Fine Gardening Project Guides

Container Gardening

Guide Home
Chapter
Design

Front-Door Container Ideas That Dazzle

Frame your entry with pots that do more than just look pretty

Fine Gardening - Issue 135
containers for entryways

For most people, adorning the front of their house means having a foundation planting of mixed evergreens and perhaps a few perennials and flowering shrubs. It’s a winning formula: low maintenance, reliable, and attractive. But adding a couple of containers next to the front door provides that extra touch of pizzazz that rounds out the equation.

Front-door containers can be used as design elements that reflect, reinforce, and soften the architecture of your home. Because they’re front and center, they need to perform consistently and should be designed to always look good. The containers on these pages will give you ideas on different ways to use them, as well as how to make them striking and easy to care for.

matching container with tall, skinny plants act as pillars in front of a front door

Narrow, upright plants act as columns

Snake plants (Sansevieria trifasciata cvs., USDA Hardiness Zone 11), which mimic the look and feel of columns on the house of a grand estate, are perfect for this modest yet traditional suburban home. They’re low maintenance too, as are the chartreuse sweet potato vines (Ipomoea batatas cv., Zone 11). A dash of pink in these containers ties them to the pink roses in the foundation planting below.

Mix it up a little

a silver container planted with a small tree and a black container planted with tropical-looking plants
Photos: Danielle Sherry

Try jazzing up your front entry with a pot that contrasts rather than melds with the architectural style of your house. Formal bricks get a jump-start from an exuberant tropical ele­phant’s ear (Xanthosoma aurea ‘Lime Zinger’, Zones 9–11, right), while a country cottage gets spiffed up a bit with a topiary standard in a formal cube pot (left).

Go for the WOW!

two large containers with pink and orange flowers on both sides of a front entry

Visitors to this home are sure to stop for a while to “ooh” and “aah” over these spectacular plantings. Even though they might be considered over-the-top, the matched pair signals a clear threshold. They also soften the hard edges of this hardscape-heavy entryway, making it more approachable, and are an exuberant reinforcement of the columns they flank.


3 Must-Haves for High-Profile Containers

container plants positioned in front of door

Consistent color and structure

Choose some free-flowering annuals or colorful foliage for these front-and-center designs so that you always have a punch of interest, no matter what the season. Evergreens are also a good choice: They’re steady and dependable, and they always look good.

Weather-resistant pots

Entryway containers are elements that should be designed for year-round display. After all, winter is when you need garden interest most, when the rest of your garden is asleep. Choose concrete, metal, or fiberglass pots that won’t succumb to freezing weather, and change your plantings with the seasons. A few evergreen boughs will make a big impression at your front door in winter.

Upright, tidy plants

The last thing you want are sprawling, thorny plants whose stems get tangled in your legs as you walk by or that drop spent flower petals. Choose tidy, upright plants that are self-cleaning. This will help you cut back on deadheading and sweeping, and leave a clear path to navigate.


Photos, except where noted: Brandi Spade

 

Previous: Inventive Window Box Planter Ideas Next: Container Plantings That Thrive on Neglect
View Comments

Comments

  1. laslo 07/26/2023

    I agree, it is always necessary to decorate the entrance to the house. But the best way to do this is to replace the old doors with new ones. I recommend that you learn more about door sizes exterior https://thwindowsdoors.com/width-of-exterior-door-and-other-measurements-for-entry-doors/ and get acquainted with the catalog of beautiful and reliable doors that will make your home more attractive . By the way, you can get a good discount when buying doors and windows at the same time.

Log in or create an account to post a comment.

Container Gardening

Container Gardening

Trustworthy advice on all aspects of gardening in pots

View Project Guide

View All Project Guides »

Become a member and get unlimited site access, including the Container Gardening Project Guide.

Start Free Trial

Basics
Technique
Plants
Design
Seasonal