My Planter??

hello everyone
some advice about planters please
i only have a very small garden , i have decided to have an oblong planter on the one side, a fairly large one ..my question is how to start, i am new to gardening , how to do i plant it up i.e do i have to put grit in the bottom?etc , I would be so grateful if anyone could help me with this
thank you
kathyxx

 

Hi Kathy and hello from the forum

Planters are good fun plus you can move about, you could plant a autumn/spring display so quick results and places like B&Q have bargains galore.

so you will need minature daffodils , low lowing tulips say max 12 inches in height will say on the packet how big they grow.
Crocus .

Drainage is realy important so make sure you have enough holes one in each corner and two either side in the middle.

Put about a inch of multi purpose compost in the bottom then sit the tulips on that then cover them over , put the daffodils in then cover again .

Get some plugs pf polyanthus and some pansy/viloa

Put them on the top and then finaly push in the crocus about inch down in between the plants and their you have it


p.s no grit required with this one now if it was alpines that would be diffrent


Spruce

 

Hello Kathy , and welcome to the GC forum !
the link below shows a good way of planting up a container with bulbs for a good show next spring. All you will need is some good multi purpose compost peat based. Wickes and B and Q brands are good , I would avoid the peat free compost. Buy some tulip , daff and crocus bulbs this month and plant them up in October. Then sit back and wait
http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/container-gardening/36497-growing-spring-bulbs-containers.html

 

I always put drainage in mine, broken pots or stones, whatever is to hand - and with heavy pots I use polystyrene, but not sure if it is essential, they always do well.

I feed them from time to time as well, depending what I have planted in them.

I have a winter one with some heathers and a few bulbs, but choose shorter bulbs as suggested earlier, they are often blown over if they are too tall. The squirrel always pinches my crocuses - no idea why.

 

Put a piece of chicken wire on the top and cover with gravel , that will stop them they also like tulip bulbs as well

Spruce

 

Passing a house last week i noticed the occupier had built planters on each side of the pathway. These planter's were made from old treated wood decking. They were about 2 ft high x @ 1 ft broad and they run up the whole pathway to the door. they had them filled with various shrub's etc and they looked very impressive. i did hear later the occupier got the decking for nothing . Some people have all the luck :WINK1:.

 

drainage is important (broken crockery, stones, etc as mentioned previously) nd use john innes #3 compost

if the planters are large, plant evergreen shrubs etc and not bulbs

in my opinion, bulbs are a waste of space in a planter, as they flower for a little while then you are left with green leaves that eventually turn brown unless you keep on replacing them ...

check this site for ideas:

Architectural Plants: Illustrated Plant Catalogue: A