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Branch Out Burlington! is a volunteer organization dedicated to planting trees in Burlington, VT and educate the public on the values of the urban forest. By Margaret Skinner / Branch Out Burlington! Vice President Branch Out Burlington! Branch Out Burlington! (also known as BOB!) is a volunteer organization committed to planting and caring for trees in and around Burlington, Vermont. Our mission is to educate the public about the importance of urban forests and foster a sense of community through tree planting. A key component of BOB! is our community tree nursery, established 26 years ago in collaboration with the Burlington Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront. Every spring, we organize a festive event where people of all ages participate in planting 100 bare-root trees in Smart Pot commercial grow bags. This event is particularly gratifying as we involve the younger generation, ensuring that they will carry on our legacy in the future. the Burlington Community Tree Nursery Over the years, our nursery has supplied the city with over 2,000 trees, which have been planted along the streets and in our parks. However, with the recent discovery of the emerald ash borer, our locally grown trees are in high demand to replace the over 850 ash trees that are expected to succumb to this pest. We are deeply grateful for the sustained support from Smart Pot over the years, which has enabled us to expand our urban forest and make a positive impact on our community. BOB! Website | Click Here BOB! News | Click Here Volunteer | Click Here Learn More | Click Here Cultivate’25 Trade Show Find America’s Favorite Garden Planter, Smart Pots, at AmericanHort’s Cultivate ’25 Trade Show 🪴🇺🇸 Smart Pot Booth #2324 Smart Pot planters,… Read More Cultivate’25 Trade ShowContinue Commercial Resources Welcome to Smart Pot’s Commercial Resource Center. Here you will find our most recent catalogs, upcoming trade shows, Smart Pot news,… Read More Commercial ResourcesContinue

Pollinators are essential for our food system. They pollinator crops, fruits, and vegetables, which helps to ensure that you have a bountiful harvest. However, pollinators are under threat from habitat loss, pestices, and climate change. One Way to help pollinators is to plant pollinator-friendly plants in your garden.

Gardening above ground opens up possibilities of fresh veggies and beautiful flowers to so many new and veteran gardeners. They are turning to a range of alternatives to in-ground garden beds, such as a window box three stories up or a raised bed on the back patio, to solve a variety of gardening issues. What sorts of issues, you ask? We have rounded up a five issues that find their answers in the form of the Urban Raised Bed from Smart Pots and other above-ground gardening alternatives. Garden Where You Have No In-Ground Space Living in a condo complex, a densely populated neighborhood or a spot that offers no private sun-filled yard? Raised beds give you the ability to hold soil anywhere where there’s a surface to place it. Turn a sunny paved spot in the driveway or condo balcony into a veggie-producing garden or a flower-filled place for pollinators. Grow Where the Soil is Suspect Many soils surrounding homes—urban and otherwise—have unhealthy levels of contaminants from construction debris, previous industrial use and other reasons. Raised beds allow you to easily and safely grow in the space by holding soils of known origin. Protect Plants from Underground Pests Keep grubs, nematodes, slugs and other soil-living, plant-destroying pests at bay by cutting off underground and soil-surface access to your garden. Raise Your Garden to a More Convenient Height In-ground gardens require lots of bending and kneeling to care for the plants. The Urban Raised Bed brings the garden’s soil up 18 inches so plants are far easier to access. Garden Above Ground With the Seasons The sun moves across your space with the seasons. Where the light is strong and perfect for cool-season crops may be too intensely sunny for summer growing. Move a raised bed to the perfect spot depending on the conditions—and that might even be in garage or basement for winter growing. How the Urban Raised Bed Can Help The Urban Raised Bed addresses each of these gardening situations. Unlike the other fabric products from Smart Pots, the Urban Raised Bed is designed for a semi-rigid structure with the insertion of 1-in. PVC lengths (not included). This framework allows the Bed to hold far more soil and plants than if it was unframed. The Urban Raised Bed comes in two sizes: 24-in. by 48-in. by 18-in. tall, holding approximately 13.5 cubic feet of soil 48-in. by 48-in. by 18-in. tall, holding approximately 27 cubic feet of soil The fabric comes with sleeves into which the piping can slide for easy assembly and is ready for planting within minutes. And with its durable fabric, it’ll last for years. Growing a garden is indeed a possibility for you this season! And now that you know you grow above-ground, you can start planning and planting. Head over to your favorite garden center or online store to obtain your Urban Raised Bed and look forward to blooms and harvesting edibles in just a few weeks.

Planning a Smart Pot Garden Have you heard the saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”? That adage is especially true when it comes to planting a garden. If a gardener wants to grow fruits, flowers, herbs or vegetables, they’ll find a way to make it happen. With a combination of Smart Pots fabric containers and a few hours of sunshine a day, it’s possible to grow a garden just about anywhere. Whether on a rooftop, balcony, patio, deck, porch, front stoop or alleyway, all it takes is a little planning to get your garden growing. Plan for Sunshine No matter what you want to grow in your garden, you’ll need to plan for at least a few hours of sunshine a day. If you want to grow most flowers and warm-season vegetables, you’ll need about 8 hours of sunlight; herbs and cool-season edibles will grow with less sunshine. The easiest way to find the best spot for your plot is to do a simple sun survey. This method uses paper, pencil and three observations over the course of one day. The ideal time to take a sun survey is in early- to mid-spring, when trees are starting to leaf out and when you’re able to see the path of the sun as it crosses your preferred planting area. Draw the outline of your planting space on a piece of paper and include shade trees or other shade-producing features. Then observe the area at 8:00 a.m., 12 noon, and 4:00 p.m. After each observation draw a circle on the paper to show the area of sunlight. Where the three circles intersect is the place in the yard that receives the most direct sunlight. With this survey you can prioritize your planting space. Fruiting vegetables, like tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, squash, and melons will prefer the sunniest spot. Other vegetables and culinary herbs will do just fine growing with less sunlight or in partial shade. This list includes lettuce, kale, spinach, radish, bush beans, peas, carrots, beets, green onions, turnips Swiss, chard and many herbs. Plan for Smart Pots The next step is matching the Smart Pot container to what you want to grow. Fortunately, there’s a pot to fit every spot. Small-space gardens can fit a number of different sizes of round Smart Pots, liners for square milk crates or two kinds of Wall Flower hanging containers for vertical gardening. For larger areas, the round Big Bag Beds offer a way to place a raised bed in the middle of the yard or the rectangular Long Beds provide planting options along fences and walls. Placement is unlimited, depending on your garden vision. Plan for Irrigation Every Smart Pot garden will need some type of irrigation to keep plants watered. Many gardeners prefer to hand-water with a hose or watering can; others like the convenience of a raised bed irrigation system like the Smart Pot Bed Wetter slow drip watering system. For the healthiest garden, avoid using sprinklers that spray plant leaves instead of watering at soil level.

Early Vegetables for Spring, Plants to Grow in The Spring Even when the weather is too chilly to sit in the garden, you can plant a spring garden of early edibles. These are vegetables that can be sown, grown and enjoyed earlier than others. The earliest of the garden vegetables are hardy enough to keep growing in spite of frosty temperatures. These cold-tolerant vegetables prefer cool daytime temperatures that start at 45 degrees Fahrenheit. They can survive 40-degree days and frosty nights if covered. The vegetables in this group include radishes, cabbages, lettuce, kale, spinach and peas. All of these cold-loving edibles grow well in Smart Pots, either on their own or in combination with others. For example, radishes and spinach plants make good growing companions. While radishes are sending down their roots, the spinach leaves are growing up to fill the container. Another benefit of this spring planting is being able to harvest spinach leaves when they’re about an inch tall. Use small scissors to clip leaves from the outside of the plant and let the inner leaves keep growing. Lettuce is another easy-to-grow spring vegetable crop. It’s simple to broadcast or sprinkle the seeds of loose-leaf lettuce varieties over the top of the container’s potting soil and cover lightly with soil. Keep the soil moist and lettuce can be ready to snip in 60 days or less. Garlic is a vegetable that’s usually planted in fall; however, spring-planted garlic is another growing option. While plants won’t produce large garlic bulbs, plants can be harvested and eaten like green onions. To find the earliest vegetable varieties for your containers, look for those with the shortest number of days to maturity, either by planting seeds or transplants. Match similar maturity times for the vegetable combinations you’d like to harvest and cook together. For best results, plant cold-hardy vegetables about two weeks before the average date of the last frost for your area. Because this date varies, county extension agents and master gardeners can offer advice or consult the Old Farmer’s Almanac as a guide. Fill Smart Pots with a soil-less potting mix and water to get soil moist, but not soggy. Plant seeds directly in the pot following the instructions on the seed packets. You can also start seeds indoors for transplanting or buy your favorite cool-season transplants from a garden center. After planting, and when seeds start to sprout, keep soil temperatures on the cool side with some mulch placed around plants. Dry crushed leaves, untreated grass clippings, straw or strips of plain newspaper all make suitable mulches. As plants grow, be sure to thin root vegetables to leave room between plants. Use these plant thinnings on salads or in soups. Semi-hardy vegetables include carrots, beets, potatoes and parsnips; cauliflower, Swiss chard, arugula and parsley. Plant these cool-season edibles when daytime temperatures are slightly warmer (50 degrees) and plan on covering them at night with frost blankets, buckets and milk jugs or plant them in a cold frame.

Composting 101 When to compost? If you’ve been looking for a way to take your gardening to the next level, here’s a tip for you: Start composting this fall. Take the first steps now, and by spring you’ll transform kitchen and garden waste into a rich, organic material that will help you grow healthier plants. Compost is the key to a beautiful and bountiful garden because it can solve so many gardening dilemmas. It loosens clay soil by changing the texture for better draining. It also improves the water-holding ability of sandy soil. Compost boosts soil fertility because it hosts microorganisms that support all forms of plant and animal life. The secret to composting success is balancing four essential elements: nitrogen (green things), carbon (brown things), moisture, and oxygen. Although it might sound complicated, composting is simply managing a process that would happen naturally if you just threw everything in a pile and walked away. Fortunately, there’s a less messy method for getting started. The Compost Sak is a large fabric container, similar to a Smart Pot, that takes the guesswork out of composting, even for beginners. The top benefits of these porous, breathable fabric bags are that they neatly contain the composting materials. Plus, they allow air to circulate and water to drain for faster results. Here’s how to get started: Place the Compost Sak in an open, sunny spot where it will get enough moisture to keep the contents as moist as a wrung-out sponge. Water from rain, snow or a hose is essential to the composting process. What to put in a compost bin? Start with dry and crushed leaves, crumpled paper or shredded cardboard for drainage at the base. This layer is the brown, carbon-rich layer. Add green waste, such as lawn clippings, coffee grounds, eggshells, and vegetable peelings to the Compost Sak. Don’t add more than 6 inches of green waste at a time and dig kitchen scraps into the pile. Turn the compost occasionally to speed the composting, if desired. Use a shovel, pitchfork, hoe or long broom handle to mix the materials. Don’t let the compost dry out. Chop materials before adding them to the Compost Sak so they break down quicker. Use a mulching lawn mower, shovel or clippers to cut material into about 2-inch pieces. Add soil or a compost activator for even faster results. Keep adding brown material (dead leaves, shredded paper, straw, lint) with green materials (grass clippings, leaf trimmings, vegetable peelings, egg shells, coffee grounds). Avoid composting meat, cheese, fat, bones or chemically treated yard waste. Even though these bags are lightweight, they get heavy as materials breakdown. When the Compost Sak is just over half full, give it some time to decompose to a finished 12 cubic feet of compost. Start a second Compost Sak to have an even bigger batch of compost in spring. Should I use compost in my garden? Yes! Use the compost to prepare vegetable and flower beds before planting, top dress the lawn and mix into Smart Pot containers. Compost is the result of turning everyday household waste into rich, crumbly material for improving soil structure and growing healthier plants. Adding this organic matter to the garden means more beneficial soil microbes, healthier plants and bigger crops.

Caring for your Smart Pots this winter If you’ve been planting in Smart Pots for awhile, they’re bound to show signs of wear and tear. While those sweet bell peppers were growing inside the containers, some green stuff might have been growing on the outside, too. Fabric containers are meant to hold their shape and last for many years, but they can’t look brand new forever. Regular use over several seasons might require some Smart Pot TLC. Common indicators are white build up caused by excess salts leached from fertilizers, green algae or moss from too much moisture, or mildew forming on the outside of the pot. There are several approaches to caring for Smart Pots, depending on whether you leave them outside year round or empty and store them for the next gardening season. Some gardeners leave their Smart Pots outside because they don’t want to move them. (And storage space can be an issue!) The exteriors of these containers can be cleaned while the pots are still full. Fill a small bucket with a solution of baking soda mixed with water. Use a soft-bristled scrub brush to lightly scrub the pot, removing build up or stains. Then let the container air dry. Other gardeners choose to empty their Smart Pots and store them indoors during the off season. The easiest way to store containers for reuse is to scoop out the soil and let the bag dry completely. Used soil could be added to the compost pile, spread around the perennial bed or recycled elsewhere in the garden. After the pot is dry, gently brush off any dust and small roots or rub the sides of the container together to clean the interior. When the pots are dry and clean, simply fold and store them in a protected space like the potting shed, garage or basement. If the exterior has mineral build up or appears dirty, you can easily wash your Smart Pots to clean and sanitize the containers. OxiClean or a laundry detergent with non-chlorine bleach can do the job. Sterilizing kills any bacteria that remain in pots to keep them fresh for the next season. Like other washable fabrics, Smart Pots can be machine laundered, hand washed in a tub or soaked in a large bucket of cleaning solution. Be sure to rinse each pot thoroughly. Allow them to air dry only. To maintain their rigidity and shape, keep your Smart Pots out of the dryer. Check out our FAQs for additional information. When your pots are completely dry, fold and store them in a clean, dry space. When the next gardening season rolls around, your Smart Pots will be ready to fill and plant. With a little extra care at the end of the season, your Smart Pots can be reused for many years of growing fruits, vegetables, herbs, annual flowers and much more.

Vertical Gardening in Smart Pots Vertical planting in Smart Pots is a simple way to break out of a gardening rut. Growing up is like adding an energetic exclamation point that punctuates patios, breaks up large horizontal landscapes and fills narrow spaces. Not only does vertical growing maximize a garden’s space, it can solve some common garden challenges. Vertical gardening gives a small garden added depth, enhances an unappealing view and hides eyesores. Gardeners can give their gardens a lift with a few new ideas in vertical growing. Think Outside the Tomato Cage Even though tomato cages are meant to corral unruly fruiting vines, they can create towers of flower power when planted with ornamental vines. Place the cage in the Smart Pot first, then plant fast-growing sweet peas, morning glories or black-eye Susan vines. These annuals will grow quickly and find their way up the climbing support, with a little help. Good-looking annual edibles like to be caged, too. Hyacinth beans and nasturtium flowers are just two ideas for vine-to-table planting. Hang a Succulent Work of Art Succulents are like living sculptures that can transform a plain fence or railing into an outdoor art museum. With their natural architectural qualities, a single succulent or combination of plants adds a new look to an old space. Plant succulents that have a hanging or draping habit, like creeping blue spruce sedum or red carpet stonecrop. For the healthiest plants, add a thin layer of gravel and fill Smart Pot Wall Flower planters with a well-draining potting mix or a cactus mix. Succulents prefer soil on the dry side, so water deeply, but infrequently. Teepee More than Peas Peas and beans are old favorites for growing on a teepee trellis, but there are plenty of other plants that like to grow up. Baby cucumbers, pint-sized pumpkins and small squashes make for attractive and edible plantings. A bamboo teepee trellis is easy to construct with several stakes and ties placed in a Smart Pot. Plant around the base of stakes and guide vines up the teepee as they grow. Colorful foliage plants that climb a trellis can disguise an unsightly view or add dimension to an empty spot. Place several Smart Pots together or fill a Big Bag Long Bed to curve around a corner. Even though sweet potato vines typically like to sprawl along the ground, these colorful vines can grow up, too. Carefully ties vines to poles as they grow. Vertical Growing Tips For the healthiest container plants, place pots in a sunny spot and plant in a loose, well-draining soil. A slow-release fertilizer at planting time gives plants a head start on their vertical growing, with one or two more applications during the growing season.

The spring planting season is right around the corner. Time to stock up on garden supplies and get your plan ready for some edible gardening. Need extra motivation? Close your eyes and fantasize about the sweet aroma of fresh herbs. Imagine the intoxicating taste of juicy tomatoes, crunchy lettuce and fiery peppers. Stomach rumbling much? To start edible gardening, the formula is pretty simple. Plant seeds, water regularly, provide light, collect veggies. But there are a few tips and tricks that can maximize your yields. Let’s take a look at some of the unexpected things you need to start a vegetable garden. Critter Fencing and Crop Cages Depending on your garden’s location, it might be prone to theft from furry friends. Rabbits, moles, raccoons, deer and numerous other pests can wreak havoc. If local wildlife is snacking on your crops, try critter fencing or crop cages. Fencing can be built from sturdy plastic or metal poles surrounded by a soft polyethylene mesh. If you’re battling deer, make sure to leave a generous gap between the fence and your garden. You don’t want those long deer necks stretching over and gobbling down your lettuce. Crop cages completely enclose the plant, keeping it pest-free. Insect Barriers Made from translucent fabric, insect barriers keep hungry bugs from munching on your crops. They’re inexpensive and can be cut to any size. Insect barriers are made from breathable fabric that causes almost no heat build-up. And they’re designed to transmit at least 95% of the sun’s light to your growing plants. Insect barriers are an inexpensive way to keep six-legged pests at bay. Fabric Raised Beds & Containers While we’re on the subject of pest control, fabric raised beds do a fantastic job of fending off burrowing pests. Ground squirrels, gophers, voles, moles and chipmunks can do a number on your plants. The Big Bag Bed® or Smart Pot® discourages burrowing pests from nibbling on delicate roots and shoots. But the benefits don’t stop there. Fabric containers are excellent for edible gardening. They provide superior drainage to prevent root rot, and they’re proven to promote explosive root growth. That’s super-important, because larger root masses translate to larger harvests. When it comes to vegetable yields, fabric containers blow clay and plastic pots clean out of the water. And if you’re into organic farming, you’re in luck. Smart Pots and Big Bag Beds are 100% BPA-free. So they’ll never leach harmful BPA into your soil. It’s reassuring to know your crops will be free of this endocrine disrupting chemical. Soaker Hose with Timer Vegetable crops best thrive in fabric containers. And if you’re opting for fabric, do yourself a favor. Add a soaker hose and timer to your list of garden supplies. The Bed Wetters™ Soaker Hose is a great choice. Designed specifically for raised beds, it conserves up to 70% more water than traditional methods. Allowing water to slowly drip into the soil, it keeps your plants’ foliage dry. Wet foliage is a major source of disease transmission. Keeping those leaves high and dry will reduce plant pathogens. And if you add a programmable timer, watering is literally effortless. Cloches Cloches are essentially mini-greenhouses that can be placed over the tops of your plants. They can be purchased inexpensively at your local nursery or made from household materials like milk jugs. In spring, cloches create a micro-climate, keeping newly planted seeds warm and moist. That means you can plant seeds earlier and get a jump on the growing season. Cloches protect seedlings from spring frost, hail and heavy rains. In the fall, use cloches to keep plants warm, extending your growing season by a month or more. So there you have it. Five edible gardening contraptions you never knew you couldn’t live without. Use these products with a premium mix, organic fertilizer and all-natural pest repellant for appetizing results. And if you just can’t help yourself, add some beneficial mycorrhizae to the mix. With a green thumb and the best garden supplies at your disposal, it’s gonna be a tasty summer — and fall!

When you think high performance, what comes to mind? A championship race car? An elite athlete? A world-class opera? When every part works in perfect harmony, the results can be jaw-dropping. Now ponder this: Can you expect world-class performance from your garden? The answer is a resounding “YES!” A Performance Garden starts with the right ingredients: soil, seed, and fertilizer. But there’s one more component that can make or break your garden – the container. Even with the best soils, seeds and fertilizer, a subpar container can deep-six your entire project. So, what kind of container should you use? Smart Pots and Big Bad Beds are the ultimate Performance Garden containers. The Smart Pot is a breathable, porous fabric container. Unlike plastic containers, it’s permeable to air and moisture. So it doesn’t retain excess water. And with plentiful air flow moving through the root zone, it prevents heat stress and root circling. Just imagine how your plants will flourish when everything is just right. Your tomato plants will grow fuller and taller. Rosemary, mint and basil will display deeper, richer colors. Kale will sprout again and again. With the right tools in place, your plant performance will be off the charts. Worried you don’t have a green thumb? Don’t sell yourself short. You just need the right tools for the job. With Smart Pots from High Caliper Growing, expect championship performance from your garden!

A popular trend is gaining momentum across America. In communities coast to coast, school gardens are springing up. Student gardens provide a cornucopia of educational benefits — not to mention delicious vegetables for students and their families. Here are just a few of the perks they provide: Strong Social and Emotional Skills — Collaborating on student gardens improves maturity, communication skills and personal responsibility. Healthy Eating Habits — Kids who grow their own veggies have a greater appreciation for nutrition. Academic Achievement — Gardening is a great method for getting kids interested in science. Students with gardening in their curriculum show greater gains in scientific achievement. 4 Benefits of Using Fabric Pots Starting a student garden can be a huge undertaking. The construction phase alone is often painstaking and time-intensive. Here are four ways fabric pots will make your life easier: Forget About Construction — Take a quick look around the web. Most school gardens are built in greenhouses or fixed, raised beds. With fabric pots, you can leapfrog the construction phase and get right into cultivation. Save a Chunk of Change — At a time when school budgets are razor-thin, securing funds for raised beds or greenhouses can be daunting. Fabric pots offer an affordable, scalable alternative. Is funding scarce? Start small and grow your school garden over time. Enjoy Ultimate Flexibility — Situated above ground-level, fabric pots are highly mobile. They can be transported, sheltered or reconfigured to accommodate changing conditions. Need extra space on the playground? Slide your pots out of the way. Severe weather on the horizon? Move your plants inside to keep them safe and sound. Supercharge Your Science Curriculum — Fabric pots are scientifically designed to promote optimal root structures and hardy plants. Their breathable fabric delivers oxygen to roots while maintaining ideal soil moisture levels. It’s a great opportunity to teach students the principles of botany and plant biology. Want a quick, easy experiment? Compare plants grown in plastic pots to specimens grown in fabric pots. Have students chart the differences in growth rates, plant size and vegetable yields. (Spoiler alert! Fabric pots are vastly superior!) Hands-on learning in a school garden is an awesome way of getting kids interested in science. Psyched About Fabric Pots? Put Health and Safety First. When you’re growing vegetables for students and families to eat, safety is a top priority. It’s important to buy fabric pots that won’t leach harmful chemicals into the soil. Ready. Set. Grow! School gardens provide powerful social and academic benefits to students of all ages. They deliver access to fresh, healthy, affordable food to kids and their families. And they bring teachers, administrators, and parents together to help students succeed. So… What are you waiting for? Start planning your school garden today!

Intrigued by community gardens, but worried about getting in over your head? It can certainly seem daunting and ambitious, but thinking of it as “gardening in community” and taking it just one step at a time may make it easier to get started. Consider these three easy steps to jump start your spring planting: Step One: People • Gardening in community can be as simple as a small group of friends, neighbors, or colleagues who are interested in pooling resources and sharing the gardening experience with others. Nobody needs to be an expert. It’s more about enthusiasm and willingness to work than horticultural degrees. Tons of information is out there to help you succeed, and good gardeners learn by doing. Step Two: Places • You don’t need to have a giant fertile field, big equipment, and row after row of field crops to succeed. Think outside the box. Manage your expectations (and increase your odds of success) with container gardening. Driveways, parking lots, roof tops, vacant lots, you name it! Container gardening gives you complete control of your soil and watering. If it’s sunny, it works. Portable containers Smart Pots and Big Bag Beds give you the ultimate flexibility to manage your space for maximum yields, especially when there’s a wide variety of sizes that allow you to use every nook and cranny for planting. Step Three: Plants • Here comes the fun part! What do you like to eat? Visit your local garden center and see what’s available in young veggie starts and seeds. Do you want tons and tons of tomatoes for home grown, vine ripened summer salads and sandwiches? Add some peppers, cilantro and onions for a salsa garden and you have a dream kitchen garden—even if the only space you have is a friend’s driveway. Don’t forget herbs and a few flowers for the butterflies and bouquets. Now you’re living the good life!

The “Smart” Container Herb Garden by Marty Gottlieb For many years, I’ve been growing my culinary herbs in garden containers. As an amateur cook, I appreciate having fresh herbs readily available. More often than not, it’s usually when I’m in the middle of preparing a recipe that I realize I need a sprig of thyme or a few leaves of basil or parsley. This meant a hurried trip to the “back forty garden” where my veggies and herbs were planted. Planting my culinary herbs in garden containers and placing them on my lower deck, just a few, short feet away from my kitchen door, makes them much more accessible. The container herb garden also adds another degree of beauty and interest, as it set alongside the flowering annuals and fig tree container gardens. About five years ago I started switching my container herb gardens from traditional, hard-sided containers to Smart Pots, which are “soft-sided” containers, made of a geo-textile type fabric available in a wide variety of sizes. I was initially interested in these unique garden containers because of their fabric sides, where I can plant more than just the top. I could plant the walls as well by cutting “X’s” and placing young plants anywhere I wanted. My experiment that first year worked so well that my “Smart Pot Culinary Container Herb Garden” has become my standard way of growing these plants every year since. It has become win-win both for the herbs and myself. I have a conveniently located, beautiful herb garden supply and the plants literally flourish in the Smart Pots. “Smart Pots” have been used by commercial tree growers for more than twenty-years. These professional growers prefer using these containers because their trees develop better, more efficient root systems which help produce stronger, healthier, faster growing trees. The Smart Pot’s fabric sides actually “air-root prune” the longer roots causing them to develop masses of lateral ones, rather than the fewer ones found in hard-sided containers. The Smart Pots fabric material also provides excellent drainage and as most gardeners know it is often the lack of adequate drainage that kills herb plants or causes them to do poorly. Smart Pots also offer container gardeners another advantage – they keep the roots much cooler than hard-sided containers during the hot, summer days alleviating heat stress. The herb containers’ porous, fabric material allows the container to “breathe” actually allowing heat to escape by evaporative cooling. I also played around with various garden planting mixes in the Smart Pots. As a horticulturist I was familiar with potting soils and knew that the better ones were developed to provide good drainage. Realizing the Smart Pots’ excellent drainage characteristic I said to myself maybe I could grow my container herb gardens with a heavier, less expensive potting mix, one that actually holds more water. Again, my reasoning was right. I was able to save a few bucks and the herb plants seemed to love practically any growing mix I used. When planting my container herb gardens I fill the Smart Pot with the potting mix and next decide where I want to cut my “X’s” in the walls. I make about 6- 8 “X’s” spaced evenly around the garden container staggering the height of the “X’s” from around one half to three quarters the wall height. In these cavities I plant the prostrate or creeping herbs like thyme and rosemary and even the tiny leaved basil. Curly parsley growing out of the walls is striking. For the container’s top, plant the upright growing herbs like mint, Italian Parsley, sage, etc. You can even try mixing in a few garden annuals like Petunias or Lobelia to add a little color. Just use your imagination. You can’t make a mistake. About the author: Marty Gottlieb lives in upstate New York, where he has been gardening and cooking for over 40 years. He earned a horticulture degree from Cornell University way back in the ’60s. Long ago, he was a New York State Coop Ag Extension agent. Marty has been active in the Horticulture and Nursery business his entire career.

Perennials have never been extremely popular plants with container gardeners. Short flowering times for a plant that stays in a container for years might hardly seem worthwhile. The Smart Pot, however, is ideal for growing perennials. In the Smart Pot the root structure of a plant stays healthy and vibrant for a long period of time. That’s because the Smart Pot was developed for and is used extensively in large tree production. The time frame of most commercial growers is two to four years in the Smart Pot. The root structures develop and thrive in this time period. The plant is healthy and growing. The problem with container perennials In a black plastic container, growing plants in the same container for a long period of time can be problematic. Roots circle around the inside edge of the plastic without lateral development. Temperatures can also be a problem. A study at the University of New Hampshire showed temperatures inside a plastic pot will easily top 120 degrees on a sunny day. Roots do not grow in 120-degree soil, and when the roots do not grow, your plant will not grow. The Smart Pot solution The Smart Pot gives you a longer time frame for container gardening perennials. We hope you will try some perennials in the Smart Pots. Even trees species are viable container garden plants with the Smart Pots. Example Perennials Using Smart Pot Containers:

Portable Plants Many gardeners use the Smart Pot to give themselves a “portable plant”. This is especially true when used on plants that might struggle in either the cold winter or hot summer in your area. Example 1: a banana plant A Banana plant is an eye catcher in the summer. But it must be winter protected. With the Smart Pot holding the root structure intact, the plant can be easily picked up and moved to a greenhouse or other protected area before the winter cold hits. The next spring, the plant can be picked up again and placed back into a front area. Example 2: Living Christmas Trees Living Christmas Trees are another example of “portable plants”. A number of conifers work well as Christmas Trees. The plant can be grown in the garden, then moved into the house at holiday time, then returned as soon as weather permits. Because the Smart Pot holds the roots together, the possibility of successfully moving the plant is greatly increased. Using the Smart Pot for portable plants In all cases, the plant is grown in a Smart Pot, then moved to a decorative container, then moved again. The Smart Pot would never be removed from your plant for this application. Suggestions for “portable plants” include: SUMMER PLANTS: Cnna Ginger Alocasia Mandevilla Solanum CHRISTMAS TREES: Douglas Fir Leyland Cypress Blue Spruce White Pine Norway Spruce