Surface cover/interest for container Jasmine

Hi.

We've bought this huge planter, it's about 6ft x 18", about a foot deep, and has a massive trellis attached to the back.

I did a bit of investigation, and have decided on Jasmin as the main climbing plant. I've bought two for each end, and I plan on zoning off the ends from the middle, so that we can grow things like tomatoes in the summer months, in the long middle section, without disturbing the jasmine's roots. So it'll be three zones, a foot/18" either end and 3 - 4ft-ish in the middle.

So they'll be planted at the back, to grow up the trellis, but with the planter trough being 18" wide/deep, that's going to leave a lot of bare soil on display in front of the Jasmines.

Is there anything I can plant on there, that will provide evergreen ground cover, very shallow, that won't set down deep roots and interfere with the Jasmine? I was thinking about rockery type plants.... any ideas? Thanks.

 

First thing to say is the soil/compost level will settle, so either fill it and leave it to do that before you plant, or fill it right to the brim initially. Secondly, it will need a lot of watering. Things planted above ground level dry out quickly.

What you choose depends on which way the container faces and, therefore, how much sun it gets. In my raised beds, I underplant with waldstenia ternata, some low growing ferns, variegated ivy, little carex grasses, native primroses, and dicentra formosa. All of those are fairly shallow rooted and seem to survive the dry conditions.

 

The depth of your planter at just a foot seems quite shallow to support more than your jasmines and tomatoes to me. Any ground cover plants that you plant will deflect rain from the surface of your soil and at that depth you will probably need to water the planter daily during the summer months. Perhaps consider some shallow rooted edibles like herbs plus a decorative topping of pebbles, gravel or an organic mulch to retain moisture in the soil.

 

Ah, you are right, @Plantminded. I misread it as 18" deep. Yes, a foot would not be enough for shrubs really, as you will lose a couple of inches (once the soil has settled) in order to have space for watering.

I will edit my post.

 

I did wonder whether you had misread the depth @ViewAhead, I had to read the post a couple of times myself .