Gay Search’s Container Gardening Tips
Gay Search’s BBC presenter of Gardeners Questions, lecturer and writer of many books including Gardening without a Garden at the Macmillan Plant Fair, Grove Park, London W4 on 13th May 2010.
Choosing your container.
Depends on the “look” of your garden and your budget. There are pots, troughs and containers in every material.
For a rustic country garden, use wood: boxes, barrels etc.
For a more urban look, aluminium and galvanised metal. Make sure that there are drainage holes. If you drill holes, if possible drill from inside out to avoid sharp edges that might cut your hands.
Hand made terracotta pots should be frost resistant otherwise they will flake or crack.
Factory made terracotta pots can be made more attractive by painting INSIDE and OUT and UNDERNEATH with Cuprinal Garden Shade paints.
Planting Up
Vine weevils eat the leaves of plants and their white grubs can devastate the root system. To prevent them entering through the drainage holes, place a cloth over the holes. This will allow drainage but prevent the weevils from entering the container.
Line the container with broken polystyrene. It is universally available and lighter than terracotta pieces.
Fill your container with compost with added John Innes (a recipe not a brand) 2/3 full.
Place your plants in the container. Make sure your arrangement is dense with as many plants as you can fit.
Around the roots of the plants add a scattering of water retaining pearls – many brands on the market.
Add two to three (depending on size of container) controlled release feed cones. These will release nutrients as and when the plants need them.
Fill the rest of container with compost.
Water well.
Choice of Plants
Do not choose plants of wildly different colouring. The end result will look messy.
For an all-year-round display,choose a shrub like Pittosporum – remember you can plant anything in a container, even trees, as long as you keep your plants small and tidy and the container large. Around the Pittosporum place white Marguerites with some trailers such as easy-to-grow grey-green Helichrysum (also available in a golden variety), Diachondra “Silver Falls” and Bacopa Snowflake.
As the seasons change, remove the Marguerites and plant with bulbs or annuals such as violas, pansies or perennials such cyclamen and primulas which can be planted out in your garden (if you have one) for next year.
After Care
Water, water, water. And not just a dribble, a really good soaking. The plants act as an umbrella, so even if it rains, remember to water your containers thoroughly. In hot weather EVERY DAY. Plants in a container have nowhere to go. They are dependent on you.
Dead-head. The flowering season of your container plants will last far longer if you regularly remove the heads of the dead blooms.