Patio plant suggestions please!

[Roominmyhouse]

We finally cleared a load of junk from our patio and I’d like to get some pots/tubs as it looks a bit bare. Garden is west/north west facing and patio gets a decent amount of sun during the day.

I’m not the best gardener so fairly low maintenance suits me. It’s a fairly large patio, so bigger plants would be ok. Any suggestions?

What sort of plants are you thinking of? Seasonal flowers and bulbs, conifers, long-term shrubs, patio fruit trees?

If it gets a fair amount of sun and you want a sort of statement plant in a large ornate container then maybe a big olive tree.

Ooh good question! I guess maybe shrubs which flower but look good all year around? Probably nothing too tall - we have some hebes planted in our borders which I do like but I don’t want to be boring.

There isn't really such a thing as a low maintenance pot plant . They are going to need watering, possibly even several times a day. Or do you just mean something that doesn't require much skill to keep alive?

Something big and drought tolerant like an olive or an oleander (although they are poisonous if you have pets/kids) would give you maximum impact for minimum work.

Watering is fine, I mean something that doesn’t require to much effort in terms of maintenance. We have cats so they would need to be animal safe.

Hydrangeas, escallonia pink Elle and ceanothus (both evergreen) are fine for pots.

I have a N facing garden in the NW of England fairly close to the sea and grow hostas, hardy fuchsias, asiatic lilies and blueberries in pots. The blueberries and lilies like the sunny area but the others don’t care. I also have some begonias in a pot which come up every year but I’m sure they aren’t supposed to. They all pretty much look after themselves.

In summer I add bidens and pelargoniums. Some of them usually survive the winter. I also have lots of tomatoes, beans and peas this year but they do take some work.

Having seen a friend’s hydrangea flowering happily in her N facing garden I’m going to get one for beside the back door.

Apart from the above Great suggestions, azaleas are lovely for the spring. Agapanthus and Cordyline.

I've got a pieris in a largish pot which does well - needs ericaceous compost but the good thing about containers is that you can give each plant the type it wants. Shrub-wise, I've got hydrangea too, and a hebe.

I didn't notice if anyone has mentioned herbs yet, they're a good thing to grow in patio pots - many of them are really easy and it's nice to have them easily accessible.

Thank you all!