Recommendations for plant pots

Hi, we have 5 large plant pots that I would like to put something in. I'm after recommendations for plants that do well in pots, look colourful, are easy to maintain and won't make a mess in the garden over winter (something that will survive the winter). Would a cherry tree do OK in a pot? And my children like rasberries so I thought about that too. If the shops reopen in time (or do delivery) I'd like to do it this year.

Thanks.

 

Hi,

How large is large ??

You can grow Rasps in pots but it will probably be next year before you get any useful fruit, unless you can still find some Long Cane Rasps eg -
Raspberry Long-Cane | YouGarden

Other suggestions, Trailing Cherry Tomotos, Strawberries, Blueberries and even a pot of salad crops like Lettuce Salad Leaves ,Beetroot , Radish etc.

All the above seeds or plants should still be avaiable mail order now.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. A friend of mine had a variety of raspberry that fruited the same year it grew, would prefer that. Didn't want to go mad on the edibles though, would prefer something colourful and aesthetically pleasing.

 

Forgot size, approx 40cm diameter at top.

 

Hebes look good - have a range of colourful leaves (purple, variegated etc), they're evergreen, and flower prettily. There are some strawberries with good pink flowers that fruit as normal. Add bulbs to anything you plant in order to lengthen the season of interest. Lilies can be bought already growing at present and would give an impressive show.

 

40cm is a nice sized pot but not particularly big. It would be too small for a tree unless it was a dwarf variety. I have a couple of (supposedly) dwarf apple trees in 40cm pots but they are still very young. They might yet have to go into bigger pots once they have matured some more.

I have some herbaceous perennials in pots that do well. The only trouble with those is they have to be cut down to ground level each year. I have an aster and a chrysanthemum that come back strong every year. I have a couple of dahlias that come back every year. I leave them in the pots all year and they seem happy enough. I have a couple of varieties of lilies too. I have 3 Kordana Rose's in 40cm pots. They seem to be doing ok.

A nice lavender or rosemary pot could do well. They are both evergreen and really easy to manage

G.

 

Hi,
I have had a trio of Raspberries (Wilko's pack of early, mid- and late fruiting canes, about £1 at the time) in a 50cm pot for a decade. Top dressing with fresh compost, slow release fertiliser every spring and they have been fruiting very well. Now they start to look tired so I will replace them with something, but it certainly has been a good investment.

Alpine strawberries are vigorous and offer lovely, tiny fruit all summer. They are more or less evergreen and very decorative.

I have grown all sorts of plants in containers as our previous house didn't have much of soil area. In general, 50cm pots are manageable, any smaller than that will need frequent watering and careful fertilising.

Draught tolerant plants are easiest, but everything is worth a try. Perennials are fine but will do nothing over the winter, so evergreens might be a better option- small shrubs such as Sarococca or perhaps a climber on a obelisk? My spare Rosa Climbing Iceberg is doing very well in a pot for now. Lonicera Henryi is evergreen and very tolerant, with lovely flowers for a long period. A large container will happily host two climbers to extend the flowering period, plus small spring bulbs as underplanting.

A herb container is a must. Mine hosts Chives (just about to start flowering now), Thyme, Marjoram and Parsley, we use them all the time in the kitchen. All can be started from supermarket potted herbs, or from seed for more interesting varieties. Chiltern seeds has good range of herbs suitable for outdoors growing. Many are perennial, Parsley is biennal so needs to be replaced.

 

One advantage of a pot is that you can grow shrubs that wouldn't necessarily thrive in your garden soil. I'm thinking ericaceous plants in ericaceous compost with an occasional shot of liquid ericaceous feed...Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Camellias, Kalmias, Pieris etc...all evergreen except deciduous varieties of Azalea. They're utterly boring when not in flower, but a couple interspersed with later flowering or foliage plants in other pots would work OK

 

Thanks all, some good suggestions. I'll jot them down and pay the shops a visit when they reopen. Sounds like a cherry tree won't work but the raspberries and strawberries will, which will be good for the kids.

 

Hi Daniel,

I have a Cherry tree called "Sylvia " in a pot about the same size as yours and it does really good. It's a dwarf one that's about 4' high but is currently loaded with buds, I'll post a photo when it's out. The fruit are the sweetest Cherries I've ever tasted so you should be good with it for the children.

I only garden in pots/containers and the trick is to under plant.
What I tend to do is put Winter/Spring ( Narcissi, Tulips, Hyacinths Muscari etc ) flowering bulbs in, then a layer of Summer bulbs ( such as Lillies, Irises ) then put some perennials on the top.



This is a Forsythia underplanted with Muscari. For the Summer there are a couple of Osteospermums and I grow annual climbers through the Bush.



This is a dwarf Victoria Plum which is underplanted with Narcissi/Daffodils, Crocus , Winter Iris and Winter Aconites and Salvias. This is a really good combination as I have colour in there for virtually every month of the year.

Also, don't wait for the shops to open, you can get some really good bargains on line at the moment. For general dwarf fruit trees and Summer flowering bulbs try JW Parkers

 

I've never thought much of them for plants, but maybe their plant quality has improved?

I do buy, and have been very happy with, a lot of bulbs from them (actually from their Parkers Wholesale arm - they seem to be happy to sell bulbs in relatively small quantities)

Out of curiosity I had a look at price differences. Sample-size of ONE ... but ...

Lily Miss Feya

J Parker Retail Site

Pack of 3 £7.99
Pack of 9 £15.98

£4.99 carriage (all orders)

J Parker Wholesale :
£8.00 per 10
£70.00 per 100

£5.95 carriage, free for orders over £200