Help in growing flowers/Roses

Hi

I am a really novice when it comes to gardening, so this question may seem a little 'basic'....sorry.

We've just had some planters made out of spare decking boards we had left over from a recent install, and wondered if we can put landscaping bark into the bottom of it to make up the base and top it with proper soil to allow flowers/roses to grow. I was wondering if this is possible/advisable?

Regards

Asgar

 

I usually put bits of polystyrene at the bottom of my planters to aid drainage, or you can use broken pots or gravel/stones.

As Armandii said, it depends on the depth of the planters as to what you can grow, but there are lots of shallow rooting plants if it's not very deep. What you can plant would also depend on the positioning, ie north facing, south facing, etc.

If you give us a bit more info then people will be able to advise what you could grow.

 

Good morning Asgar,
welcome to Gardeners Corner. I hope that you like it here. Great people who will always give good advice.

 

Hi

Thanks for the replies people, it is much appreciated. The depth of the planters are about 48cm, and we have lined them with weedol fabric. Thank you for the advise on the compost and tomato feed, will do that! Bearing in mind the depth of the planters, we want to create a modern/contemporary look with what we put into the planters, can anyone make any suggestions....i'm thinking minimalist.

Regards to all.

Asgar

 

I don't know much about minimalism, but the rule seems to be 'less is more' so one type of flower in the planter, or one colour, eg if your rose is pink choose other pink flowering plants to compliment. I'd use something small and delicate (low growing) around the rose. this isn't a definitive answer but I hope it helps.

 

48cm should be deep enough to plant some patio roses if that's the route you decide to take - David Austin has some lovely ones (I particularly like Sweet Dream)

If you're on a tight budget, then have a look at the small roses which are normally sold as houseplants in supermarkets. They are just small roses which do better outside than in. I've bought a couple from Morrisons recently which were actually four plants in each pot, which I've then split.

If you are planting roses in a container, use a mix of John Innes no 3 with 20% horse manure and feed regularly with tomato feed cos they are heavy feeders.

Whatever you put in planters will need more looking after, including regular watering.