Fall Planters: Autumn Container Gardens for the Porch
When Susan Nock, a garden designer based in Wellesley, Massachusetts, launched her business Thistle eight years ago, she didn’t set out to specialize in container gardens. Photography by Susan Nock. Nock likes to include a mix of textures and leaf shapes, including loose and wavy grasses and carexes, and trailing plants like ajuga and ivy. Plant a variety of leaf shapes. Ornamental kale and cabbages are frost-tolerant. For fall planters, Nock relies on ornamental kale and cabbages, mums, and pansies, all of which will endure some frost. Pick frost-tolerant plants. Elevate those mums and cabbage. Nock proves that ornamental kales and cabbages can look super sophisticated in a variety of compositions including... ...a bouquet like design left and a nearly monochromatic pot that features solely shades of green right With cabbages she says to look for ones with fun shapes and textures And she says If you tuck mums in with other... ...plants as just one element in the container they work better They don t look as stiff next to flowing grasses or spilling ivy Shop the perennials sale. Perennials like heucheras and grasses have a place in planters When you take apart your fall planters you can plant these in the... ...ground even if it s a little crunchy and use them in the garden or keep them in the containers for another arrangement Reuse your Halloween gourds by tucking them into a container arrangement Steal her trick to get them to sit where you want... ...and avoid rotting Prop them up on an empty plastic pot from the nursery which you can conceal with foliage or preserved moss Nurseries are often picked over come November so if you are not finding all the plants you want tuck in Spanish moss or sheet... Get creative when the pickings are slim. ...moss for a fun texture says Nock noting that independent nurseries and farm stands are more likely to have plants this time of year Nock will continue to water her planters until average daytime temperatures are reliably in the 30s.