Container gardening trends for your garden: 6 cool concepts

That’s it. I’m making an executive decision and officially declaring it The Decade of the Container Garden. With so many great container gardening ideas sprouting up on Pinterest and various gardening websites (including Savvy Gardening, of course!), I’ve come across more creative container gardens in the past few years than I’ve seen in my whole life. Gone are the days of sticking a begonia a clay pot and calling it a day. Gardeners everywhere are now relying on creative container gardening trends to design unique planters to embellish their homes, gardens, and lives. And, they’re doing it beautifully!

The container gardening trend is so hot, in fact, that it’s the topic of my forthcoming book with Cool Springs Press. I’ve spent the entire summer scouting locations, shooting photographs, and designing container gardening projects for the book, and I gotta say, I’m astonished by the amount of creativity in the container gardening world! It seems that today’s gardeners are more willing than ever to take risks when designing their containers. We’re trying new crazy-cool plant combinations, turning just about anything that holds soil into a container, and taking color combos that were once considered garish and making them sing. As a result, our creative juices are flowing like never before.

Table container garden — Creative gardeners are turning everything into containers these days – including the patio table!

Traveling the country in search of interesting container gardens has led me to discover a handful of container gardening trends that are pretty consistent from coast-to-coast. These are the trends that are inspiring today’s container gardeners and stimulating fresh ideas. They’re introducing a whole new generation of gardeners to the joys of growing in containers with style. When it’s time to plant your containers, take these container gardening trends and add your own creative twist.

Six cool container gardening trends for your garden

1. The use of creative containers. Trendy gardeners aren’t planting in big, glazed ceramic pots anymore. They’re converting filing cabinets into planter boxes, growing veggies in a pasta strainer, using stock tanks as raised beds, and turning all kinds of household items into garden containers.

recycled garden container — Recycled containers, such as this old ice cream maker, add whimsy and creativity to the garden.

2. Growing edibles in containers. If you don’t have time to maintain an in-ground vegetable garden, but you still want to grow your fair share of fresh veggies, of all the container gardening trends here, this one is the one for you. Everything from blueberries and tomatoes, to lettuce and kiwi vines can be grown in containers. And, if you’re afraid you’ll have to sacrifice beauty for food, you’re wrong. Containers of funky edible plants are beautiful.

3. Container gardening for wildlife habitat. Container gardeners everywhere are now growing for someone other than themselves. They’re planting containers full of hummingbird plants, pollinator plants, and plants to lure in pest-eating beneficial insects. I’ve seen container gardens designed for seed-eating birds and others that support butterfly larvae. Being the bug-nerd that I am, this is the most exciting of all the popular container gardening trends happening today.

container gardening trends for butterflies — Container gardens for wildlife are one of the up and coming container gardening trends. This one supports butterflies.

4. Mobile container gardens. People with limited sunlight are making the most of this container gardening trend. Containers no longer just sit still and look pretty; instead, they’re moved around the patio, porch, or deck on wheeled pot dollies, or they’re planted in special, commercially-made mobile containers. Movable containers mean you can maximize sunlight exposure, shield a street view, or block out the obnoxious neighbor whenever necessary.

5. Adding up-cycled trellises to containers. I came across so many super-fun, up-cycled trellising ideas for container gardens on my photography scouting trips this summer; my brain is buzzing with ideas for my own garden next year! Folks are growing pole beans in pots and letting them ramble up everything from old mattress boxsprings to teepees made of mannequin limbs. The possibilities are endless!

patio trellis design — Unique container trellis ideas are everywhere. This old patio umbrella will soon be covered with pea vines.

6. Containerized water gardens. I’m one of a long list of gardeners who would love to have a water feature in my garden but don’t want the hassle of maintaining an in-ground pond or waterfall. A containerized water garden is the answer. They’re so easy to set up and care for; I’ll be featuring step-by-step instructions for a really creative one with a DIY bamboo fountain in my new book. But, even a simple pot filed with water and a few plants, such as the one featured in the photograph below, is a welcome addition to any garden. This is one of those container gardening trends that is definitely here to stay.