's not going to hurt your plant. A lot of times I just go ahead with scissors and clip just like I would a shrub. Up on top there, you can see the firework grass. And it's just starting to start. We've got one there. And we've got one over in here. So this one's a little small yet too. So there's a few varieties that took a little bit longer to take off. And here's why. In these vertical gardens, we do have an automatic watering system known as WaterWise. The one thing though with having the automatic watering system is we started turning it on in the beginning, probably after a couple of weeks of them kind of growing in a little bit. I always suggest hand watering for a little bit until things kind of grow in. Because there's just two little waters in there. And as they drip, they drip and they soak everything, but not everything if they're not completely grown in. So what kind of happened is we started using the WaterWise and turning it on. And I started noticing some varieties taking off more than others. Even varieties that I have grown in the past that I know are vigorous growers, but they weren't taking off the way that they should. So I knew that something was kind of going on. And I always know that it tends to happen due to watering. A lot of the problems begin and end with watering. So I really went in there and I kind of took a peek. And I noticed like even though that it was dripping from the bottom, the water, and I knew that everything was getting watered, but the corners of the top upper parts weren't getting watered and the back section wasn't getting watered. So a lot of the back varieties like the coleus, the grasses, some of the salvias, those weren't really taking off. And those are supposed to be the large growing varieties within the entire container. So I knew that I had to go back and start hand watering. So what we did before we turned on the automatics again, because now they're to the point where they can be turned on. So let me just show you how we hand water this. So if you do a vertical garden, you kind of get an idea of how to do it. So it's easy. With watering, we always use a long hose end. And I know you're probably like, why is there no end on it? Because I don't water on the top. I never ever water on top of my foliage. The only time the foliage of any of our gardens gets watered is from the rain. Not from my hose end ever. It gets stuck underneath the foliage. So I'm just going to show you. I know it's not connected to a hose because as I'm filming, the boxes do not need it. They are on an every other day schedule right now. So all I do is I lift up on the foliage a little bit. I go ahead and I stick that watering hose end underneath the foliage. And I do that on one side, remove it. And then I come over to the other side, place it underneath the foliage, and I wait until the box is completely dripping with water. That's how I know the water got all the way through. By moving the hose end from one side of the box to the next, I know even the surfaces are getting completely soaked. So that way all the roots are getting soaked. Because the first, I would say, four to six weeks, everything isn't rooted into that box. Everything isn't rooted and intertwined together. So when you're dripping water through an automatic watering system, it's soaking, but it's not soaking the top. So if there's certain plants that aren't part of that growth, aren't part of that root structure combined together, it's not going to get as much water as it needs to continue to grow. It'll get enough to sustain it, but it won't get enough to continue to grow and give its full potential. So that's why I make sure that everything gets soaked, from the surface, to the sides, to the back, to the front, all the way through. That's the most important. After around that six-week mark, that's now, this is the time, I'm going to start turning on those automatics because all of the root structures are intertwined, they're working together, which then brings the moisture to the top as well. It runs through the roots up. Just like if you have a single individual pot, and you're watering it from the bottom, and you're adding water to the bottom, and all of a sudden the top is wet. That's because the water is soaking up, the soil and the root structure is soaking and absorbing it, and it's moving it upward. And that's what happens now, once those root structures are all connected together, working together as one, and this is the time to be able to use that. Now it makes it easier. There's also one more thing, too, to watering. So you know that we did add in the time-release fertilizer during the planting part of it, which we did share at the beginning of this video, but there's also fertilizing on top of that, which we use water-soluble. In this whole section here, we're using the Proven Winters water-soluble fertilizer. We're doing that every third time we water because we are on an every-other-day cycle right now to be able to water them. And the reason for the long end is for the vertical gardens, so that way you don't have to get a ladder out just to water. If you're using a hose end, you're on your tippy toes, or you're happy to get a step stool, this eliminates all of that because this can just slide right in up there, and it's watering for you, rather than a regular hose end on a hose, and you're like this, trying to get underneath, and then, you know, when you water, the water's going to soak all the way down. You're going to end up soaked. This is a lifesaver. So for fertilizing, we use the Proven Winters water-soluble fertilizer, and this has worked out really nicely this year, and it comes with a scoop, which is one full tablespoon, and it also comes with two prepackaged fertilizers, so that way you can just open one at a time, or you can put them all in here because it comes in a little bucket that's waterproof, so it'll keep it from any water kind of getting in there and affecting your fertilizer. All you do is take one scoop, which is one tablespoon, put it into your gallon of water, and if you don't have water in it, put it in there now, and then go ahead and mix it, and then you just go ahead and you water it. It's as simple as that, and be sure to always cover your fertilizer so that way you keep it protected from any moisture. With this vertical garden, though, I do do it a little bit differently because it's very tough to use a watering can to get up into the higher containers in order to fertilize, so this is what I do. What I do is I go ahead and take a scoop, which is a tablespoon, and sprinkle it on the surface of the soil of the container, and then I just go ahead and I water it in that way. Now I know that there will be a few people saying that this is the wrong way to do it, but I always say the proof is in the results, and there's always more than one way of doing something, and that's just the way that we've done it all season. There's also one other way that we have done it as well. This here is an injector. We pour a cup of fertilizer into this pail, and then we fill it one-third full, mix it, and we keep the fertilizer injector on, and it runs the fertilizer right through the hose as we're watering the plants. This is a very easy way to do it. Now this isn't the type of fertilizer that we use throughout our food gardens or in our healing herb gardens. This type of fertilizer is only used in our flowering container gardens where we replace the soil every year with fresh potting soil. Out of these three different ways that I've showed you on how to use the water-soluble fertilizer, feel free to use what method works best for you.