For inspiration, take a look at these 10 fall containers that all feature at least one extra ingredient to give them some seasonal pizazz.
10 Standout Fall Container Gardens With Extra Seasonal Pizazz
October 11, 2020
When it’s time to assemble fall container gardens, including a few sprigs of preserved berries, colorful branches, a bright pumpkin or other bonus natural elements can be an easy way to add more color and interest. If you have existing planted containers, simply tuck in an ingredient of your choice, no repotting required. If you’re putting together new fall containers, mix seasonal elements in with the plants to help bring home a fall theme. Conversely, skip potting entirely and go with a low-maintenance arrangement of dried foliage or a pumpkin tower.
2. Sprays of Berries
Add more interest and color to existing container designs by tucking in a few cut branches of berries, as in this arrangement by KMS Gardens and Design. You can clip fresh branches of berries from shrubs in your garden or purchase preserved or artificial branches of berries to use year after year.
3. Squash Cage
Fill a garden obelisk with gourds, squashes and pumpkins for a colorful display that will enhance your porch’s curb appeal. Plant the base of the arrangement with variegated ivy, as The Windowbox Gardener did in this design, or fill in around the base with sprays of preserved fall leaves.
4. Pumpkin Planters
Cut the tops off pumpkins and empty them as if you were going to carve them. Then, tuck potted fall bloomers into the pumpkins. Mums of many colors are readily available in nurseries this time of year and will bloom all season long. Clumps of heather would also work well for this container, as they’re a perfect size and even look nice dried. Or, add faces to the pumpkins and fill them with different types of ornamental grasses to look like wild hairstyles.
Note: Once cut, pumpkins will have a limited lifespan. To re-create the look, you can always replace real pumpkins with pumpkin-shaped planters.
5. All Dried
No planting is needed for this exuberant fall arrangement of dried grasses, flowers, seed heads and preserved fall foliage. You may be able to forage for some ingredients in your garden, and you can easily supplement the arrangement with purchased dried elements.
A few dried elements to consider: seed heads of ornamental grasses, trailing amaranthus, sunflower seed heads, preserved fall leaves, wheat sheafs, branches with preserved or artificial fruits, cattail seed heads, dried lotus pods and more.
6. Fall Harvest
If your container already features a few edible elements, such as rosette-shaped cabbages, bright peppers or curly kale, take it to the next level by putting together a potted harvest arrangement like this one by Greenlife Gardens. Pile on pumpkins, gourds and any squashes you’ve picked from your garden, arranging them in a new container or among veggies already growing in a pot.
7. Pomegranates and Dried Branches
Showing that it doesn’t take much to add a little something extra to a potted display, this subtle fall container by KMS Gardens and Design benefits from a few burgundy-colored dried pomegranates and curly willow branches for added height.
8. Gourds on Sticks
If you look closely at this fall window-box display, also by KMS Gardens and Design, you’ll see the addition of decorative gourds mounted on sticks above the cabbages, ornamental grasses and annual flowers. The designer also used pine cones on sticks as a second window box accent.
9. Balanced Pumpkin Tower
An empty container and a few pumpkins in cascading sizes is all you need to re-create this cute entryway design by Garden Stories. Choose a mix of pumpkins and gourds in various colors and shapes for a varied tower, and remove their stems for better stacking. Heirloom pumpkins make great bases since their short, squat forms create a stable foundation for a tower.
Skip the container entirely and go for a full-on pumpkin tower. It may look like a clever balancing act, but chances are these pumpkins and gourds are either drilled down the middle and stacked on a pole or mounted to a post at the back.
10. Magnolia and Birch Branches
Use this combination of cut magnolia and birch branches by Second Nature Landscape Design as inspiration for an arrangement you can put together now and use throughout the holiday season. The rich, velvety brown and glossy green of the magnolia leaves combined with the snowy-white birch bark works both in fall and winter. Plus, you don’t need to remember to water the potted combo in the rush of the holiday season.
Source: https://www.houzz.com/magazine/10-standout-fall-container-gardens-with-extra-seasonal-pizazz-stsetivw-vs~113662590
Use a pumpkin to hide the bare spot left by faded summer annuals for an instant container garden pick-me-up. Choose a pumpkin according to the size of your container and the bare spot you’d like to cover; if your container is tight on space, tuck in a miniature pumpkin to hide among the foliage.
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