Low maintenance garden pots

[ProseccoSupernova]

I need to cheer our garden up but don’t want to plant anything in the ground. What would I need to buy to plant in pots? Obviously the pots, some compost(?) and any easy plants/flowers you can recommend? Garden gets sun for most of the day. Thanks!

A lot of garden centres (and B&Q) have ready planted pots - they are not long lasting but can provide a quick fix of colour. We bought two last week (in B&Q for essentials but saw these and thought they would brighten up the patio).

Go for large pots and get pots that are self watering.

They have a water reservoir at the bottom this means in the height of summer e.g. temperature over 25 celcius you only have to water them once a day. (Water them early morning) If you like a pot, it is large and it doesn't have a reservoir then buy or make a separate one to put at the bottom before putting the compost and plant in it.

You can try other things but you risk dealing with wildlife damaging them.

You can put loads of stuff in large pots. You just need to see if it likes the position in your garden and it's maximum growth.

Also be prepared to feed them weekly after the 4 to 6 weeks from late April to September/October.

I have various Salvias in large pots 2 of which I've had for just over 10 years. I have a fern in the shade, grasses, herbs and osteospernum.

Begonias seem to last forever and a bright

Here are a few of mine, I get most plants from wilkos or supermarkets.
Purple is Campanula and is indestructable, divide it every year and you will get multiple pots from one tiny plant.
Yellow wall flowers in the wooden planter - they smell divine and flower for weeks.
The yellow with purple centre is osteospermum, you can bring them in for the winter, that one is last year’s.
All of them are in cheap compost and I feed them once a week with miracle gro.

Last one is aqualegia, it’s from seeds I collected from the front garden last year

Dont know why it’s sidewards 🙄

What about lavender? It's low maintenance, looks and smells gorgeous and stays evergreen (well, greyish green) throughout the year. If you get a nice big pot and put it in a sunny position, lavender will do well (and the bees love it).

Geraniums are the easiest beginner pot plant as they are drought resistant, you can get upright and trailing varieties, they flower for ages and last for years. Mine kept flowering all winter. Nasturtiums are also very easy and herbs.

If you go to a garden centre/DIY store, pretty much any of the multipacks of bedding plug plants (small ones) that they sell will be fine in a pot. Just make sure that you plant tall plants at the back (check the label for the final height) and that the plants in the same pot all need the same amount of sun/water.

If you want all year round colour, google lasagne planting. You plant spring bulbs in layers that bloom at different times then put annual winter bedding plants on top, then after the bulbs are finished, you put summer bedding plants on top.

Brilliant thanks all particularly for the photos! Hoping the garden centres have some stock in!

OP if you put lavender or rosemary in a pot make sure you water it at least every day if your garden gets hot.They are drought tolerant but pots dry out much quicker than if you put plants in the ground.

Oh and my salvias are from eBay and my local gardening group. They come as tiny plants but grow massive in a month or two.

I don't bother taking them in winter. The most I have ever done is put fleece on plants but then I'm in London.

I'm actually working so can't run out and take pictures but this is a salvia I grow in a pots.

www.thompson-morgan.com/p/salvia-hot-lips/T57874TM?source=aw&affid=525043

There are loads growing in front gardens of my neighbourhood but they do well in large pots. In normal times I would tell you to save money and take cuttings from people.

I use to do things like layer pots and grow a lot of fushias (again you can grow from cuttings) but I started working away from home loads so this is how I worked out what plants are easiest to grow and get some else to water if necessary.