Off to the garden centre what can I get for my big pots

[Elephantofsurprise]

I am a total beginner at gardening but our (relatively) new house has a garden that is covered in decking.

We would like to get something that we can put in plant pots to bring a bit of nature into the garden. What would be a good thing to plant? We thought about snow drops and daffodils but it might be the wrong time of year to plant them.

Has anyone got any suggestions or ideas of when I can find gardening advice for people who know absolutely nothing at all.

I would think about planting for all round seasonal interest. Maybe some small standard trees (salix flamingo, ilex) plan to put in some summer bedding or small trailing plants for interest, maybe some grasses and under plant with spring bulbs. Remember everything will grow so don't overfill them.

I'd go for larger pots over smaller ones, and look to fill with proper soil not just compost. Think about drainage and watering and how you will move them if needed (some large pots have wheels).

A fig might also be good, we have one in a very large pot (about four foot tall). Do you have any walls? A climber might also be an option.

You can buy potted up and sprouting spring bulbs now and transfer them into your pots. It won’t be as cheap as if you’d just planted bulbs yourself over winter but will give you instant colour.
Lots of flowers can’t really go out until after last frost which is as late as May but you could start things off indoors if you have room. I tend to do dahlias from tubers and sweet peas from seed.

If it's flowers and colour you're wanting I'd go for tulips. Smowdrops are very small for pots and are going over now anyway. Daffs are good for colour too. Wander over to Pinterest for some Spring planting ideas.

If you are putting your pots on decking you should raise them up with pot feet otherwise they will sit in water and the deck underneath will rot. On my deck I have at the moment daffodils and tulips coming up, and in the summer I’ll have salvia, fuchsia and oranamental grasses under planted with summer bedding. It s a bit early for summer things but you could get bulbs in flower for instant colour now, then plant them out when they’ve stopped flowering and put something else in the pots. Small trees or shrubs - bay or rosemary look nice all the year round and you can plant summer bedding or bulbs underneath for a bit of colour

In my local Tesco yesterday they are beginning to have quite a good selection of shrubs, which mainly stay green all year round, I have a few in pots and then when the summer flowering plants are out, maybe early May, I put a few around the shrubs in the pots for a lovely bit of colour. It’s trial and error when you first start gardening, so personally I prefer to buy cheaper plants from supermarkets as garden centre plants are really expensive, yes they can be better quality and bigger sizes, but it’s fun watching your garden grow with change.

Big pots as described upthread are good. Eg I’ve got a quite big pieris which is a shrub which gives year round interest, needs ericaceous soil. I like having smaller pots too which can be moved around for seasonal interest and colour.

Apart from ornamentals, many herbs grow well in pots.

As to where to find gardening advice, the Gardening board here on Mumsnet has lots of very knowledgeable gardeners. Online I find the RHS and Gardeners World websites useful for advice on specific plants

This is helpful. I had no idea about putting feet on the pots so that is a great start.

Does underplanting mean that you plant some plants from different seasons in the same pot so they come up when they are in season?

I like the idea of shrubs and tulips. So that is something to look into.

It is lovely and sunny today but we are forecast for snow later on in the week so I take your point about the frost.

I have a Japanese maple in a pot, it looks lovely.
Be careful of the weather as we’ve got frost coming back where I live

Next door have one and it looks fabulous.

It's a good time to plant fruit trees suitable for containers if you're interested on trying those?

The bigger the pots the better they will look, and they are easier to look after too. Which way does your decking face - is it sunny or shady or a bit of both?

in a little isolated space can be quite hard to bring in the wildlife but if you have a small tree and a bird feeder that can work for birds. Also consider a big wide pot with a sealed bottom to make a mini pond - a quick Google will show you how.

Do you want something that will last all year, or just seasonal interest? A mix is probably best. It's too early for summer bedding, we're still due frosts so I wouldn't buy that until mid to late April.

You could definitely buy some bulbs and plant them up, but it's an expensive way to do it and they won't last long as you'll be buying them already well on their way up. Personally I'd do an odd number of pots of different sizes and do maybe one tree (in a very big pot), a couple of long-flowering perennials, and then a couple of seasonal interest pots.

Instagram is great for gardening advice.

Steady! With the recent warm weather it can be so tempting to buy, buy, buy. But it looks as if it’s going to get much cooler again. Do double check labels on anything you buy about minimum temperatures.

Even many frost hardy plants don’t react well to sudden temperatures.

l don’t want to be a killjoy, but you might be better off waiting another month.

You might be better going to a Nursery type place where things will probably be cheaper.

We have one and I bought some snowdrops "in the green" a couple of weeks ago for £2.49 a pot.

Went to the local Garden Centre and the same pots were £8!

If you want instant impact and greenery, look at Cordylines. They do well in big pots. Gardeningexpress website will have them on offer soon - we bought two huge ones for the same price as the local garden centre’s single and they are brilliant quality.

We put Hebe shrub underneath (the one that goes pink in low temperatures, it’s called Heartbreaker). Hebe does flower but mine hasn’t yet.

I’m a big fan of geraniums. They fill the space. Bit early for those though.

my pots have daffs and crocus which I planted last year. Once those have finished I’m going to replace with marigolds. I plant from seed on my window sill then transfer outside.

in one pot I have a herchura and I love it. Deep coloured leaves, flowers in summer, looks a bit sorry for itself now but it’ll come back year after year.

I put a mix of top soil and compost in my pots.

have fun with it, try some stuff out and see what you like. Lidl is good for cheap bulbs (I brought gladioli yesterday for £2.50 and threw them in the ground) if you are nearby, I find garden centers quite expensive.

The flamingo tree is lovely, and will do well in a big pot

OP, for pots you want a nice large size and plant something evergreen for focal interest like a small shrub (hebe, aucuba or a small olive tree or conifer) the shrubs will grow bigger in a few years but then you can move to a border and get another.

The add something trailing - small ivys usually do the job, or some silver leave (cineraria) to add texture.
Then add colour. In Spring I usually have tete a tete or hyacinth coming up from bulbs planted in autumn but you can buy those ready in flower now.

Polyanthus are pretty and lots of colours.

Summer, I take out the polys and add pelargoniums, begonias, gazania or osteospermums which are good when its a bit dry. Petunias are fab but need lots of water. There is a hybrid petunia/ calibrachoa "petchoa" which is better and were great when I had them.
Autumn/winter I do something like hellebores or cyclamens.

What ever you have in pots, make sure you water them. Don't forget herbs can be brilliant in pots too.

Maybe think about some seeds as well OP. I've got some Sweetpeas in a seed tray in a windowsill at the moment. I always think that they look good in pots and do being in butterflies.

You could start sewing some patio type tomatoes too? Night scented stock is a tiny flier but always brings in moths.

I forgot to update the thread. I got some little trowels and potting compost from Aldi as they have some gardening things in the middle isle.

We just got some Primulas to get started with. When it is a bit warmer we are going to plant a bit more things.

I am trying to learn a bit more about plants so that I can make a good choice.

Don't be phased by how much you don't know! There is a YouTuber who started off buying one tired looking rose at a supermarket who now has a fabulous oriental garden!

You will start to see packs of lovely plants start to appear in garden centres and supermarkets. If you have a Morrisons near you they have excellent plant sections. Just pick the colours you like, plant them up and see what happens.

You will need to water them during the summer, so will need a hose or watering can. You will also need to feed them sometime, so a bottle of plant food (I use Tomorite for everything).

Come on over to the gardening forum and let us know how you get on

www.mumsnet.com/talk/gardening

Glad I'm not the only one who uses Tomorite to feed everything. Years ago my local Pub had the most amazing baskets and tubs and the Landlords used to feed them all Tomorite.