Fall Container Garden Ideas & Tips #1

Use these five Fall Container Garden Ideas & the eight tips for planting successful and thriving container gardens to bring some autumn charm to your landscape.

As I’ve mentioned before, I collect container garden ideas like others collect recipes. I’ll snap pics of planters I like and then take inspiration from the plant combination to create that planter at home. I’ve gathered several of my favorite Fall Container Garden ideas for your inspiration.

You can see all my Container Garden Recipes here, including my post on Container Gardening 101.

Tips for Fall Container Gardens

Planting container gardens for the fall requires different considerations than those planted in the spring or summer. Here are some tips, as well as ideas, for your very best container garden.

• While mums are ubiquitous with fall, remember that they are typically in bloom for only 3-4 weeks. If you’ve bought them in bloom from the garden center, you have even less time than that. I’m not saying don’t use them, but if you want color for longer than 3-4 weeks, consider replacing them when they are spent or using plants around them that will kick in and provide color when they are done blooming.
• Don’t forget about hardy, woody herbs when planning your container garden. The planter above includes thyme, but rosemary is another great option.
• Plan and Plant your container gardens by early September. This allows them to establish themselves before the cooler temperatures arrive. And remember that some plants will alter their color as the temperatures fall; the leaves of some heuchera (coral bells) will turn more bronze in the fall and sedum and some evergreen succulents develop a deeper color.
• Because the fall is such a short growing period, consider planting more than you would in spring or summer for a full planter.
• For colorful flowers, consider snapdragons, pansies, violas and salvia.
• Embrace the different textures that ornamental grasses, kales and cabbages provide
• When it is time to replace the plants in your fall container garden, replant the perennials and hardy plants in a sheltered spot for use next year.
• Add pumpkins and gourds to your container garden for whimsy and a pop of color.

Here’s a video pin with the tips and images that you can save to your Container Garden or Fall Pinterest Board for your easy access.

Here are five container gardens that will be perfect for your fall landscape.

Purple Majesty Fall Container Garden

Deep purple, almost black Pennisetum Glaucum “Purple Majesty’ is the thriller in this colorful fall planter.

The tall, dark grass is underplanted with:

• Red Russian Kale
• Scarlet Kale
• Small orange mums
• Trifolium Purpurascens, ‘Chocolate Clover’
• Salvia Guarantica ‘Black and Blue’ Anise Sage
• Persimmon Supertunia

And if you look closely, you can see a little pumpkin tucked in the planter.

Simple Pansy Planter

This simple planter would do best in a part sun/part shade area of your lawn.

• A Tassel fern gives this otherwise low planting a little height

• Chocolate Chip Ajuga will fill in any bare spots

• Red Pansies and Primo ‘Wild Rose’ coral bells (Heuchera) give the planter its lovely purple/red color. The cooler temps of fall will bring a deep plum color to the Heuchera.
• Tuck in a pumpkin for some instant orange!

Pepper and Cabbage Basket

Not sure you could pick one plant to be the ‘thriller’ in this fall container planting nestled in a grapevine basket

• Marigolds, a mum, and Acapulco Red Ornamental Pepper bring the bright color balanced by the more subdued Ornamental Red Cabbage (Brassica oleracea Osaka).

Elegant Swirled Boxwood Window Box

This GORGEOUS window box is anchored by a spiral boxwood. In my mind, that boxwood would be there year-round and underplanted seasonally. For the fall, the underplantings are:

• Porcupine Grass, Euphorbia x martinii’Ascot Rainbow’ Spurge, and Croton on either side of the boxwood give some height to the underplanting. (Bear in mind, Coleus prefers temps above 40°)
• Three green kale front the window box, along with several ornamental peppers (Capsicum annuum ‘Santos Orange’ and ‘Chili Red’)
• Christmas Peppers provide a transition between the two levels of the underplantings.

Simple Purple and Green Fall Container Garden

• A ‘Black Pearl’ Ornamental Pepper (Capsicum annuum) stands tall in the rear of this simple but stunning fall container garden.
• A purple mum, purple ornamental cabbage (Brassica oleracea), possibly Pigeon Purple, and ornamental grass fill out the planter. For the ornamental grass, I think it is either Deergrass (Muhlenbergia rigens), Maiden Grass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’) or ColorGrass Carex ‘Amazon Mist’.

Bookmark this page or pin the following image to refer back to this post on Fall Container Garden Ideas and Tips.

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