Is 12" deep enough for roses? :(

Well the planters arrived today and although they are 3ft x 3ft they are only 12/13" deep. I had wanted to put a rose in each up the trellis, but I don't think that's deep enough for a rose ... is it?

 

No.

 

Stick them in the ground and grow annuals in your planters....

 

Patio roses noisette?would they work?

 

So where has the other 2ft disappeared too?

That's not really deep enough for patio roses either. Can you send them back?

 

I saw the planters in the timber yard but there was stuff in front of them - plus I didn't look that carefully. Thought they were maybe 2ft deep but noo. It's ok, I haven't ordered the roses yet so will drop that idea and get summat else. Got a fabulous exciting morning out now, going to the garden centre to order the compost and some manure for the roses in the back garden.

 

These are them. Which yes I know, is seriously bad grammar - but it is them nevertheless The line of pots there is next door's, and I see she has painted her bench and trough planter blue to match mine. They were brown last time I saw them.

 

They look like good strong containers.

 

Very very heavy and solid - hubby helped the delivery driver and promptly turned blue round the gills (angina) - so we've got a son coming Sunday morning to get them into position.

 

Son been and dunnit. Will get pics when husband comes home ( he has the phone, I use a laptop). But one thing is bugging me - the trellis part is higher than I thought it would be, and seems a shame to waste it. Are there any climbers with roots shallow enough to cope in 12" of soil?

 

Are you looking for annual plants or do you want something more permanent.
I think I'd be inclined to go for annuals, half hardy rather than trying to grow a perennial climber which will probably just fill the whole container up with roots over a period of a couple of years.

 

Having looked at the photo, they're a good size horizontally, so you could get away with permanent plants whose roots spread rather than going deep. IME, as long as you feed and water container plants, they'll do OK for a few years. Examples of what I've grown up an electricity pylon....Campsis, Jasmine polyanthum, Trachelospermum, Holboellia, Dregea....some of those would be too tender in Scotland, but the principle's the same. Clematis are really greedy, but again, if you're prepared to make sure they don't dry out and they're fed, there are some lovely new hybrids bred specifically for pot culture.

 

I'll get a pic fIrst thing in the morning and that will help. Annuals would be fine -I don't expect much as it's a frost pocket in winter, west facing in the shadow of the house.

 

Sorry about the delay, here you go. Husband has bugged me now, he says the planters look like single beds or graves with headstones
I'm thinking now, maybe a big pot with a pretty tree in that space in the middle there?