Container Gardening with Atlas Pots
byGrowing your own garden, beautiful flower beds, or cultivating that perfect shrub can be rewarding, especially if you don’t have much room to work with. Vancouver’s downtown “shoebox” living spaces make it difficult for green thumbs to live out their passions however it can be possible — even if you have the smallest of patio spaces.
I’m giving away a free container gardening consultation from Atlas Pots. They are a family business that knows all there is to know about container gardening, from fiberglass and fibercrete, to terrazzo. Seeing as how the snow last winter finally did in what little balcony garden John and I had, I’m assuming others out there might be in the same boat especially with this summer’s heat.
In this one-hour consultation from Atlas they will examine your growing space and give gardening advice. In particular they will focus on container gardening advice, such as which planters are best for which plants and space, suggestions on what plants to include, etc. Adding to that, the winner of this contest will also receive a $150 gift certificate to spend at Atlas to get their garden up and growing.
To enter to win this prize (valued at $250 total), please leave a comment on this post outlining what you’re currently growing (or would like to be growing). If you can fit all of that into a Tweet, you can @AtlasPots and @Miss604 to enter to win as well. Bonus points (meaning an extra entry) if you already have a container garden, which you’d like to improve, and you post a photo of it to the Miss604 Flickr group.
Update, August 17, 2009: I have drawn the winner of this giveaway and it is Susan Main. Congratulations, Susan & thank you for entering.
27 Comments — Comments Are Closed
I would love to win this lovely prize please Rebecca.My four year old and I would grow flowers and herbs .Thank you.
We are currently growing tomatoes, blueberries and strawberries in pots and they are loving this heat! I would love to grow some raspberries and I have space to start a container garden on the porch. What a great prize!
We live in a north facing apartment that has a perfect dose of morning sun and heaps of afternoon shade. I’ve got two awesome thumbs – but I’m still trying to uncover the “green factor” in them. Would LOVE Atlas Pots’ input to bring my patio to life. (And my pots – all from Atlas Pots’ – would welcome some new purchases and green inserts!) Thanks Miss604!
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We have some flowers, but no herbs or veggies. Fresh herbs would be nice, as for what type? not to sure really.
I have a patio with 3 varieties of tomatoes, herbs, lettuce, spinach and a few flowers as well as a (very) small yard in the front that is mainly shade. I would love to learn how to maximize the use of my patio to grow more veggies, herbs and flowers as well as the super shady area out front. Thanks!
Sweet! I’m growing Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, a little herb garden, chives, banana peppers, some other kind of hot pepper, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, green leaf lettuce and romaine lettuce.
I dream of a little window box full of fresh herbs. I have never even considered growing herbs in a pot on my tiny balcony.
I’m trying to grow tomatoes, herbs and strawberries. The herbs aren’t doing very well, but the tomatoes aren’t doing too badly and we had a decent batch of small strawberries. But the pots can’t be empty in the winter — what do I do with them? I need help for my non-green thumb attempts. Can I win please?
I just moved into a condo with a huge balcony on it, from a basement suite where I couldn’t even grow plants inside for lack of light. All I have right now is a wilting little mint plant which isn’t liking this heat at all, but I have plans for a whole bunch of herbs, tomatoes, peppers, and flowers (and whatever else I can fit on the balcony) for next year. I’ve never had any form of a garden before and would love some help!
I currently have a few pots on my patio. I planted peas, jalepeno peppers, swiss chard (using seeds SPEC sent me), mint, basil, cilantro, and oregano. Some of them are doing better then others.
Just moved into a new house, and we have a VERRRRRY sunny deck with some dying cedars in pots. I’d love to figure out what we can do with fibreglass containers and some tough plants!
I planted cilantro, squash, basil, honeydew, beans and cherry tomatoes !
Between new job and being executor, I have had no time for gardening. My containers are dead! Please help me revitalize them!
This year, my black thumb turned over a new leaf! For the first time, I took up container gardening, and I’m just thrilled so few have died, even in this heat. I’ve been spending oodles of time trying to learn which plants will survive my very challenging situation: southern exposure yet mostly shaded (in summer); with a 3-hour late afternoon blaze of sun on the other side of my porch. I’ve only been growing plants because added to this crazy mix, I live on a very busy (read: dirty) street and I’m not sure the food would be edible. It’s also a tiny porch where I like to sit out and enjoy the view, so greenhouses would be a challenge, I think. But boy oh boy would I love a consult!
I have a few great pots but not many plants right now. I really am getting into succulents and foliage plants like coleus. I would love some help in fixing up my front porch with pots filled with lovely stuff.
There are many things that you should bare in mind when you want to grow herbs or even flowers and vegetables. It might look hard but when you try it, you’ll know it wasn’t. In fact, it’s fun doing it.You’ll love it and even more, it would be useful. It gives fragrance to the house that every household can enjoy. You can use it as a flavoring to your cooking. You can use it as a medicine for some illnesses. And also, you can use it for beauty purposes. You just have to be creative and all.
This would be a great prize to win. A few months ago, we started to fill our small balcony with with plants and flowers, but then lost some to the recent heat wave! Would love to get some tips and also start growing some herbs and veggies.
That’s so awesome! I have two outdoor window boxes (basement suite) containing herbs in one, and some newly-planted Mums in the other because I needed something that was shade dwelling. My neighbour (who has a big plot of the backyard) is growing rows of vegetables and I am enjoying watching them grow.
Last winter broke all my clay pots, so I’m replacing with good-looking fibreglass fakes that will hold up in this climate. Would love a deer-proof perennial planting for my front deck or deck railing–something fuss-free that will be pretty to look at over an early-morning coffee…
just moved into my new apt in June…have a hosta and a calla plant, both sitting starbucks coffee cup lids (for drainage), and then on paper plates wrapped in saran wrap. Not exactly the professional look I was aiming for.
This is my first year container gardening and I’m completely enjoying it. I have three tomato plants (tons of tomatos), some chili peppers (again, tons), bell peppers, parsley, rosemary, oregano, chives and basil. Am also growing my first ever rose. I also have 5 window planters on the balconey railing with flowers, as well as some random pots with flowers. Great way to spend summer hours.
I would love to grow herbs! And find out what else would grow on my north/east facing balcony.
I have put some shots on your flickr group of my container gardening. The previous owner of this house covered the tiny back yard in paving, but left an assortment of pots and troughs. I have been growing herbs, peas, beans and tomatoes in them this summer. An old pond has also been turned into a compost filled deep bed, and from the bokashi I have now self-generated potato and squash plants. I am surprised at how well these plants have all coped with limited sunshine – there’s a lot of shade back there. Keeping up with the watering was one of the main concerns in the hot weather, but the productivity of small spaces is amazing.
I’ve had a balcony for 4 years but only started container gardening this year. I’m growing cilantro, lettuce mix, snap peas, and swiss chard. It’s NW facing so not much sun. Would appreciate advice on what to grow.
Growing tomatoes (always ripen when store price hits rock bottom!), hot peppers and strawberries. Not much luck this year with herbs though.
How exciting to win this great contest! I will blog about it – the consultation and what I end up doing with it. Thanks again for this chance to win!