Potted plants have their place outdoors and indoors. Aside from the beauty of the growing plant, another attractive feature of potted plants is their portability.
The growing containers allow you to re-arrange your view anytime or take the plants with you when you move.
Everything from evergreen trees to tiny evergreen succulents can be grown in pots and kept thriving year round with these planting and growing tips.
Norfolk Island Pine
This evergreen conifer is able to adapt to outdoor or indoor living when planted in a pot.
The Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla) is a dwarf pine tree that will reach a mature height of about five feet.
The Norfolk Island Pine has a shallow root system and must be planted in firm, tightly packed soil to help keep it upright and stable.
Choose a tall, cylinder-shaped planting container and mix 1 quart of sand into the planting soil mixture for extra stability.
Place the Norfork Island Pine in a bright location where it will receive indirect sunlight.
The evergreen tree thrives in temperatures between 45 degrees to 95 degrees but will drop its needles when exposed to freezing temperatures.
Feed the potted pine monthly with a water-soluble plant food when it’s showing signs of active growth. Water only when the top inch of soil becomes dry.
Heavenly Bamboo
Heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) is an ornamental shrub that is at home in a pot or in-ground.
The plant will drop its leaves after a spectacular fall foliage show but is still considered an evergreen due to its colorful fall berry production.
Heavenly bamboo produces bright red berries that will last throughout the winter, providing the birds don’t eat all of them.
The leaves of the Heavenly Bamboo also change color with each season.
Leaves start out pink in spring, turn to red in early summer, then change to green by mid-summer, and finally an eye-catching deep purple just before dropping off in the fall to reveal bright red berries.
Heavenly bamboo will reach a mature size of 4 feet tall and wide but can be kept pruned to a smaller size if desired.
Place plant in a large (at least 15 inch) container that is filled with a 50/50 mixture of potting soil and compost.
Place container in a full sun location.
Feed evergreen once in the early spring with a balanced granulated fertilizer and water only when the top inch of soil becomes dry.
Succulents
All that’s required for growing any variety of evergreen succulents is sandy soil and warm air temperatures.
Succulents (cacti) come in various shapes and sizes, ranging from the small chick and hens to the tall and stately desert cactus.
Choose a planting container that corresponds with the mature size of the succulent, then add a thin layer of pea gravel in the bottom to ensure fast drainage.
Top the pea gravel with a 75/25 mixture of potting soil and sand.
Plant the selected succulents and add a thin layer of aquarium gravel on top of the soil.
Place planting containers in direct sunlight, never feed, and only water when the top inch of soil dries out.
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