Look for some advice on plants/flowers for containers

Hi all,

I have just purchased the following for my garden:

Set of 2 x 120cm Wooden Trough Planters - Large Wood Plant Trough Container Box, dimensions: 120cm long x 22cm wide x 22cm high.

Set of 1 x 60cm Wooden Trough Planter - Wood Plant Trough Container Box, dimensions: 60cm wide x 25cm depth x 32cm high.

Pond Liner to line the Troughs, will also be making drainage holes.

3 x Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Peat-free Beds, borders & pots Compost 40L.

I'm not sure what to put in them, plants or flowers, what i am sure of is i'm looking for something that requires the least amount of maintenance (having 4 kids is enough maintenance for me)

Just for info the sun will be shining on the troughs from about 12pm too 4pm as they are sitting against the back garden wall.

I would prefer to have something that has already grown, not from seed.

Any idea what would be a good choice and how many do you think i will need?

Also do you know a good place online where i can purchase any recommendations you give?

All the best

Jay

 

Hi @JayKay70 , welcome to GC!

What kind of plants or look are you after? Summer delight or permanent evergreens?

The throughs are quite shallow so will not take much compost which means constant watering. Draught tolerant planting is a good idea, or training the kids into a watering rota

If at least one of the planters is near the kitchen, I'd dedicate it for herbs. Supermarket Chives will look great and are useful in all cooking. Rosemary is beautiful and Lavender will tolerate any draught if you go away for some time. Mint is a thug but if you like it, super easy to grow. Again a supermarket plant is fine.

For summer delight, Pelargoniums are very low maintenance and you can get them from any supermarket around this time of the year. In a mild winter they might survive to next year but in essence, summer bedding plants are annual.

Whatever you go for, a strawberry plant or two will always fit in to delight the kids.

If I buy plants online it's usually J Parkers . Their plants are small but good quality and don't cost too much.

 

Hi @Selleri

Many thanks for the detailed information, a few things.

I won't be doing any herbs or growing strawberries as my wife has a residential allotment and that is her passion.

I do like the look of the evergreens so i had a look on J Parkers and i do like the look of the following:

Euonymus Evergreen Collection
CODE SP277

RHS AGM WINNING - Evergreen Shrub Collection
CODE SP1199

That would make 9 plants, thing is I'm not sure how big they grow and if they will all fit into the above troughs i mentioned.

It's the only ones i found that say evergreen, ain't gonna lie but everything looks the same to me so i could not narrow down evergreen plants only

Any idea if the above is possible?

All the best

Jay