The Pot-in-pot Method

How to Switch Out Plants Instantly

In general, when you garden, you want to grow plants the most permanent way possible. If not forever, at least for the entire gardening season. But sometimes there are good reasons you’d want to change plants more frequently. If so, you might find the pot-in-pot planting method very useful.

It’s as simple as inserting pots of an appropriate size into the ground early in the season, right up to their rim. Now insert a plant, pot and all, into the nearly buried empty pot. When the first plant starts to go downhill, you can now lift it out and replace it in a few seconds with a new potted plant. It’s that simple.

You might want to use this technique to ensure non-stop bloom in a spot that is too shady (just keep a few replacement pots coming along in a sunnier area) or to switch out fading tulips or daffodils with summer annuals… then to remove the annuals in the fall so you can put the pots of bulbs back into place for the winter.

I like to put my houseplants outside for the summer and can then simply drop them into the empty pot: that way they stand up to the fiercest wind!

Sometimes, gardening can be so simple!