Have I mentioned that my parents are trailer trash? No? Must’ve been an oversight. My parents are trailer trash. Whew, glad I got that off my chest! What I mean by trailer trash is that my mom and dad live in their fifth wheel trailer for most of the year. For the past few years they’ve spent winters in Florida and summers in Wiarton, Ontario. In the fall, between gigs, they come home to roost for about four weeks. Same thing happens in the spring. They drive back from Florida and hang out with Connor and I for about four to eight weeks until their summer camp opens for the season. The house we live in belongs to them, but Connor and I stay here all year and take care of things. Good thing for my parents - they have a home base, and a very good thing for Connor and I - we needed a place to go two years ago after a divorce. Even though the house isn’t mine, the gardens pretty much are. I do occasionally ask before making drastic changes, but mom is very generous and has given me free reign. So what does a die-hard gardener like my mom do when she’s almost never home? Container gardening of course!

Each summer she plants up containers with herbs and annuals to set out on her deck at the trailer.

Any perennial items that can handle the shade are stuck under a cedar hedge in the fall and left to winter over until the following spring when they are once again called to duty - filling containers for another summer. Some perennials have remained under the hedge.

Sweet Woodruff, Lamb’s Ears, Oregano

Purple Perennial Violet

Even before becoming trailer trash my mom planted beautiful containers. The color combinations were always stunning - one year it would be blues, another whites. The various pots would fill up and overflow in all the right places. My attempts at container gardening are a little less exciting. I have some planted, but they lack my mom’s special touch. I’m much better with solid ground, really!

Yes, these are mine - pardon the mess.

As for trailer trash gardening in Florida…she’s just starting to dig in down there. I fully expect to see pictures this winter of some spectacular southern plantings from down there as well.

Over a month ago, on an early spring excursion to a garden center in Stratford, Mom bought this very cool metal planter. We thought the size would be perfect for a mini succulent garden that could be placed in the center of our patio table.

With the container purchased, all we needed were some succulents to plant in it. Nothing too exotic.

Hens and chicks are always a good choice.

All of our planting supplies were gathered together on the back deck. Before putting anything in the planter we punched drainage holes in the bottom. To avoid filling the entire planter with a lot of unnecessary soil and to raise the plants up a little, the bottom third was filled with stones.

A layer of landscape fabric was place on top of the stones to keep the soil from draining out the bottom. Potting soil went in next.

The succulents were set in on top of the soil to see if the height was correct, then mom filled in with more potting soil.

Here’s our little container garden of succulents. The only thing I might add is a layer of pea gravel.

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If you are short on space and still want to grow tomatoes, you’ll get a lot of bang for your buck with Sweet Million or another of the small fruited tomato varieties. Start the seed indoors in March and set out the little plants when threat of frost is past. They will need to be staked as they grow and once they start producing, you’ll be rewarded by clusters of sweet fruit. Often they keep right on growing until fall. A plant or two can be easily covered to protect from early frost and you can enjoy these tasty little tomatoes after the others have died off. This is another plant option that is quite suitable for container gardening.

The Sweet Million variety can be purchased online at Stokes Seeds.

Are you busily poring over those seed catalogs searching for the perfect vegetable seed varieties to plant this year? For several years the “perfect” cucumber in my garden has been Orient Express. I don’t like those cucumbers that get bitter and seedy when they grow large. These ones taste more like the English-type cucumbers and keep their mild flavor even when quite a size. I have used them for all kinds of pickles too - sweet pickles, bread and butter pickles, dill pickles and relish. The best thing about them though is the fact that the plants themselves are very compact and are well suited to container gardening. They adapt well to climbing on a support, too. Just the thing for those of us gardening in small spaces!