Reader's Digest 'The Complete Container Garden' by David Joyce has some wonderful tips, guidelines, and ideas for creating container gardens of any size and shape. Fortunately, it doesn't actually try to be a complete gardening guide, leaving a detailed discussion of pests, diseases, climate, etc. to the more general gardening books. This leaves the entire 216 pages to be devoted to topics specific to container gardening, and it covers these topics well.
Chapter One, 'Versatile Containers', covers such things as choosing containers by color, size, and shape, and covers a wide range of effects that can be achieved by choosing different types of containers. Topics discussed are: strong and bright versus soft and cool colors, choosing containers and plantings for 'theatrical extravagance', 'effective simplicity', 'eye-catching containers', containers for formal gardens, containers for informal gardens, and choosing containers to dress up buildings and other structures. There are many excellent tips and photos here, and the topics are covered in detail and offer some excellent ideas.
Chapter Two devotes sixty pages to 'Successful Gardening in Containers.' Here the author gets into the 'nitty gritty' of container gardening, starting off with specific details on container choices by material. Basic instructions on how to make a wooden window box are also given, as well as several ideas for decorating plain containers to make them much more interesting. Ideas are outlined for using old materials you may have lying around for your planting containers, such as an old sink, galvanized buckets, chimney pots, wheelbarrows, baskets, etc., and there are many photos of some wonderful examples. Basic tips are also given for how to move heavy containers, safely securing window boxes and hanging baskets, and for pot supports for containers on the ground.
The second chapter continues on with planting instructions for trees and shrubs, bulbs, window boxes, hanging baskets, alpine gardens, herb and strawberry jars, and even a water garden in a barrel. Detailed instructions are given for watering, feeding, and deadheading. Also covered is annual renewal and care for shrubs and trees, along with pruning tips and instructions for creating a topiary shrub. Additional topics covered in detail are false topiary, training vines (including some simple trellises you can make), training standards, propagating from seed, raising plants from cuttings, propagating by plant division, and winter protection. There is a one-page quick reference guide to pests and diseases, which, though brief, has some excellent photos of the most common destructive dangers for your garden so they can be easily identified.
Chapter three contains forty pages of 'model plantings'. It has exquisite photos and detailed planting diagrams for making these beautiful growing sculptures yourself. Planting instructions are organized by color and season, so you can easily find just the right design for your garden.
The last chapter, 'Plants for Containers', is seventy-nine pages of excellent reference. Flowers are presented by color grouping, and foliage is separated by color, as well. Also discussed and illustrated with excellent photos are herbs, fruit, vegetables, berrying plants, and grasses. At the very end are two pages of reference, listing of plants by such categories as flowering shrubs, trailing plants, dwarf bulbs, shade-tolerant plants, and 'survivors', to name a few.
Reader's Digest 'The Complete Container Garden' is not really a complete all-around reference book for everything you might want to know about gardening in containers. It is, however, as complete as one would hope for and an excellent reference for beautiful design ideas and tips for even the well-seasoned container gardener. I heartily recommend it for your gardening library.
