What to plant in my containers?

Hi

I'm in desperate need of advice. I've never done any kind of gardening before and decided my slab paved garden needed something to bring it to life. I've attached a photo showing planters I've made and where they will be positioned in the garden.

The problem is, I focussed so much on making the planters and painting etc, that I lost sight of what would actually go in them. Now with the lockdown, I can't even go to a garden centre for advice. And it looks like it will be difficult to get plants without a long wait as well.

Can anybody give suggestions of what I can put in them?

The internal dimensions are 113cm length, 53cm wide and 40cm depth (leaving 2 inches at top).

When the sun shines, the spot has sun pretty much all day.

I'm after something low maintenance and that looks good. Some colour would be nice. Ideally we can get a screen to get some privacy from house to the rear.

With any suggestions, I'd be grateful for advice on what sort of spacing there should be and how many plants can go in a pot.

All suggestions welcome - I really need ideas!

Thanks

 

They look very smart

hehehe ... holly grail?

I don't think anything will be high maintenance in that relatively small area but any Containers will need watering, so either you do that manually (and thus don't shove off for a fortnight's holiday ... unless you have the "cover" of a reliable neighbour / family member?). Or you could put some automated watering system in place ... probably overkill though.

Basically for something that flowers all Summer long you need Annuals - sow the seed in the Spring (or buy plants) they flower all Summer long (most of them will do that, all Summer, "fit to bust"), and then they die when the frosts come. You can plant something else for Winter Colour and/or Bulbs (Daffodils / Tulips etc.) to flower in the Spring.

There are other things, like Begonias, which will flower all Summer long. Winter cold will kill them, but you could store the Tubers indoors (dry) and start them off again next year. But to do that you'd be using Windowsills until Last Frost (which some years might be into May) so, budget permitting, you might be better off buying New each year.

Or you could put some Perennials in - which will last for years. Trouble with them is that, generally, thy have a relatively short season of interest. They flower (typically only for a couple of weeks) and then "nothing". Some have really nice "architectural" leaves, and maybe Autumn Colour too ... but its hard to get them to earn their keep in a small space. But you could put e.g. a Clematis in there, and then some Trellis (growing frame) for them up high, and they would grow up and cover that (to block the view). But seems a shame to only use your nice shiny new containers for something like that (maybe you could plant Clematis/similar IN the ground by the fence?, and then also have your Containers in front of that for "wow"?)

There are restrictions on fence height (2M I think), but that can be overcome if your neighbour agrees ("I won't show you mine, if you don't show me yours" )

There are annual climbers available too ... they will race up there but ... die in winter ... so "nothing" in winter. Plenty of perennial climbers are deciduous, and would lose their leaves in winter, so unless you had an evergreen climber then in the deep mid-Winter ... the view will remain bleak.

 

Thanks for the reply Kristen.

Just to give you an idea of how little I know, I had initially thought just to plant some bamboo and leave them be, except for watering!

I like your suggestions though - planting new seeds/plants in line with changing seasons will keep things fresh and I can see myself taking more joy/satisfaction when flowers do blossom.

I do want to still have some plants trees with more height. A screen isn't absolutely necessary. For example, olive tree, red robin tree, crab apple. Given the dimensions, could the planters hold more than one tree each? Or should I stick to one each and then fill the rest with flowers?

 

What would look quite dramatic. There is a restaurant that has rectangular containers with bamboo which they put around their outside dining area. Looked very smart. Most bamboo wants to get on and spread madly though, and would make much thicker culms if planted in the soil, but the short, "thicket" type ones would probably do well. Makes a nice sound rustling in the wind ...

A Pleached Hedge would look smart along there, and do that job, but I reckon it would be a bit tight for space and would definitely need to be in the ground.


The Pleached one is the tall "tree like" hedge raised on trunks

For trees-in-containers I would have them in their own, huge, pots (not your containers - they would looked better with bamboo / Annuals in them I reckon). If you want something to get up above the 2M fence, and grow says 4M it will need a lot more soil for its roots, and if you stand it in a pot that is already 1M tall it will have less growing to do before it stats screening

 

Hmm. Lesson learned for me, I should have been asking questions before making planters.

I think I'll go with bamboos and annuals. Getting compost and plants is going to be another challenge now!

 

Well things like Bamboo ,Red Robin, Olive bush will probably grow ok, one per planter, if you choose the stock carefully, with some colourful smaller plants cascading down the planters etc.

For such plants you might be better using pure soil or soil based John Innes no 3 compost rather than the typical peat or peat alternative composts which are too light for such big plants.

Think you will find using three of the same type of plant will look more effective than three different tall plants.

Research Bamboo as their are two main types, you want the smaller compact type that has a non invasive root system

You will also need to conrtol the growth to ensure they do not get too big or even replace them every few years.

Watering will be the biggest factor, can you provide an automated watering system - see @Kristen entry in this post about such devices.
Not great at remembering to water plants....

 

Thanks Ricky101!

I should be alright on the watering front. I'm hoping to actually spend more time in the garden, so will check daily in theory, and family can take over when I'm away.

I'm so glad I posted on here. I was thinking all about trees before: different varieties and more than one per planter. But I think you're right, using the same tall plant in each will have much more effect. I'm leaning towards Red Robin - the green and red will stand out niceley against the grey fence.

Re compost, I have seen John Innes 3 suggested a lot and that is what I will try to get. A question though, internally the containers are 113cm * 53cm, with 40cm depth. Is that going to bee too much compost? I've read about 'overpotting'. I'm wondering if I should build a box inside each planter so that there is less compost.

 

Good idea. Much more suitable, and would add some weight (compared to MPC) which will give stability

I bought a Bamboo off eBay. Owner grew it in a half-barrel planter. He said he bought a new one every few years and when it got too big he sold it and doubled his money!

That shouldn't be a problem (well ... it would if you put tiny plants in). That is mostly to do with putting a very small plant, or even a seedling, into a container which is too large such that it cannot "drink" anything like the amount of water the soil volume can hold and there is huge risk of overwatering - well meaning Newbies water "regularly", and the soil gets saturated, and the roots then drown (whereas a bigger plant, or that plant in smaller container, will drink enough to avoid that issue) - roots need some air in the soil, as well as moisture. But, yeah, be careful about watering in the early stages

Drainage in your containers (and watering) is worth considering. I'd be inclined to have a drainage layer at the bottom. I have some large planters - basically boxes on legs



which are lined with plastic, to preserve the wood. First off I made "loads of holes" in the bottom, but it didn't drain at all well. So I cut out all the plastic in the bottom (except for an inch or two around the sides), replaced the bottom with weld-mesh (I've forgotten, but probably about 2" squares), put some woven weed suppressing membrane on top of that (e.g. Mypex), and then the soil/compost. They've been fine for 10 years since

Mine have "fake 3-sided covers" for the front, so I can just replace the boxes with the seasons, and "bring on" others, and revive the ones that have done their duty, round-the-back ... but that requires a "round the back"





I started out with traditional Fuchsias and Summer Bedding type planting


Some Spring Tulips coming on "round the back"




But I went off the Summer Bedding - 'coz its everywhere - and we've tried a variety of more unusual things



even a Canary Island Date Palm


and then I have some regular Box Cones and Balls for the Winter



I'm now working on just having a frame/legs which I can stand a regular pot on (albeit a large one ...) so that I can have a number of pots round-the-back, rather than needing wooden boxes, and then growing single topiary shrubs in each pot to put them out for the couple of weeks they are in Flower - the Summer Flowering equivalent of the Balls and Cones above. Azaleas for the Spring, and Myrtle for late Summer.

Sorry ... rambling on ... !

 

Very clever, and very nice. The frame to hold pots sounds a good idea. I love the Canary Island Date Palm, wow!

Interesting that loads of holes didn't give sufficient drainage. That's what I've done, but I've read suggestions to have a layer of crushed plastic bottles with mesh to hold them in place.

 

There is century-old science that water will not readily move between layers - so better to organise the bottom to be soil-to-air rather than soil-to-gravel-to-air ... but ... when I see that it says nothing about a clay pot with only one drainage hole in the middle and providing a means for water to collect at the bottom and then flow out the hole ... so I don't know the correct answer. Try it and see maybe.

I also see deliberate water-reservoir in the bottom. So a layer of stones at the bottom (no drainage holes), a filler-pipe from bottom-to-top to add water, and then an "overflow" hole in the side at the top of the stones layer. The soil in contact with the stones will then wick-up the water by capillary action. Can also put some suitable matting fabric vertically connecting the stone water layer and up-through the compost to deliberately help the distribution, particularly as the stone layer water reservoir level falls. But I've not tried it. Terry King has a video of something similar. 5m50s in