VALDOSTA — Suburban and city living can limit the space for a burgeoning horticulturist’s garden.

Container gardening can provide the area needed to plant a variety of vegetation from flowers and herbs to vegetables.

The key to planting a container garden is knowing how a plant will grow and where it will flourish, said Sherri Starling, Southern Gardens and Landscape Center manager. Plants survive easier in pots, as a person can control the environment they are in as well as the care they receive, Starling said.

Though Starling said container gardens are easy to take care of once they get started, having all the proper ingredients for a container garden is the key to its success.

“Your budget can be extreme or you can buy the minimum,” she said.

Though Starling has seen container gardens comprised of a variety of objects — from horse troughs and toilets to bathtubs and boots — she recommends terra cotta planters.

Terra cotta collects condensation when watered and allows the soil and plants to breathe, she said.

The terra cotta bowls work especially well for herbs and organic gardens, Starling said.

“A tried and true gardener will tell you that clay is best,” she said. “But clay can crack in the cold.”

Starling said even if a flower is beautiful or a piece of produce looks tasty a person should make sure the vegetation is suitable for this area before planting. Flowers that can grow in this area include petunias, cone flowers, sages, salvias, lantanas, tropicals, bougainvillea, mandevilla, periwinkles, vinca, daises, black-eyed susans, gerber daises, colus, luna hibiscus, canna lilies, agapanthus, verbenas, shasta daises and creeping periwinkles.

Cucumbers, thyme, sage and cabbages are just a few of the vegetables and herbs that can be planted in container gardens.

“Many people have started growing vegetables in containers so they can have them right at their back door,” Starling said.

Getting started

For beginning gardeners, Starling recommends starting with a 12-inch container and four plants.