Carol’s pots for year-round vibrancy
Carol shows you how to create low-maintenance container displays that are full of vibrant colour. Plus learn how to keep the wow factor going all year round
We have lots of pots and containers here at Glebe Cottage. Sometimes it feels very self-indulgent to have so many when we have a bigger-than-average garden. “Surely”, people say, “you’ve got more than enough space – why do you want to be bothered with pots?” But containers add a whole new and exciting dimension to our gardening repertoire. They’re a chance to indulge in theatre, drama, magic.
When planting in borders, our choices are restrained by the conditions. But with containers, you have more freedom. You can use whatever compost suits your plants, and there’s no need to consider the pH of your soil or whether it’s heavy or free-draining. And you can place your containers wherever you like, to suit the plants you’re growing.
Containers are a great way to get children involved in growing plants too, especially sowing seeds. Nasturtiums are ideal seeds for children – they’re large and easy to handle, and can be sown around the edge of a big pot or singly into small ones. They grow fast and produce bold plants with bright flowers.
Support our growers
So your first step is to buy your plants – but where from? As we go to press, the mail-order plant business seems to be one of the most active areas of the economy, and I urge you to support the British horticultural trade by buy plants by post if you can (see details at gardenersworld.com). Small independent nurseries grow an amazing range of plants and normally sell face to face to customers. Many are now making a virtue of necessity by starting to send plants by post, so we should treasure and support them.
Still, the later in the year it gets, the bigger the plants are and the more difficult they are to send by mail order. However, they should be well packaged, and will recover quickly if you plant them as soon as they arrive. And more mature plants often have the added advantage that you can take cuttings from them to make extra plants for free.
Your next choice is your container. And here, bigger is best. The larger the pot, the more scope it offers and the easier it will be to sustain growth and help the plants give their all. Bigger pots mean less watering, too, making them the low-maintenance option. But just be aware that if you’re using huge containers, they’re going to be heavy. So unless you are weightlifting as your daily exercise, make sure your pots are in their final position before you start planting.
When using our biggest pots, we reduce the amount of compost needed by filling the bottom third with broken plastic pots or bits of polystyrene, topped with a sheet of plastic (or an old compost bag split down the sides). Just puncture lots of holes in it, so the compost
You can tweak and adjust, add and subtract, as ideas come to you
doesn’t become waterlogged. Another trick is to line the sides of porous pots with plastic too, to improve water retention. Plants in pots dry out faster than those in the ground, and dry conditions will slow their growth or even kill them. Use rainwater from a water butt if possible, rather than mains water.
We fill our containers with our own mix of compost, but whatever you use (and it could be a question of whatever you can find at the moment), try to ensure it has a high loam content. This will sustain plant growth by supplying nutrients for longer.
Plants in pots can’t draw on the nutrient resources available in the ground, so feeding is vital. We use an organic seaweed-based liquid feed weekly, watering it onto wet compost. If you can’t get hold of this or want to make your own, then a liquid feed made from nettles or comfrey is ideal. If you don’t have either of these plants, but do have a lawn, then as long as you don’t use chemicals on it, you can make grass ‘tea’ instead. This is rich in nitrogen and other nutrients, and is easy to make by soaking clippings in water for three days. Use the liquid as a feed every few weeks.
With containers, it’s easy to change the display as the seasons progress. We grow our tulips in plastic pots and simply drop them into more attractive clay pots when we put them on display. We then replace them with lilies later. You can fill several containers with the same display, or create a different one in each. And if you’re short on plants, simply divide a few perennials from your borders. Choose those with fibrous roots, such as hardy geraniums and primulas.
Growing in containers lets you branch out into creating original designs, unfettered by any boundaries other than your own imagination. They are easier to maintain than you might think and you can tweak and adjust, add and subtract, as new ideas come to you, and enjoy them wherever you want. Stay safe, keep well, happy planting!
See p90 for Nick’s container planting ideas and turn to p100 for tips on home-made feeds.