Ceramic planters are a great way to create a color theme on your patio, balcony or in your garden. Glazed stoneware pots have a variety of finishes from matte, textured surfaces to brilliant glossy color. Keep in mind when choosing ceramic planters to compliment the textures and colors of plants takes careful consideration to create a pleasing, harmonious look. Ask one of our CCN Pro Garden Professionals to help you design a unique planting.

We also have contemporary styles that you see in garden magazines. Glazed ceramic planters make a beautiful decorative touch to any garden or patio. Whether you are planning a tropical themed garden paradise or a zen- like Japanese or Thai style retreat for your outdoor space, adding these ceramic planters will help to add the finishing touch to your garden design.

If you are thinking of adding small trees or shrubs to your outside space, and already have them planted in suitable containers, there is no need to replant the tree in a new container, instead, simply choose a ceramic planter container large enough to take the existing pot. Try filling a trio of the smaller planters with flowers and trailing tropical plants and group them together on the patio, or choose one of the very large planters on its own for a more dramatic look.

To cover a bare wall, try adding a selection of glazed ceramic or pottery hanging planters, or a decorative metal plant stand. Hang planters at different levels on the wall, and then fill the planter containers with a selection of potted and draping plants. This allows you the look of a tropical vine clad wall without having to worry about damage to the wall that could occur with climbing plants such as ivy.

Sometimes, what seems to be an easy question is not so easy! With that in mind, this is the first of two articles discussing how fertilizers work and then the difference between organic and inorganic fertilizer.

If we go back one step, we can ask, “Why bother with fertilizers at all?” Mother Nature does a pretty good job all by herself without having to add fertilizers to anything. Mother Nature is the ultimate recycler. In a field or forest where Man is not a factor, nothing is removed; everything is used over and over. When things die, they return to the soil to decompose so that they can be used over again.

When Man enters Mother Nature’s scene, he seems to upset the fine balance she has established. We walk upon the scene and decide it (the environment) needs to be changed. We remove trees, plants and soil and build roads, houses, malls, parks and so on. We want to grow things Mother Nature had not intended us to grow in her domain. We constantly remove materials from the environment which plants might need in order to grow. In our greed, we often want to grow things bigger and faster than Mother Nature had intended.

Now, what does fertilizer have to do with Mother Nature, her recycling and the human factor? Somewhere we learned that for plants to grow properly there had to be the right things in the soil. Soil is composed of lots of "stuff." It starts off as decomposed rock, which becomes sand, silt or clay depending on its size. This is the inorganic part of soil and as the particles dissolve, they provide the mineral part of the soil--things such as iron, potassium, and calcium. The organic part of the soil is composed of dead things--plants and animals. The bodies of these dead things will contain small amounts of minerals which were part of the food that the living plants or animals consumed.

There are also living things in the soil: worms, grubs, beetles and such, plant roots and bulbs and then countless billions of bacteria, fungi, algae and protozoa. All of these organisms, especially the bacteria and fungi, are important because they break large dead things down into a form usable by plants. Of particular importance are types of fungi called mycorrhizae which attach to the tiny absorbing rootlets of plants and bring nutrients into the plants.

The soil also contains air spaces which provides oxygen for the roots and water which serves as the blood stream and circulatory system of plants. The bacteria and fungi also need air to survive much the same as you do.

Our Bay Area soils are composed largely of clay. Clay is difficult to work with but actually contains sufficient of all the minerals plants need for growth except Nitrogen. Plants use nitrogen to make proteins. Proteins are used to make cells, cell parts and enzymes. Animals eat plant proteins and make animal proteins for cells, skin, muscles, hair, feathers or enzymes. So, if there is not enough nitrogen in the soil, life stops. Every time we remove a crop; corn, cotton, lawn grass or a tree, we deplete the nitrogen which was in the soil and have to replace it. The quickest, simplest way to replace the Nitrogen in the soil is with inorganic fertilizers such as Sulfate of Ammonia, Ammonium Nitrate or Urea. Unfortunately, the only form of nitrogen which most plants can make use of is nitrate nitrogen. One form of soil bacterium changes oxygen and the ammonium or urea to nitrite nitrogen and another bacteria changes more oxygen and nitrite to nitrate nitrogen which the plants can use. A few fertilizers such as our Fall & Winter Fertilizer contain small amounts of nitrate nitrogen which the plants can use immediately and will green up a lawn in two or three days.

Hydrangea macrophylla is compact-growing shrub with sensational deep-pink or deep blue flowers, each petal edged in white. Large flower heads emerge pale green and fade to pink or blue. Hydrangeas are great for patio containers and foreground plantings or in your naturalized woodland garden. These shade loving shrubs are great flowers for cutting for your home arrangements.

Hydrangeas are fast-growing to 3 to 4 feet high, with equal width. Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system. Provide well-drained soil, rich in organic matter, located in filtered sun. Feed with Master Nursery All Purpose fertilizer before spring growth for pink flowers. For blue flowers use Master Nursery Hydra Bluealong with the Master Nursery All Purpose fertilizer. Prune to shape after flowering.

Wegman's Bedding Department has a large selection of interesting grasses to use in containers or in your garden. Grasses have unique qualities of texture, color and types of blooms. Grasses are versatile; depending on the variety; they are ideal for many applications from ponds, pools and water features to a xeriscape or containers. Here is a highlight of a couple of the many varieties available.

Scipus Fiber Optic Grass
Scripus cernuus is a great topic of conversation plant. This grass has slender green foliage with buff colored flowers on the tips. The flowers resemble the look of fiber optic lights! This is a plant that will do great near water or in moist soils. It has a clumping growth habit, reaching 10-12 inches tall with a 20 inch spread at maturity. This is a great grass for mixed containers, giving them both movement and interest.

Carex testacea
Green to coppery brown foliage with hints of orange leaves in fall and winter makes this sedge a superb selection for the year-round garden. Carex testacea self-sows, but is polite about it. In fact, Carex testacea is striking in many settings, especially paired with other colors such as oranges and rusts. Plant in partial to full shade. Average water needs.

Festuca Elijah Blue
'Elijah Blue' is a short-lived, low-growing, semi-evergreen, clump-forming ornamental grass noted for its bluish-green , finely-textured foliage. Foliage forms a dome-shaped, porcupine-like tuft of erect to arching, needle-like blades radiating upward and outward to a height of 6-8 inches (flower stems typically bring total clump height to 10-14 inches). Light green flowers with a purple tinge appear in terminal panicles atop stems rising above the foliage in late spring to early summer, but are not very showy. Flowers give way to buffy seed heads. Plant in full sun or part shade; drought and heat tolerant.

Master Green™ Lawn Food
Master Green Lawn Food is a pelleted blend lawn food with ammoniacal and urea nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Master Green produces a rapid response (usually in 7 days).

Dr. Earth Super Natural Lawn Food
Dr. Earth Super Natural Lawn Food promotes a hardy root system adding life to your lawn. It controls thatch build-up. Best of all, Dr. Earth Super Natural Lawn Food contains Mycorrhizae which grow in your soil, enhancing the quality of environment for the soil your lawn grows in.