Trough planting suggestions

I have started looking after an established trough in our village in Staffordshire. It is somewhat overgrown and in need of colour to make it eye catching. Any suggestions for flowers and or shrubs (using their common names if possible) that are both colorful and low maintenance would be most welcome. Thanks in advance

 

Hi @Noel55 a couple of questions to help with useful suggestions.
What are the dimensions of the trough?
Is it in sun, shade, exposed?

 

It would also be handy to know what's in the trough already that will be staying @Noel55.

 

The trough is approx 1mtr x 1mtr. It is in a sunny location and exposed to all the elements.
Currently in there is an excess of ivy which I am going to take out. I am looking for something to replace the ivy and hang down the sides. There is an azelia in the middle which I will leave and then the rest of the trough is a mix of odds and sods which I am looking to replace with all year round interest.

 

Do you mean it is 1 metre deep or the top surface area is 1 metre by 1 metre? If this measurement is for the top, how deep is it? Will it be watered regularly?

 

Top surface is 1mtr x 1mtr. Think it must also be about 1 mtr deep but no idea how much of the depth is compost/soil and base rubble. It will be watered regularly as that is how I have come to inherit the trough. The village appoints volunteers to water and care for the various troughs in the village.

 

Are you wanting a permanent display or plants that you change with the seasons?

 

Low maintenance, high impact all year round would be the ideal but realise that is asking a lot. So I would consider any suggestions that the group make based on their collective knowledge.
Thanks.

 

Some smaller evergreen grasses such as Stipa tenuissima or Carex Everest or Evergold would give some contrast to the Azalea.

Campanula poscharskyana is a robust trailing plant with lots of summer flowers, not evergreen though. Lysmachia Aurea is evergreen and a bright, lime green but in my experience can be a bit straggly.

Heucheras give good colourful evergreen foliage and lots to choose from.

1m x 1m isnt that big to give a year round permanent display with lots of flower each season, so I would suggest focusing on colour from the foliage and contrasting shapes/form. The azalea will give a good pop of colour flower-wise in Spring which you could further enhance with bulbs. The smaller narcissus such as Tete a Tete will look better scale wise.

 

OK, so, if you want some colour now, pansies are going to be your best bet. You could underplant with spring bulbs. As it is a sunny site, daffodils would do well, but the leaves hanging round for 6 weeks after flowering (to feed the bulbs for the following yr's display) are a bit unsightly. Next spring there will be lots of choice for annuals that trail. If you go for something like Convolvulus Sabatius, this is evergreen and will survive a mild winter, so that would potentially give you an all-yr trailer. It flowers prolifically with little purple trumpet shaped blooms and deadheads itself. I think I have a photo.

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Yep ... here we are. It can cope in quite dry conditions and likes full sun.

 

Erigeron karvinskianus will provide flowers from April to December, billowing over the edge of the trough. It remains evergreen here and may do for you in mild winters. It looks good with Stipa tenuissima. Hardy geraniums are also easy, try G. Sanguineum, the bloody cranesbill, a perennial but reliable and easy to divide for more plants.

 

What kind of Azalea is it? The Japanes types are evergreen, and slow growing, but there also deciduous ones.
I'd agree that the surface area of the container isn't huge, and you might compromise it if you add a lot of other planting. They're generally shallower rooting too, so it would help if you can determine the depth of the soil layer to help with ideas.
Ground covering plants that prefer, or don't mind, quite shallow soil might be the solution if there isn't a great depth of soil, and they can be annuals or perennials. If you can have a poke around and see how much soil is there, that will also help. You can add more soil [within reason ] which will help if you use annuals. Plenty of choices there, and you can tone them with the azalea flower colour too.
I'd also agree that some trailing plants will be a good idea to soften the edges

 

If you're going for hardy geraniums, be careful to select those that can cope with drought and full-on afternoon sun. Azure Rush, for example, flowers for months, trails beautifully, is happy in a container ... but ... it would be very unhappy in dry soil and hot sun. Also check length of flowering period. Magnificum is fab in many ways, but 4 weeks of colour is all you will get, and then it's just foliage.

 

G. Sanguineum is happy in sun or shade and is also drought tolerant. I’ve found that G. Rozanne, which is similar to Azure Rush, struggles in hot, dry locations. An alternative, also known as geraniums, but a completely different plant, are Pelargoniums. They are tender but happy in dry conditions, once established and easy to replace each year. There are also trailing varieties which are attractive with ivy like foliage.

 

Yes, my Rozanne wilts in hot sun. A pity, because the long flowering period would make it a good trough choice.