Along with my regular in-the-ground garden, I also include some container gardens. There are many reasons to include containers in your gardening efforts. They allow you to grow plants in small urban areas where an in-ground garden is not possible. There is less chance for spreading disease. Some plants that spread quickly, do well in containers where they can be controlled, like mint. They can be less labor intensive, there are generally not as many weeds in container gardening, and they conserve water. Containers can also be moved about if you want to change locations, and often the soil in a container garden can be worked before in-ground gardens. I’m sure you can think of other reasons that a container garden could work for you.
I have many container gardens and some are larger than others. I have two containers in my chicken run where I plant herbs, which the chickens keep beautifully trimmed for me. I have another herb garden in an old metal water trough and I have several large containers lining the edge of my in-ground garden fence. You can grow almost anything in a container: vegetables, flowers, herbs, and even trees and bushes. I happen to grow mostly vegetables, chicken friendly flowers and herbs.
