Container Gardening in a Bag: What Type of Bags to Use for Your Container Garden

Container gardens are becoming increasingly popular as the boom in urban gardening is steadily on the rise. With a little planning, anything that can be sown into a standard garden plot can be successfully harvested in a container of adequate size. You've bought bags of garden soil, compost and fertilizer so get ready to use it - bags and all.

Depending on where you'll be positioning your container garden, some type of bags may be better than others.

If your garden area will be in the back yard or you're not concerned about it being an eyesore, you could simply lay your bag of dirt on its side and make a few large X-cuts in the plastic to pull back and place your seedlings in.

If your neighbors don't like pink flamingos on the lawn, they might not appreciate bags of composted manure marking your property line either. Get creative with your container garden in a bag and be eco-friendly at the same time.

Container Garden in a Bag - Reusable Shopping Bags

Many of us bring our own shopping bags to the grocery store rather than use the plastic bags provided. If your reusable bags are showing a bit of wear, recycle them as containers for your vegetable garden, or purchase extras specifically for that purpose. I bought several green reusable bags on sale at Walgreens for 3/$1.00 that will hold one large or two small plants.

Most reusable bags are made of recycled food grade material so are safe to grow vegetables in, have a flat bottom for stability, and will be fairly sturdy once filled with soil for your container garden. They are woven tight enough that dirt shouldn't fall through, yet will provide adequate drainage.

You may want to do a drainage test by pouring water into your shopping bag before adding soil to see how quickly it will drain; it may vary from one manufacturer or type of material to another. Added bonus - the handles of your reusable shopping bag allow you to easily move your garden to follow the path of the sun, get in out of extreme weather, etc.

Container Garden in a Bag - Make Your Own From Weed Cloth

If you have weed cloth left from a landscaping project, you have the means to make your own container garden in a bag. Weed cloth (also called landscaping fabric) is a tightly woven black fabric that allows water to penetrate from its surface down to the soil, but deters weeds and grass from coming up from the soil - an ideal material to make a bag for your container garden.

One roll of weed cloth will make many bags that you can cut to the size needed for the vegetables you will be planting. The only tools required are a scissors, a sewing machine (a battery operated hand-held machine would work well) or a large needle and sturdy thread. Cut the cloth to size, fold in half so the fold is on the bottom, and stitch up the two sides. Since your landscaping fabric creations are unlikely to appear on the next episode of Project Runway, don't worry about fancy stitching - two rows of a simple running stitch should suffice.

Container Garden in a Bag - Ask at Your Local Restaurant or Grocer

Bags from bulk rice and potatoes may be repurposed to plant your container garden. Either fill the sack with soil, hand-stitch the open end then lay the bag on its side (like the bag of garden soil), or stand upright after filling if you'll be planting a deep-rooted vegetable (like tomato). Burlap sacks and sandbags can be used the same way.

Container Garden in a Bag - Borrow From Your Critters

If you have pets or livestock, you may already have bags for your container garden. Large dog or cat food bags are often made from a woven material, and bags that held chicken feed or grain for your horses can be recycled as containers for your vegetables.

Whatever bag you choose for your container garden in a bag, make sure it's sturdy enough to hold the heavy soil and can withstand watering and exposure to the elements. If the bag isn't made of a porous material, you'll also need to poke holes for drainage.

See Free Recycled Containers for Your Container Garden for more container ideas for your garden.

Sources:
Personal experience
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