Large planter ideas

[rosina38]

We have two large planters on the edge of this decking area. Can anyone suggest something to plant in them? Ideally perennials as we need something low maintenance! Thanks

If you want easy then n a planter you need something that won't need watering except in extreme summer:

rosemary smells lovely when you brush past- trailing varieties look lovely in a planter

Lavender for complementary foliage, also smells nice

If you want extra flowers, long flowering geraniums (Roxanne, Orion)

You could mix all three

I would plant Cornus midwinter fire, euonymus silver queen, Berberis, (comes in many colours) catnip for the bees, Veronica, Japanese anemone and eringion.

These are all really hardy plants. Do not prune them back in them winter as they make the most amazing seed heads.

If you have room for some grasses, the check out Pier Oudolf for wonderful ideas.

I would also plant up some small pots in front of the planters for marigolds, nigella, nasturtium, pansies, cornflowers and cosmos. These are all really cheap seeds that can go,straight,into the pots. This will give you lots of colour and break up the wood. Not that there is anything wrong with the wood of course.

Piet Oudolf not pier

I'd put grit into the compost mix andake it really well drained and then add

Stipa tenuissima grass
Achillea in yellow
Nepeta (catmint)
Scabious in blue/purple
Some herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage)
Lavender
Echinacea

It'll be blues and yellows and all swishy. Variaty of flathead, spire and dot shapes in those flowers too

I dream of having huge planters bursting with lavender like you see in the National Trust gardens. That's what I'd do.

Can I ask where you got the planters @rosina38 ?

Thanks everyone. Some really good ideas here! I'm a complete novice so no idea what I am doing.

My husband bought them from Wickes and then got some plastic to line them

A couple of thing to think about as a novice. When planting in pots drainage is important. I would pierce the plastic and then and a level of gravel before you put in the soil.

The other thing, is try to plant each pot with plants for that like the same conditions. So Rosemary, lavender, herbs, grasses generally like a fairly light soil with little watering. Shrubs will need a richer compost and more watering especially in the first summer.

I water my pots with a weak seaweed feed fortnightly from mid June to the beginning of September.

I think grasses with lavender and rosemary would be lovely. You can buy a trailing rosemary which would be lovely at the front.

Make sure that whatever you plant in there is surrounding by bark. As the owner of two cats, I've learned that planters make the best litter trays. I tolerated it because they were my cats and I knew to regularly clean it up but I was mortified when I spotted the two of them using the neighbour's new planters . She graciously accepted our offer to buy some bark and it seems to have put the cats off using it. Decorative stones are nice too but having tried it in our garden, it was more of an invite than a deterrent!