Starting out
SMALL POTS and planters are a great way to dip your proverbial gardening toe in the water. They are contained and therefore less intimidating than going straight into the flower bed.
You can move them around depending on your preference and are easy to maintain.
You’ll be lucky to find a store open that’s selling pots and other garden gear (although the major home warehouses are offering online ordering, with delivery and even click & collect). But this is the opportunity to clean off and smarten whatever old terracotta pots you can find from last year. The terracotta looks wonderful itself once the dirt is washed away, or you can colour them with old paint you might have in the shed if you’re feeling a little flashy.
Find some bits of broken pot – there are usually some around after the winter frost – to line the bottom of the pot around the drainage hole. Don’t have any? Grab an old plate and break it in to small pieces, a rather therapeutic exercise in the circumstances.
Fill your pot with soil and you are ready for planting. I would recommend using John Innes type 2 or 3, or any multi-purpose compost you can get your hands on.
Now the exciting part... plants. As spring takes hold and the days become longer, there are more and more options for bedding plants and perennials. Garden centres still have online ordering, so don’t fear. I would recommend starting off with ivy or Muehlenbeckia (also known as maiden hair) to gently trail over the edges of the pot and then to fill in with some gorgeous Tiarella and Anemone.
These herbaceous perennials will flower throughout the spring period and most of early summer. They are gorgeous and easy to maintain and can be grown in partial shade or sun so are suitable for most areas.
Make sure that your plants are kept watered if it doesn’t rain, as now is their key growing season. Feel the soil, if it feels dry then water, if moist already then don’t.
I water my pots every couple of days or so depending on the weather.