Container planting

20/06/2010 Plant Sense 2010

0610Container planting can be the solution to many problems.

It can help:

  • avoid areas of poor soil such as near hedges where water and nutrients are quickly absorbed;
  • limit poor drainage where a high water table or a heavy clay soil means holes quickly fill up;
  • allow you to cultivate areas with no soil or grow plants with particular soil needs.

Try placing one plant in one pot and arranging them in groups of 3 or 5 to experiment with the different combinations of colour, texture and form. It will teach you a great deal about what works well and what your own style is. When you find a pleasing combination try working out why it works so you have a short cut for creating new arrangements in the future.

You can buy also planters (www.squarerootgardenplanters.com) divided into pots. Plants are still potted individually and you can change the arrangement easily.

If you have a good large pot and want to plant every thing together, make sure you have three components included in the design:

  • an arresting focal point to catch and hold your attention;
  • filler plants with foliage and flowers offering colours that unite the whole arrangement;
  • trailing plants to soften and hide the hard edges and create movement.

Combining plants together from a similar habitat or climate, like sun-loving Mediterranean types, means you can recreate a particular atmosphere. You can also grow combinations of plants you would never find living together successfully in the ground.

Trailing types: Pelargonium ‘Harvard’; Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’; Petunia ‘Trailing white’; Euonymus; Helichrysum petiolare; periwinkle; ivies; plectranthus;

Focal points: Cordylines; Sambucus nigra; Aeonium ‘Zwartkop’; Euonymus; Phormium; Fatsia; Canna; Leymus arenarius; Thunbergia alata; begonias; Crocosmia; ornamental millet e.g. Pennisetum glaucum ‘Purple Majesty’; Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’; Rhodochiton atrosanguineus;

Plant fillers: Agastache; lavenders; dahlias; Heucheras; Verbena; Convolvulus cneorum; Viola; Nicotiana; Antirrhinum; Asparagus densiflorus; Osteospermum; Liriope muscari ‘Variegata’; Carex buchananii and geraniums.

For further inspiration delve into Paul William’s “Container gardening: creative combinations for real gardeners” ISBN 1405302690 Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd.

Published in ‘at Home’ a supplement of the Scotland on Sunday on 20 June 2010