Placing a planted container near the front door is an excellent way to create an inviting entry experience for guests. A pot on a back patio adds color and interest and helps to draw you outside. However, there are numerous ways pots can be incorporated into the landscape beyond the front door and the back patio. Here are 10 ways to use pots to enliven your landscape.
Arthur Lathouris Garden Designer
1. Use a single vessel as a focal point in the landscape. Place a pot among plantings to draw the eye out into the landscape. Here, a light gray container framed by lace leaf Japanese maples in a contrasting dark hue creates an intriguing vignette.
Tip: Select a large vessel for extra drama and impact.
Gurley's Azalea Garden
2. Cluster pots in a planting bed. Select a series of pots with similar shapes, color schemes or surfaces to create a lively grouping that breaks up a planted bed. The surface of the pots — whether smooth, rough or shiny — not only will provide interest in a planted bed but will also give the eye a place to rest.
Tip: The pots don’t all have to match, but at least one of the elements listed above should tie them all together.
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JDS OUTDOOR DESIGNS
Don’t be afraid to choose a brightly colored container that echoes the colors found in nearby plants.
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Pat Brodie Landscape Design
3. Mimic shapes found in the landscape. Here, a round pot picks up on the mounding form of the nearby boulders.
Bliss Garden Design
4. Accent or screen an awkward or overlooked spot. Adding a single pot or a group or pots can be a perfect way to fill an empty corner.
Tip: Other places to use a pot or pot grouping include in front of an air conditioning unit, a generator or a utility box.
See more of this Washington island landscape
Zeterre Landscape Architecture
5. Anchor opposite sides of a gate. The scene in this photo would still be beautiful without the large pots. However, this is a great example of how the pots pull together the whole scene. They add prominence to the gate and match the color of the sculpture and gate frame.
Tip: Pots can be used to hold tender plants, making it easier to transport them indoors when temperatures dip.
DK Design
6. Soften or brighten a blank wall or fence. Have you ever wondered what to do with that big, blank wall in your backyard? Maybe the side of a shed that butts up against your property? Instead of letting it be an eyesore, think of it as a canvas or a frame. You can choose a row of colorful pots with a single plant, as seen here, or a more neutral pot filled with colorful seasonal plants. This is a great way to add repetition to your garden in an intriguing way.
Scott Brinitzer Design Associates
7. Accentuate a garden destination. A pot can be used as a point of interest at the end of a path, at the center of a courtyard or to help spruce up a secret seating nook.
Alexandre Dreyssé Architectes
8. Hold a specimen plant or small tree. By planting a tree in a pot, you are essentiallyseparating it and designating it as something special in the garden. A pot also elevates a plant above the level it would be planted at in the ground, giving it more prominence. Plant a tree or large shrub with an especially attractive branching structure in a container, so when you pass by it, you can look up into its canopyto appreciate its form.
Tip: A tree planted in a pot can experience slightly stunted growth once its root system runs out of space. This may be the effect you want for a while, but consider transitioning the tree into the landscape over time. Be sure to research the tree’s mature size and growing needs before planting it in a container.
9. Mark a garden boundary. Use pots to delineate a transition from one garden space to another. Pots can be placed at the entry to a new space or as a separation or barrier.
D-CRAIN Design and Construction
10. Add a touch of whimsy. Playfully placed pots can create an interesting garden room or path. Here, instead of accentuating a space, they become the space.
Hendy Curzon Gardens Ltd
Unexpected materials and scale, such as these oversized Cor-Ten steel pots, add a bit of fun to an otherwise formal garden.
Arthur Lathouris Garden Designer
1. Use a single vessel as a focal point in the landscape. Place a pot among plantings to draw the eye out into the landscape. Here, a light gray container framed by lace leaf Japanese maples in a contrasting dark hue creates an intriguing vignette. 
Gurley's Azalea Garden
2. Cluster pots in a planting bed. Select a series of pots with similar shapes, color schemes or surfaces to create a lively grouping that breaks up a planted bed. The surface of the pots — whether smooth, rough or shiny — not only will provide interest in a planted bed but will also give the eye a place to rest.
JDS OUTDOOR DESIGNS
Don’t be afraid to choose a brightly colored container that echoes the colors found in nearby plants. 
Pat Brodie Landscape Design
3. Mimic shapes found in the landscape. Here, a round pot picks up on the mounding form of the nearby boulders.
Bliss Garden Design
4. Accent or screen an awkward or overlooked spot. Adding a single pot or a group or pots can be a perfect way to fill an empty corner.
Zeterre Landscape Architecture
5. Anchor opposite sides of a gate. The scene in this photo would still be beautiful without the large pots. However, this is a great example of how the pots pull together the whole scene. They add prominence to the gate and match the color of the sculpture and gate frame.
DK Design
6. Soften or brighten a blank wall or fence. Have you ever wondered what to do with that big, blank wall in your backyard? Maybe the side of a shed that butts up against your property? Instead of letting it be an eyesore, think of it as a canvas or a frame. You can choose a row of colorful pots with a single plant, as seen here, or a more neutral pot filled with colorful seasonal plants. This is a great way to add repetition to your garden in an intriguing way.
Scott Brinitzer Design Associates
7. Accentuate a garden destination. A pot can be used as a point of interest at the end of a path, at the center of a courtyard or to help spruce up a secret seating nook.
Alexandre Dreyssé Architectes
8. Hold a specimen plant or small tree. By planting a tree in a pot, you are essentially separating it and designating it as something special in the garden. A pot also elevates a plant above the level it would be planted at in the ground, giving it more prominence. Plant a tree or large shrub with an especially attractive branching structure in a container, so when you pass by it, you can look up into its canopy to appreciate its form.
9. Mark a garden boundary. Use pots to delineate a transition from one garden space to another. Pots can be placed at the entry to a new space or as a separation or barrier.
D-CRAIN Design and Construction
10. Add a touch of whimsy. Playfully placed pots can create an interesting garden room or path. Here, instead of accentuating a space, they become the space.
Hendy Curzon Gardens Ltd
Unexpected materials and scale, such as these oversized Cor-Ten steel pots, add a bit of fun to an otherwise formal garden.