A garden in pots

[sleepyhead]

As what's turned into a bit of a lockdown project, I decided to do some work in our shared, "green desert" back garden this year.

Ds & I had already "stealth" planted some bulbs in at the edge of the grass last autumn which looked lovely in the spring and so I was inspired to try to add some colour and interest to the space.

I couldn't plant directly into the ground as a) it's not strictly my garden to dig up (well it is, but also owned by everyone else and the majority of my neighbours are tenants so it would be a nightmare to get permission), b) my bulb experiment meant that I knew the ground was mostly builders rubble about an inch down .

Additionally, the flats cast a lot of shadow so only the top quarter of the garden gets much sunlight.

Anyway, I've now got peas, dwarf french beans, spinach, radishes, lettuce, lavender, salvia, a geranium and 3 sunflowers all in pots outside and it's looking good!

That's really all I can do for one summer and I've already learned a lot of lessons (mainly about bloody squirrels digging in pots), but I thought I'd ask:

Fellow potted gardeners, what are your favourite plants in pots?

Anything that I might try later on in the year to keep some interest going after the summer's over?

Anything to avoid?

And how do you keep squirrels from digging them up?

If watering is an issue, geraniums are always a good bet as they are drought resistant. Nasturtiums are low maintenance too.

It's nice to grow things to eat too. Supermarket herbs are cheap and are over planted so you can divide them up into several pots. They will quickly grow to fill the new pot. Vegetables in a pot make pretty good architectural/foliage plants too eg carrots and onions.

Lasagne planting is great in tubs and pots. In the autumn, plant layers of different types of bulbs that bloom at different times then winter bedding plants on top, like pansies. When the bulbs have died back, leave them in the pot but plant summer bedding on top.

Quince can cope with light shade, the fruit can be brought inside to ripen if it doesn't manage it on the tree. Crabapple is a lovely tree for light shade too, I have got 'Evereste' on semi-dwarf rootstock in a container and it has amazing blossom and the fruit are like mini red apples that stay on the tree all winter. I've got some containers in deep shade that I grow ferns, foxgloves and erigeron daisies in that look nice. You can add those gel granules and a mulch to help with water retention.

Thanks for all this great advice. So many possibilities - I love the sound of lasagna planting!

Some of my favorites - dwarf cherry kojo-no-mai and purple twisted hazel.

I also love the sound of lasagne planting and it would work for a small border I've just put in. @goingoverground is there any combinations you find works well thanks

You don't need to do lasagne planting if you are planting in the ground, @Crockodoodle. You space bulbs further apart if you are planting in the ground to give them space to grow bigger in the future and produce new bulbs. Instead of planting in layers, plant bulbs of one type at the recommended spacing then plant bulbs that flower at different time at the recommended spacing in the gaps to get the same effect as lasagne planting.

If you are planting in a bed you could start with snowdrops, crocuses, early flowering daffodils, then more daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, grape hyacinths, anemones, alliums, irises. If you look at the big bulb sellers like Thompson & Morgan etc you can search the spring bulbs by flowering month. You can also buy ready made mixes from garden centres themed by colour or multicoloured. It's not so much fun as choosing your own but it is often cheaper.

If you tell me a bit more about the size of the border, light/shade etc and whether you want a particular look/colour/flower/colour combination eg pastels/bright/multicoloured, I could make some suggestions.