Can you successfully grow trees in containers?

[BlogOnTheTyne]

Just wondering if the need to repot regularly etc, makes growing trees in pots a non-starter?

I'm thinking about fairly large specimums - eg 5ft to 6ft tall - (maybe 'lollipop'style privets etc) and the idea of pots is really to increase the height of the tree to use as screening along a boundary but also to prevent roots growing into the lining of our pond, by which we want to grow them.

Then I also thought about using them on the patio too, for greenery/foliage, without damage to the house structure.

Anyone with experience of this and the pros and cons? Do you have to be out there twice a day in hot summers, watering - and do theu definitely need repotting every one to two years? How do you repot a sizeable tree, in any case?

It depends on the tree and depends on the size of the container, but generally you can grow smallish trees in pots. You need to use good compost (John Innes, not general purpose) and you do need to report every two years. There's an article about this in this month's RHS magazine. If you're not potting into a bigger pot, you can take the tree out of the pot, trim the roots a bit and replant it in the same pot with fresh compost.

You can get miniature trees of all sorts, I think. My cousin is involved with a gardening business and he was telling about it a couple of years ago.

What about photinia red robin which can be bought or trained as a standard? The roots wouldn't be invasive if planted out but could also be grown in large pots. Also you could try a flowering flagpole cherry in a pot - grows to a good height but non evergreen.