Looking at plant trough, need advice as new to plants/gardening

Hiya

I'm getting the front repaved at the beginning of March, and I'm going to purchase a long trough to sit under the window and ideally brighten up the outside. As I'm completely new, I have a few questions that I need advice from more learned people on, forgive me if any terminology is wrong

1. I am going to buy an empty trough and fill it with compost and top soil - is this right?
2. I am looking for plant suggestions that have nice smells, look bright, last all year round (if possible) and need no more maintenance than fortnightly. I have no preference to bulb, shrub etc.
3. Do I need to get rid of the plants after a certain amount of time (i.e. will they outgrow the trough)
4. Should I section off the inside of the trough (to prevent roots entangling etc)

Thanks for your time and advice.

 

The first thing to do is decide what plants you want, then you can find out what they will need to grow best. Get some gardening magazines or books and have a browse.

If you want easy, low-maintenance long-lasting summer colour then things like bizzy lizzies, begonias, pansies, pelargoniums etc are classic container plants. These are mostly annuals - they will flower from early summer onwards, but won't survive the winter.

How big is the trough?

 

Ok - I only started gardening last year, so I will do my best to offer some advice. It may be limited!

Make sure the trough has drainage. And it helps to have something to help drainage along, like gravel or broken up teracotta pots in the bottom. Then fill with all purpose compost and you're away.

You could go along the annual bedding plant route, which will give you a good display this year, but will need replanting every year. Or you could go for perennials, which might not look at their best and biggest this year, but will get big in time and will not need to be replanted each year.

I found that the best purchases I made last year for colour and economy (ie they come up each year) were fuschias. They really are good value for money as far as flowering goes. I have some perennial geraniums too, which require very little effort, but they do tend to swamp out everything else if left for too long without thinning them out.

I hope that helps a little bit. You will get some fantastic advice from the people on this forum - they rock!

Good luck

 

Are you limited to a particular size of trough? Either determining what size trough you can have so you can decide what plants will do best in it, or decide what plants you want to decide what size trough to get - does that even make sense? hmmm
Is the trough going to be at ground level or hanging on the house wall outside the window?

If it's at ground level - it's always nice to make sure you give it some height in the planting as well - one planter I always enjoy has a simple little evergreen in it, some trailing ivy, and I replace a couple of annuals in it each year. But it never totally dies off due to the evergreen and ivy. Also has some height, and something trailing making it look larger than it really is.

 

Sorry

The length will be about 100-120cm long and it will be floor mounted. I have been looking at perennial flowers at the moment. I really like colour but don't want it to look dead or ravaged in winter if possible :s

 

For late Spring, Summer and early Autumn try Gaillardia. They bloom and bloom all season, but do die away in winter (like most perennials).

You'll have trouble finding one type of plant that looks good ALL year. You'd be better off planting several different things depending on the time of year.

Sorry, gardening is fun but it isn't completely hassle free!