Planted Urns Add Color Nearly Anywhere

I think of my garden as an extension of my home, which means I decorate it as carefully as any room in the house. One of the ways I do this is with garden urns overflowing with plants.

Each urn is like a little individual garden, and it can be placed just about anywhere outdoors: along a path, on a step, on a patio or terrace or right in the middle of the yard.

Urns also work well in small spaces, such as the top of a stone wall or garden table.

Wherever you choose to put it, a plant-filled urn will be a wonderful addition to your lawn or garden. And clustered together, a few urns provide an abundance of greenery and color where there otherwise might be none, such as on a deck or porch.

Begin your project by choosing an urn. A few years ago I found some wonderful old iron urns at an auction, and they are among my favorites.

Those antique urns are hard to find now, but good reproductions, many lightweight and portable, are available.

Common cement urns can be made to look like antique copper or lead with a few coats of paint. (See instructions below.)

Search antique shops and flea markets for large pots or small tubs. Big terra-cotta planters are very useful, but they cannot stay outside year-round in cold climates. Many garden centers carry a variety of large containers.

It is very important that planted urns have at least one drainage hole. If you find something you love that doesn’t have a hole, you should be able to make one using an electric drill fitted with a proper bit. (Ask for guidance at your local home center or hardware store.)

One of the best things about planting urns is the vast range of plants that can grow happily in containers. Because you can adapt the soil in the urn to the special needs of the plants you choose, and because you don’t have to worry about whether the plants are winter hardy, you can plant things that won’t normally grow in your garden.

There are a few questions to keep in mind, however:

Will the urn be kept in the sun or shade? Will it be placed on the ground or on a wall?

These decisions should be made before you plant because the plants you choose will depend on the location you select for the urn.

For example, if the urn will be on a high wall, take advantage of this by planting something that will grow down over the edges, such as ivy, nasturtiums and other trailing plants. And make sure you know what the plants need to thrive, i.e., how much sunlight, water, fertilizer.

Beyond those considerations, just be creative. Mix colors, textures, shapes and sizes to fit your decorating style.

Most urns can hold more than you may think. In fact, plants will do better if you pack them tightly in the containers.

All the other supplies you need can be found at any garden center. These include shards from broken clay pots, gravel, potting mediums and organic plant fertilizers. Once you’ve gathered everything, here’s what to do:

Place a few pot shards in the bottom of a large urn and then add about two to three inches of gravel for drainage.

Fill the urn with potting medium to a few inches from the top. Good potting mediums can be purchased, or you can make your own. They should contain potting soil, peat moss, vermiculite and sand mixed in correct proportion to the plants’ requirements.

Moisten the potting medium in the urn.

Remove plants from their pots and tease out the roots. Dig holes into the potting medium, add plants and tamp down with your fingers, especially around the edges, to eliminate air pockets. Water thoroughly.

Water the urns daily, or as necessary, and fertilize at least once a week.

Antiquing an urn

I’ve always loved the look of aged copper. The pale green looks particularly good with all the shades of green found in the garden, so I’ve learned a technique that gives new cement urns the appearance of antique copper.

You’ll need foam paint brushes, paint thinner, copper spray paint and five colors of semigloss oil-base paint: black and four shades of green ranging from dark to light, such as dark green, olive green, chrome green and light verdigris.

In a well-ventilated area, spray-paint the urn copper. Let dry.

Use a foam brush to give the urn a thin, uneven coat of black paint. The copper should show through in spots.

Before the black paint dries, thin the dark-green paint and apply it over the wet black paint in the same way.

Dab olive green and then chrome green over the dark-green layer. Finish with streaks of light verdigris.

MEMO: Questions should be addressed to Martha Stewart, care of The New York Times Syndication Sales Corp., 122 E. 42nd St., New York, NY 10168. Questions may also be sent to Stewart by electronic mail. Her address is: mstewart@msl.timeinc.com.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Martha Stewart New York Times Syndicate