small space gardens

‘Tis the Season to Upcycle: Winter Solstice Container Gardening

Emily Clark Waterson2 Comments

Last weekend, I was doing the usual seasonal clutter sort and purge, and I discovered several partially used bags of planting material in the garage and a whole lot of vintage stuff piling up around the house that needed to be redistributed before holiday guests arrived. What better time to design a Winter Solstice container garden to brighten our porch entryway? It was time to clear out all of the gardening tools that had piled up in that corner, anyway!

I visited my local native plant nursery and found some deeply discounted, cold-tolerant native plants with which to deck the halls (or, in my case, the front porch).  Wanting to create a layered effect, I searched out examples of ground cover, rushes, sedges, ferns, and small shrubs, going for as much color as this transitional time can offer.

Decorative wooden planter featuring native plants with brightly colored stems, evergreen foliage, and red berries.

To my delight, I found a small young pussy willow (Salix discolor) with reddish branches, an intriguing Soft Rush “corkscrew” variety (Juncus effusus var.), some Appalachian Barren Strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides), Broadleaf Sedge (Carex platyphylla), Coral Bells (Heuchera americana), and abundant berrying Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens). Any number of native plants could be used to achieve a similar effect, depending on what is available locally. Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana), Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea), American Holly (Ilex opaca), Winterberry (Ilex verticillata), Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), and Pretty Sedge (Carex woodii) would all be great Maryland native options. 

Some of what I found on clearance were “nativars,” cultivated varieties of native plants, or are endemic to other ecoregions of Maryland, so I may not be inclined to put them all in the ground, but I’m comfortable with using them in a lovely container planting like this. With more advanced planning next year, I’ll pre-order more local, native “straight” species.

Close up of a drill adding drainage holes to the bottom of a wooden barrel.

My discount plant haul was so large, though, that I needed to upgrade my container from the old terra cotta pot I had on hand to a re-purposed oak whiskey barrel I found at a local hardware store. Its aroma indicated that it was the real deal, no imported factory knock-off! This did require drilling some holes for drainage, though, to protect the barrel against freeze and thaw, and water ponding at the bottom.

I added potting soil with a small amount of leftover 50/50 peat/sand mix over a layer of small rocks to retain soil in the pot while allowing for drainage, then it was time to plant!

Close up of a mass of roots from a container plant.

Following a vigorous growing season, my new plants were more than a little root-bound, so I trimmed the root ends with garden shears to allow me to ease the plants out of their nursery pots, then gave each root ball a light massage between my palms. 

Everything nestled into the container well, and I was able to tuck it all in with some small scraps of moss left over from an earlier project, for insulation and moisture retention. I finished the display off with a green Jarrahdale pumpkin that will eventually become a homemade pie and some vintage decor I had around the house, along with a colorful watering can that reminds me to water.

Close up of plants in a container garden with a small decorative owl.

I was pleased with the final result as a way to celebrate the transition from fall to winter and brighten the entryway of our front porch.

Container gardening is a great way for small-space gardeners to get into growing native plants throughout the seasons, as well.

Larger view of the Winter Solstice container featuring various plants with different textures.

If you try Winter Solstice container gardening this year, please drop us a note or picture below in the comments! 

Photos & Text: Stacy Small-Lorenz, Ph.D. University of Maryland Extension | Statewide Specialist for Residential Landscape Ecology

Read more posts by Stacy.

Q&A: What Screening Plants Fit in a Small Space?

Maryland Grows1 Comment
a row of small evergreen arborvitae shrubs near a brick building
‘Emerald Green’ Arborvitae screening a property line. Photo: Miri Talabac, University of Maryland Extension


Q:  I have limited space in a tiny city front yard and would like to block some of my view of the street. What types of evergreens would work well but not get too wide?

A:  The width of the mature plants is the tricky part, since many upright evergreens mature at least 3 to 5 feet wide at their base, and not many are trimmable to keep them smaller. Plant options will depend on whether you have full sun or some shade from nearby trees or the house itself. Few city yards have issues with deer (though some do), so I’ll assume for now that browsing is not a factor.

Soil compaction is a common challenge, and poor drainage (is a roof downspout nearby?) can exacerbate root stress and cause plants to fail. If the site drains reasonably well and receives full sun in summer, your choices include slender-growing cultivars of widely-used evergreens. (Alas, there are very few native options to fit these criteria.) Examples include arborvitae (Thuja), juniper (Juniperus), yew (Taxus), Japanese plum yew (Cephalotaxus), boxwood (Buxus), and holly (Ilex).

Yew as well as broadleaf evergreens like the boxwood and holly can be pruned relatively easily to manage size, since they rebound well. Even so, it’s best to select cultivars that will mature close to the size you can accommodate without having to prune, both to save yourself the task and to reduce plant stress.

For the rest of those listed plants, especially other conifers (needled evergreens), pay close attention to expected mature size on the plant tag and make sure you have room, taking into account overhead utility lines. Take that stated size with a grain of salt too, since older plants keep growing and will not plateau at a set height forever.

Yew, Japanese plum yew, boxwood, and holly will handle a fair amount of shade and still look good, though the less sun they get, the less dense they might stay (or growth will slow). None of these species are super fast-growing (otherwise they’d get much too large for the space), but boxwoods and the upright yew varieties are among the slowest in pace. Even so, planting small, young specimens will be easier on both you and the plants (especially if shade tree roots are infiltrating the area), and they will catch up.

By Miri Talabac, Horticulturist, University of Maryland Extension Home & Garden Information Center. Miri writes the Garden Q&A for The Baltimore Sun and Washington Gardener Magazine. Read more by Miri.

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