great ways to use vines in containers

Give a gardener a vine, and odds are he or she will plant it next to a trellis or an arbor. But do vines really have to be grown only on a structure? No!?

One creative way to use vines is to grow them in a container as a single specimen or as part of a colorful combo. Click here for a list of vines that make good container choices. Just keep the pot size in balance with the size of the vine so your container’s not falling over all the time. If in doubt, go with a larger pot — a bigger mass of roots will reward you with a healthier, and more stable, plant.

Provide a frame for the vine to climb, such as an obelisk, like the one for the yellow mandevilla in the illustration. Train the plant to the support and keep it tidy by clipping. But don’t overlook vines as the “spiller” at the edge of the pot. They’re perfect in containers set up high on a wall, such as the bougainvillea in the illustration.

To keep your potted vine growing happily, every year remove several inches of potting soil, down to where you find roots. Refill the container with fresh potting mix that has a handful of bone meal or slow-release fertilizer mixed into it. And after a vine has been in the same pot for four or five years, remove it, wash off all the soil and trim the roots so they’re not spiraling in the container. Then use fresh potting mix to replant your vine into the same pot.

Want more great ideas for growing in containers? Check out Succulent Container Gardens at right!