DIY Container Garden

In case you didn’t see, Pete and I are having a little spring challenge to grow the best lawn.

And while I was at Lowe’s picking up the Sta-Green fertilizer to get this off the ground, I thought it might be cool to do a little container garden instead of watching my grass grow.

This is a great project to do with kids—you’ll hold their attention and they’ll get to see the fruit of their labor relatively quickly.

Pun intended.

I started with this Patio Pickers container. It’s got wheels, a soil cover and a little watering tube—it was about $30. You could also just use a pot, a bucket or a fancy-schmancy raised garden bed for similar results.

I typically just throw the instructions to the side. I’m glad I glanced at them ‘cause the instructions said to pack the corners with moist potting mix. Apparently the bottom of the container will hold water and it will wick up into the soil automagically.

They also said that I need to use POTTING MIX. Not potting soil. Not manure. Not dirt from the side yard. I picked up this Sta-Green Potting Mix…

…and seven little herb plants. Well, one is a tomato that I’ll put in my existing raised garden bed. So…parsley, rosemary, basil, some other kind of parsley, cilantro and one other thing that I don’t remember what it is. Get what you like.

Back to the instructions. Insert the watering tube, fill ‘er up with POTTING MIX, and create a trough in the middle to add fertilizer. I’ll plant the herbs in two rows on each side of the trough.

I used All Purpose Plant Food from Sta-Green to jump start this little container garden and feed it for the next few months. Uh, up to 3 months to be exact.

I added the fertilizer in the trough. I’ve never done it this way before. It must be some kind of proven system as I usually just jam my hand in the fertilizer bag and throw some around the plant. The only things I measure is lumber and water for pancake batter. Period.

I added the fertilizer in the trough. I’ve never done it this way before. It must be some kind of garden wizardry as I usually just jam my hand in the fertilizer bag and throw some around the plant. The only things I measure is lumber and water for pancake batter. Period.

Then the ol’ ‘structions told me to add two more inches of soil over the top. Oh and mix in some lime to those top two inches. I forget how much lime. And I mean lime like the stuff you use to adjust the pH of soil. Not tasty limes you put in pies or adult drinks. But you could probably grow those in here if you want.

There was a soil cover and a big rubber band to hold it on the box. I guess the idea is to keep out weeds, pests and maybe hold the soil at some certain temperature? I just did as they said. Trust the ‘structions.

DIY soil bed fertilizer cover for garden

Cover rubber-banded up.

cut an "x" into the garden soil cover to plant herbs

So once you figure out where you’re going to plant everything, cut an “X” in the cover and…

Dad blog builds patio garden bed for herbs

…go ahead and jam in your herbs. Or tomatoes. Or some other kind of plant that you forgot what it was. This is the fun part for the kids—the actual planting. And that’s my man hand, not my kids’. They did the rest after I cut the cover.

Three down, three to go.

All set. Now fill up the container with water using a hose in that watering tube. You’ll know it’s full because water will spill out the side of the container through little overflow holes.

That’s it. About 30 minutes. Maybe $50-$60. And check out Sta-Green at your nearest Lowe’s.

I’ll give you an update on how they grow in the next installment. We’ll reveal our lawn fertilization challenge and maybe make a tomato basil pizza.

Disclosure: Dadand was supplied product and/or compensated to post about Lowe’s—a company whose products we love and use all the time. Despite that, the opinions expressed by Dadand are our own. To provide as much transparency as possible, Dadand makes every reasonable effort to disclose the source of all products and services reviewed.