Dynamic, leafy plants for containers - just like the ones on the telly

I am planning on building 5 3- 4ft raised boxes for my patio. I would LOVE to plant these Med. plants- large, spiky ones..bamboo etc Patio is one-side shaded. The boxes i plan to build would be generous, in that thinking 4ft deep, 3ft or more wide.

So - couple of questions for your noggin - advice more than welcome.

What type of plants? not into the tiny ones, wanting more dynamic, leafy, overhanging, tall as possible.

Next question, lining my boxes...the cheapo stuff from poundland or more stronger stuff...hard to tear...stuff that will let water through but nothing else? ( begs the question though - pinned to sides of my containers...would damp, rot set in?? )

Finally, i am happy to got the extra mile and chisle up some of the cement work i put down...underneath the patio - just sits on layers of clay soil..nothing but clay. SO...would i be wise..to build my container..with a hole in places at bottom and allow plants to enter a few chisled holes in my cement floor.....would that suffice...worth doing? means i could grow larger things?

As always, thanks for your time and look forward to your answers.

 

Hi @garjobo79 and welcome to GC.

I have lots of planters and giant pots in my garden. One large concrete planter has Bamboo as does a giant clay pot. Both do well and it keeps the Bamboo contained. I just use normal cheap compost. I have tried Clematis but it is too hot here. How about a nice scented climbing rose?

Hopefully someone from the UK will come along and give you better advice as a lot off what I grow is not suited to UK weather. It would be helpful if you would state your location.

I look forward to seeing what you do with your space.

 

Welcome garjobo79

Dynamic? How about cannas? Already here they are 5' tall and will soon be 8' plus with exotic flowers. Varieties like Pretoria, Durban, etc., have the wow factor with their amazing leaf colours.
Hedychium, the gingers? Foliage like lush bamboo and scented flowers in late summer.
Hymenocalis has lush tropical strap like leaves and white spider-like scented flowers....mine are late this year but should appear soon.
I wouldnt go the cheap route....start high with quality and continue with it.
Restios? They are pretty hardy generally and add bamboo like appearance

 

Last year I grew a Parthenocissus Henryi in a pot. It became waterlogged, and so needed moving and when I tried to take it up the root had grown through the bottom and found its way to where it could grow into the nearest patch of soil - I`ve seen this happen before, so YES it could work very well for you too. Doing this would make your choice of plants much bigger and you would be able to grow a lot of stuff.
Having quite a few raised growing places in my own garden, I would suggest that timber is really a bit of a pain -because it rots whatever you do to it. I have built beds out of broken paving slabs, old (proper old, tar filled) railway sleepers, old used bricks etc quite successfully. More recently I found some really really huge black plastic pots in a growers nursery and begged a few of them to use as planting beds.... they should have housed well established trees really. They are working really well, and less hassle to care for.
Making a good mix for planting stuff in was a whole project on it`s own though - I warn you

If you can get your project that far I`m sure we can come up with a massive list of big blousy jobs that can be grown there

 

Is your real name Popeye Tetters??

 

No it is not......... I`m more of an Olive Oyl actually.
Here is a really good likeness of me on a good day - ready to get on with it

 

I'm late to the party, but just wanted to add that if you go for bamboo, avoid the running types - go for the clumping types as these will be much happier in a container, and for much longer before they need a major root chop and replanting.

Bamboos prefer shade (or part-shade at the very least), shed quite a lot of leaves (something to consider if you're siting them on a patio), and don't generally tolerate windy conditions. It's often very windy where I am (half way up a west-facing hill in South Wales) so I chose the clumping Fargesia robusta 'Campbell' for my containers, as these do have some wind tolerance.