Renter's Guide For Growing a Garden

There is a huge variety of plants that are portable-perfect. From compact colourful annual flowers and interesting succulents to delicious vegies and herbs. There's also perennial flowers and shrubs, which are wonderful at introducing a feeling of structure and permanence in a mobile garden as well as taller plants being able to provide some privacy and screening.

Fruit trees can also be included in a mobile garden. It's best to choose dwarf varieties of citrus and other fruit trees, which produce standard sized fruit on much more compact trees and are ideal for growing in pots. And of course there are indoor plants too, which help make a new place instantly yours and are the ultimate mobile garden.

When you have to move your garden around, it's best to choose lightweight containers. You don't want to be lugging heavy concrete pots around. Plastic pots, like Yates® Tuscan® pots are light, strong and stylish and are ideal for creating a potted garden. There are large 40 cm and 50 cm diameter Yates Tuscan pots for fruit trees and shrubs and smaller 30 cm diameter versions for more petite plants.

Window boxes and troughs provide additional growing opportunities and are particularly suited to cascading plants like strawberries, nasturtiums, geraniums, mint and petunias. Look for troughs that can be used with a supporting bracket that sits over a fence or railing, so you won't need to drill any support holes. Hanging baskets are another option for trailing plants and can be hung from pergolas and fences using steel hooks, so there's no need for permanent fixtures.

Although a bit more challenging to move around, plastic portable raised garden beds are also available and create a great space for growing fresh vegies and herbs. And to help maximise growing space, tripods and supports can be inserted into pots for climbing plants to grow up.

Pots can be placed on heavy duty wheels, which are specially designed to make pots portable. Pots can be placed permanently on these wheels or just used to move pots from one spot to another.

Hand trollies are another way to move pots around and many are folding, which means they don't take up too much room when not in use. However you move your pots, when lifting use your knees (and not your back!) and ask for help. Two people carrying a heavy pot makes things much easier.

Using quality potting mix is key is giving your plants the best start. Cheap potting mixes usually don't contain enough nutrients or have the right structure to support healthy plant growth. Yates Premium Potting Mix with Dynamic Lifter® is a premium (red tick) potting mix that is suitable for most outdoor (and indoor) plants, is boosted with nutrients to feed plants for up to six months, is specially formulated to have increased moisture holding capacity and wettability and contains added Dynamic Lifter for gentle, slow release feeding. One 30 L bag is enough to fill two 30 cm diameter pots.

Potted plants can dry out much faster than in-ground plants so it's important to include watering in your plant care plans. You can monitor the moisture levels in pots by having a gentle dig around in the top few centimetres of potting mix with your finger. You'll be able to feel whether the potting mix is dry and the plant needs a drink or whether it's still moist and rewatering can be left for another day or more. Plants growing in pots also need regular feeding to help them thrive. Feeding with liquid or soluble fertilisers has a double benefit as you can water and feed at the same time.

Yates Thrive® All Purpose Soluble Plant Food is ideal for feeding most types of outdoor and indoor plants. It contains  a  combination of the main nutrients that plants need, as well as a range of trace elements for complete plant vitality. It's an easy to use soluble powder, just mix one to two spoonfuls in a nine litre watering can and apply over the plants and potting mix. Reapply every one to two weeks to keep your plants well fed and healthy.