Architectural container plants

I'm considering getting some architectural container plants for the front of my house and wondered how easy it was to keep this sort of this: Large Golden Leyland Cypress Spiral or Large Box Pyramid or Bay trees etc. all year or any tips/tricks you can pass on for which ones to buy/not to buy.

I'm looking to have them on the front door step which gets sun all day up until 3/4pm. Dare I ask/mentioned I'm tempted to go for artificial it's too hard to keep them?!

I was interested in the thoughts of another post on here that talks about having a winter & summer set as this could work for me as a good place at the side of the house for storage.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks.

 

I have a pair of standard bay trees (bought as a gift last December).
They are growing wonderfully - despite the fact I forget about them sometimes If yours are to go beside your front door step, you are unlikely to forget about them too often.

No experience of the other two you mention so won't pass comment on those.

 

If you get something evergreen you'll get year round interest so won't need two sets.

How tall do you want them to grow?

 

Not tall at all. Just want to keep them shoulder height or so and in containers at the front of the house. Does that sound ok? What's the care and upkeep like on plants like this? Do they need very frequent watering etc?

Thanks.

 

@chris_elevate Anything you have in a planter will need more frequent watering. At the moment I'm having to water everything every couple of days because we've had so little rain. You will also need to re-pot every few years (and root prune if you're putting it back in the same container).

If you get a plant in a spiral shape you'll need to be able to prune it in the same shape (which can be tricky).

How about a patio Rose for the summer, which can then be replaced by a Bay tree for the rest of the year?

Patio Roses
Patio Roses - half standard

If you get a repeat flowering Rose you'll have blooms all summer long (and even better if it's fragrant so you get a nice whaft every time you come home). Good for bees as well.

Damn, now I want some myself