Reasonably priced garden pots

[Oblahdeeoblahdoe]

I'd like to increase the number of ceramic pots I have on my patio but I find the cost of them staggering. £20 or £30 at least for a decent sized pot so £100 wouldn't buy many Where do people buy pots that are reasonably priced?

I mostly have plastic pots for this reason (also lighter to move around & won't break).

I got some ceramic ones at a reclaim yard years ago. But some of the nice terracotta ones can easily be £50 or so.

Morrisons sometimes do nice pretty large terracotta pots for fairly cheap. I have bought a few from there over the years and don't think I've paid more than about £6 for any of them. Although they don't say that they are weatherproof we live in Scotland and they have survived frost and snow without any problems (unlike some of the more expensive pots which claimed to be frost proof).

Thank you @applesandpears33. I'll take a trip there

I have got some large pots secondhand off marketplace. Also join any local Facebook selling, free stuff or recycle groups.
I have also given away gardening and household stuff on my love all Nextdoor site.

They are horrendously expensive - although plain terracotta are a lot more reasonably priced. I’ve also seen greyish beige ‘terracotta’ tops in garden centres if you want something a bit different.
I’ve also taken to buying second hand and spray painting them to match my others.

I wait until there’s 50% off in the garden centre , usually in Autumn.

Also did them last year for £5 or £10 I think? I bought a couple.

They pop up a lot on market place too.

I'd forgotten about Aldi - yes, I got a nice terracotta one from there last year. It has survived the winter OK.

Follow up question: where can I buy really large pots? Plastic is fine. I need a bigger pot for my blueberry bush.

@MrsFin

Follow up question: where can I buy really large pots? Plastic is fine. I need a bigger pot for my blueberry bush.

Lidl did big green plastic pots last year, I bought one for growing tomatoes in. I need to move my blueberry plant from its Aldi pot to something bigger.

Try car boot sales when they re-start. All of our local ones have at least 1 seller with new pots.

@MrsFin

Follow up question: where can I buy really large pots? Plastic is fine. I need a bigger pot for my blueberry bush.

I have a grape vine in one of these www.wilko.com/en-uk/whitefurze-50cm-barrel-planter/p/0406178

Had it a couple of years and still looks good.

This is why I have all plastic.
I have more than 30 plastic pots, if they were ceramic at minimum £30 each that would work out to an eye wateringly exorbitant amount of money for a fairly small garden.

I got my largest pot from Ikea. It is made of metal but is very thin and for its size much lighter than terracotta or pottery ones. Probably a little heavier than plastic but not by much.

Stewart is the manufacturer who does very large plastic pots. Most garden centres stock some, possibly the smaller sizes, but they should be able to get the very large ones.
Posting a picture of the sort of thing.

@mrsfin we've got our blueberries in the Stewart smithy pot someone else has linked to. They are doing well.

B&M can be a goldmine for pots. Probably best to get in asap as the masses went a bit mad with gardening during the pandemic last year and the shelves were emptied!

I have a couple of these which I've had for years and they look good as new. 55cm diameter at the top! I recommend filling the base with broken polystyrene/plastic containers to make it lighter to move and limit the amount of soil/compost required to fill:

55cm bell pot

Here's the rest of their range. Some of it is inside the store and some outside if your B&M has a garden centre:

Pots galore!

I also like Wilko, Aldi, Lidl and Morrisons for budget medium-large pots. Sometimes the pound shops too.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

The Tip Shop, Free cycle, & Homebase sometimes.

Cheap terracotta pots won't be frost proof. Pots fit for outdoor use, year round in UK weather are very expensive. If you're just using them for summer planting cheap ones will be fine. If you use plastic pots, put a brick or some heavy stones in the bottom to stop them blowing over in bad weather or put them somewhere fairly sheltered.

Thanks for the tips and ideas. I've never thought of putting a brick in the bottom!

None of my plastic pots have ever blown away...
Soil and plants are heavy!

Aldi have some nice plastic pots in this week. £6.99 in grey or blue. They look glazed.

Wilko have a good selection of pots and they aren't very expensive. I got a couple of these planters the other day. They are plastic but look really good and are only £6. Actually all their seeds and bulbs are really good value too.

www.wilko.com/en-uk/whitefurze-50cm-barrel-planter/p/0406178

I have had very good ones from Wilko in the past, if I see nice larger ceramic ones in there, I always get a couple at the beginning of the season as I know I will use them