Are you among the group that think container gardening is only for growing plants indoors or under a covered patio? You're not on your own, I used to think that way too until I read this: "Think of your fruit, flower, and veggie "pots" as a mobile garden, suitable for the deck, porch, balcony, driveway or yard!". So release your imagination and realize that you can decide where you want your container garden inside or outside.

Containers are great for growing almost any type of plant, because they offer great versatility. If you plant your garden in containers and you need to move it later, it's easy to do it. Not so if you have a traditional garden!

If you're expecting very bad weather, you can temporarily move containers to a safer location, like indoors or into a garage or basement. But there isn't much you can do for a traditional garden.

Also your potted garden can be moved around to take advantage of the best growing conditions for your plants. That's not possible once your plants are in the ground and you find that the position you picked is either too shady or sunny.

You also get to choose where you place your container garden, it needs to be in a convenient position that provides the right amount of sun for your plants and is also easy for you to get access. Nothing reduces your enthusiasm like having to drag everything you need to work on your garden about 100 to 200 yards away every time.

If you're going to grow edible plants, make sure you locate them as far away as possible from any streets. Traffic pollution will affect not only your plants, but your family too when they eat them.

What about your indoor plants? Choose a good, warm position for your plants, especially if you use air conditioning. Most plants prefer to be warm and a nice spot with filtered sunlight is often best.

If you like your home to be cool, you'll need to put your plants in a room that gets plenty of natural sunlight. If necessary, keep any vents closed to give them the warmth they require.

If you're trying to grow some exotic varieties of plants you'll find they often need either high or low humidity. This will require you to purchase specific equipment that deals with humidity levels, so you need to take this into consideration.

Next, you'll need to choose which plants you want to grow. Be careful! Too many people choose to plant far too many varieties, and end up frustrated. Don't grow anything you can easily pick up cheaply at the grocery store!

Stick to growing fruits and vegetables that you really enjoy and have a hard time locating locally, or those you find too expensive or too low quality. Tomatoes are a favorite for home gardeners, because their quality in stores if often very poor.

In a controlled indoor environment, you can quite easily grow your plants organically if you wish. Outdoors isn't so simple, organic gardening is a little more challenging, but still worthwhile. You need to do some extra research on pest control in your outdoor garden, so if growing organically is important to you, be prepared to put in some effort to learn how it's done.