Those without a garden at home can still enjoy the pleasures of gardening through the use of containers. Container gardening is the perfect way to create a small garden of flowers, herbs or vegetables in a limited space.

Containers can be made of plastic, cement, wood or ceramics and can be of many shapes and sizes depending on the space available. Wooden containers tend to rot and treating them with substances such as creosote can be toxic to your plants. Cheap plastic items can deteriorate over time especially if exposed to sunlight. Glazed ceramic containers are excellent but need to have several holes for drainage of water. Whatever material you choose, you should avoid containers with narrow openings.

Containers are also useful if you live in an area populated with moles, voles and squirrels which could attack you plants if they were grown in a regular garden.

The best flowers for container gardening are annuals or perennials along with bulbs and spring flowers such as daffodils, tulips and grape hyacinth. Herbs are also well suited to container gardening.

Vegetables including tomatoes, lettuce, and peas are also excellent choices for container gardening. You can even plant them among bulbs and flowers. To grow tomatoes in a container you'll need to make sure you container is big enough and use stakes to support the vines.

Synthetic soils are best suited for container gardening. These mixes can be made up of sawdust, wood chips, peat moss, perlite, vermiculite. If you use containers, remember that watering is very important. For one thing you should use a water retention potting mix and try to water your containers in the morning.