How to plant a year-round pot

The beauty of planting different plants in the same container is that you can create a long-season of interest in a very small space. As well as planting a container like this from scratch, you could also ‘upgrade’ existing pots that are planted with evergreen shrubs or topiary. If there is 10cm spare around the edge of the pot, then there is room to add some trailing plants or wispy grasses to liven up the display.

You will need

◼ 30-40cm wide pot

◼ Broken clay pot pieces

◼ Controlled-release plant food

◼ Soil-based compost

◼ Box cone, stipa and osteospermums

Box topiary and Stipa tenuissima grasses are good contrasting evergreens for year-round structure in a pot, while osteospermums flower all summer