Garden Beds vs. Planter Pots

When I first started gardening, I didn't have a yard, let alone garden beds.  I lived in an apartment with an East-facing concrete balcony...so pots were my only option.  I feel like it's safe to assume that many people's gardening endeavors begin this way, which is kind of unfortunate because growing in pots (effectively) is quite challenging.  But often we find ourselves with limited choices - so I'm going to try to put together a list of some of the pros and cons, and some helpful hints for growing in pots vs. growing in garden beds or raised beds.  As always, I'll be focusing primarily on vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers, but much of this can be applied to anything you're growing.

Growing In Pots

Pros

• Transportable - you can chase the sunlight throughout the day or the season.
• Controllable - you decide what kind of soil goes into the pot.  You get to circumvent nature!
• Well-drained - if you use potting soil, water will drain nicely through the holes in the bottom of the pot.

Cons

• The soil in pots dries out WAY faster than soil in the ground, especially if it's in direct sunlight.  Chances are, you're going to need to water them a MINIMUM of every other day.  Not ideal.
• Choosing the right size of pot is challenging at first.  Often, we'll choose pots that are far too small for the plants once they mature, meaning you'll either need to transplant to a larger pot, or you'll stunt the healthy growth of your plant.
• You will definitely need to fertilize.  Potting soil often has slow release fertilizer built into it that lasts anywhere from 1-3 months.  Once that's used up, you'll need to begin adding fertilizer.
• Pots can make a mess of your deck as they drain.  

Tips

• Bigger is better.  Buy pots that are bigger than you think you will need.  Plastic ones are fine, but porcelain ones are much better because they're less likely to blow over in the wind.
• If you're putting more than one variety of plant in a planter, make sure their sun and water demands are similar.  When I'm doing herb pots, I'll put the sage, rosemary and mint together because they can withstand a little drought.  Likewise, I put basil, parsley and cilantro together because they need lots of water.
• Put your pots close to your water source.  This applies to any garden, really.  The easier it is to water the gardens, the more likely you will actually do it - and with planter pots, you'll need to do it frequently.
• Go for fragrance!  If you're keeping your pots on a deck or near where you will sit, consider some nice, fragrant herbs or edible flowers.  There's nothing better than getting a passing whiff of basil or dill every time the wind blows.

The bottom line here is that you'll need to water your pots often.  They are rather labour intensive, so choose your location and plant varieties accordingly.

Growing in Garden Beds

Pros

• Consistent moisture - you'll have to water these beds less - maybe barely at all, depending on the weather.
• You'll be improving and building your soil for the long term.  
• You'll be welcoming worms and other beneficial critters to your soil
• You can plant diverse crops in one place, so that they can benefit from one another (for example one plant might deter a certain kind of bug that's attracted to one of your other plants).
• You can choose to plant square-foot style or in rows.  
• Pretty much all plant varieties will thrive in this environment.

Cons

• The bending...even with raised beds, prepare for a sore back.
• You're at the whim of nature...those maple keys that are falling in your gardens?  Good luck.
• You'll need to use mulch or you'll be overrun with weeds.  
• You'll have to prepare the beds each spring.  At first, this will mean adding lots of compost and turning the soil (deeply, if you're planning on growing root vegetables), removing rocks and weeds.  However, once your garden is well established after a few years, you won't need to do any digging.  Just throw a layer of compost on top and off you go!

Tips

• Remember - when you're making a garden bed, the goal is to improve the SOIL.  Each time you plant in your garden, you'll be adding organic matter to the soil, helping it become lighter, fluffier and better-drained as the years pass.  
• Most common vegetables deplete soil nutrients as they access and use them.  Some crops, like beans and peas, actually put nutrients back IN to the soil.  This is why crop rotation is important, so try not to plant the same crop in the same place every time.
• Mulch mulch mulch.  Without mulch, you will have weeds.  When I first started gardening I thought the problem with weeds was just the appearance.  NOPE.  They compete for the nutrients in the soil, depleting that which you were hoping would be used by the plants that you WANTED there.  Choose a mulch that will add to the soil once it is mixed in - grass clippings and shredded leaves are great, and fairly readily available.

The bottom line with garden beds is that they offer flexibility in terms of what you can grow, and that your hard work is more of an investment, as you'll be working towards improving your soil long-term.

What grows best where?

For the record, this is not based in science - just my own experiences growing in pots vs. in the ground.  Take it or leave it.

Pots - think lettuces and leaves such as kale and chard, edible flowers such as nasturtium, annual herbs such as cilantro and basil, plants that need to be contained lest they grow out of control, like mint, determinate varieties of tomatoes (ones that only get so tall and then stop), and compact squash varieties such as zucchini.

Garden Beds - tall vegetable plants like corn, vegetables that need a trellis such as cucumber and winter squash varieties, vegetables that improve the soil (nitrogen fixers) such as beans, peas and legumes, most root vegetables, broccoli, caluflower, and cabbage.