Huge Garden Pots

[Verbena37]

Hi,
We are in the middle of having our patio redone and made much bigger.
We would like some bamboo/tree ferns or similar screening plants in massive pots (like you see in national trust properties-like maybe 3 feet across). Thinking an odd number of 3 pots strategically placed to screen us from public park behind.

Do these have a proper name because hasn’t been can helpful anxiety if yes, can anybody recommend anywhere reasonably priced....like not £500 a pot?!

Sorry, iPad went a bit loopy for last sentence.
Should read...
*Do these have a proper name because google hasn’t been helpful and if yes, can anybody recommend anywhere reasonably priced....like not £500 a pot?!

Wyevales have an offer on, big pots when filled weigh an absolute ton, what about half barrels or wooden planters, ferns need moisture and pots dry out really quickly. Have a look on your local EBAY as people often sell them.

Thanks retired. DH and I hate gardening so pots are easiest. We don’t want loads of pots everywhere, just a few large ones placed on patio.
Perhaps an average in another and a rosemary maybe (See pic)

DH doesn’t like any of my ‘garden hacks’ ideas for large planters so having to go traditional!

Something like this? www.primrose.co.uk/100cm-polystone-large-black-trough-planter-p-31822.html?cPath=2_11727_816

I googled large pots for trees. Just had a thought, maybe commercial planters?

Nice but £200 for something only 1m wide isn’t way over priced!
Will do some more googling.

is way overpriced. Although looking at other website, I think I’m deluding myself in thinking we will be able to pay less for something way bigger!

Have you looked on eBay, my patio is full of pots.

Thanks. I will check out eBay local to me.

Pots are very expensive.

If you 'hate' gardening, don't get pots. Your plants will have a very restricted space to grow in and you'll need to water and feed them regularly. Planting right in the soil can require barely any maintenance (depending on plants chosen).

These will be really large pots.
Also, we don’t really have any soil left.
We have a gravelled area up one side with trees planted and a few pots.
Top us summerhouse.
Then main large lawn and patio at bottom.
Took all borders out.

I have very large pots on a concrete forecourt . I've not found them a lot of work ,though I was very careful with compost mixture and plants .

I was lucky and found one in a secondhand shop and the others being thrown away .I had found it impossible to find affordable ones .

However several stores do now sell large plastic ones which I would certainely buy if I needed to .I can't find them on line but I'm sure Lidls had large ones in the other week .Wilko do v good ones .

Maybe look in reclamation yards for something like galavinised water tanks ? .A property near me has these and they've been treated ( sorry ,don't know how ) with a v attractive sort of rust finish .

This sort of thing
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-Galvanised-Metal-Water-Tank-Garden-Planter-73-x-56-x-54-5cm-High-/302673998921

Well, you'll just need to look after them. Yes, they'll be big pots but you won't be planting a daffodil in them but a big plant that would normally have a much much bigger root system than the size of the pot.

Do you have any reclamation yards nearby. They often have bargains. You say that you want large pots to screen you. It is not absolutely necessary to put large plants in large pots. Lots of tall growing plants have a realatively small root ball. Thing like Cypress trees and yews for instance. It might be better spending the money on the right plant rather than a huge pot.

Can you ask the patio layers if they can make you something out of concrete /patio stone /sleepers?

Why not build or buy simple wooden planters www.webbsdirect.co.uk/images/products/medium/MFD82.jpg

Cheapest would be to build three separate raised beds and cover the soil with bark chips or gravel around the shrubs to keep weeds out and moisture in.

Nice cross-post!

Why don’t you go to a NT property and ask them where they bought them from in the first place? If you’re a member then they might give you a discount.

Big Pots

Hope you’ve got a big van.

I think you should source the type of screening plants you need, before you make an expensive mistake with pots. Large screening plants do not necessarily need very large pots. Cypress trees and Bamboo do better when their roots are contained . Yew can also be grown in a pot.

I would look at Barcham Trres, Ruskin Screen and Paramount Plants. If you google ‘Screening trees and plants’ you will see what appeals to you both. Most good tree nurseries have excellent staff to advise you on the right plant for your location. They are usually more than happy to answer emails, as sending the correct tree is good for their business.

If the garden is not finished, maybe the landscaper can leave some unpaved areas for tree planting.. I bought 2 x 18 feet tall Amelanchier, which came in 10 ltr pots. So about one large paving stone gap - just under a metre of area.

I adore big pots but like you wince at the price, our local reclamation yard seems to charge more than garden centres for stuff, so don't try a 'trendy' place, more the back and beyond that looks like a skip!! I've got my eye out for a giant urn.

I've finally settled on getting some large crates from the local egg farm, they are the size of pallets 5 pallets screwed together. They sell them off for £5, by the time I've lined and painted it black hopefully it'll look good.
I bought some nice wooden planters last year when Wyevale were selling them off 'cheap' still £35 a planter at half price and took 2 bags of compost each. It's not the best picture of them as I was focusing on the lights, but lined up I think they look quite smart. There's 7 in total which helps add to the overall effect

DottyBlue I LOVE the Olive Grove in Oundle, the website is crap in comparison to what they have there. I'd say its worth a day trip, 2 hours for us but we go there, have breakfast, meander round, think about how much our budget was and how much we now want to increase it to, Have lunch there, usually disappear to a nursery called Tandy nearby or into Oundle itself and then go back and max out our cards before a trip to the Chequered skipper for lunch. On a summers day it is the BEST PLACE in the world, you feel like you've been to Italy without the hassle of flying. I promise I don't work there, but I love it, we used to live much closer which may be why i'm a smidge wax lyrical about it!!!

That’s so funny!
I live about 1/2 mile from the Olive Grove .
Will pop up and have a look but I was thinking they’d be too pricey.
The kids want the gorilla!!

Great ideas though everybody....particularly about choosing the right plants for screening (with smaller root balls) rather than huge pots necessarily.

I got mine on offer at the local big garden centre- end of line £50-60 pound each.
I have bamboo, aloe vera, cordyline, fatsia japonicas, willow and fan palms. Hardly any maintenance needed.
I also bought some fab smaller pots £7 for 3 marked down from £25.