Good question Cookingardner. I’ve been wondering the same thing in regards to non-hanging containers.

My local greenhouse gardening guide says “Use more plants than seem to be needed. Containers will look better and bloom longer.”

Do you disregard the spacing guidelines on plant tags? Is it OK to put plants close together as long as they’re not the same plant? Do containers have different guidelines because the plants are not expected to last as long as say those in a flower bed?

It really depends on what I’m growing. For regular bedding plants, you can probably plant them 3" apart and fill up the space.If I’m growing something that I know wants as much space and water as possible to perform well I will go ahead and give it the space. Like avisrapax I prefer to plant less densely and wait for the container to fill out more naturally.

I’ve done a few baskets before and a few containers. Hmmm….let’s see if I can remember what I did last year. I have one 2-tier basket that had about 6 petunia plants, a cosmos and a dahlia on the top layer and about 8 petunia plants and 2 calibrachoa plants in the lower basket. In my standard color-bowl container I put about 4 dianthus and 4 petunias in it along with some marigolds. I basically would lay the 6pk plants around the edge making sure the was some soil in between each plant. I think I have a pic of my two-tier planter on my container garden page, but if not…I will be sure to add it.

I am going to a special container planting event at my local nursery this weekend and they are planting our containers for us with our own plants! I can’t wait! I’m sure I’ll learn some helpful information from the experts from Kellogg Garden Products as they are the ones sponsoring the event. I will be sure to update when I get home from the event.