CONTAINERS
Picturesque old sinks are obviously not available to us, and any horse troughs I’ve seen have been much too monstrous. Miss Ashberry casts her own containers of concrete (its porosity is excellent for plants), and we can do the same.
Sometimes I think the sinks and troughs look a little heavy in relation to the plantings. Certainly they are heavy, and almost impossible to move, when filled with soil. But I’ve found a goodly number of acceptable substitutes. First, of course, I shopped my favorite junk yard and found the round concrete planter and the wash-tub lid that served as containers for my first sink gardens. I also saw possibilities in a big old butter tub that could be cut down, and in a leaky birdbath.
Some of today’s building tiles are perfectly beautiful and, if shallow enough, could be fitted with a metal or wooden bottom. They come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. Thick, old wood is another possibility. I’m thinking of some weathered planks we found at the seashore last summer; they’d make a handsome and sturdy container for a wind-blown, woodsy garden.
Miniature garden of dwarf evergreens, Cyclamen neapolitanum, and tiny trumpet narcissi not yet blooming
In designing or selecting a container, you have few rules to go by. It should be strong and weather-resistant, of course, because it is to be placed outdoors. It must have drainage holes in the bottom, so fallen rain won’t stand in it. It should be deep enough (six to eight inches) to give small trees and plants root-room. And artistically, it should be in harmony and proportion with the garden to be planted in it, not as a feature in itself, but as a subordinate element in the picture.
Unless a sink garden is to be placed on top of a wall or some other existing support, it will probably need a base to hold it two or three feet off the ground. This can be made of cement blocks, rustic brick, tile, or concrete, according to the design of the container itself.