Low maintenance sort-of screening plants for planter

[random9876]

Hello - and thanks in advance for any thoughts on our gardening dilemma. We want to use tall planters (2x 1metre long) in our front garden to create a bit of privacy and interest. The planters will shield a bike shed. The front garden is north facing but not heavily shaded. We’re a bit stuck on what to put in them - we’ve read about bamboo which might work, but it might also be nice to have a mix, possibly including slightly shorter plants? I would be very grateful for any ideas of what works for your planters/pots - I am a planter newbie 😀

How about some winter scent with sarcocca or daphne? Suggesting these because mine are wonderful at the moment! Sarcocca in particular is indestructible. It;s about 3-4 foot high so if you have tall planters it will give some screening.

Love the previous suggestion and you can get summer daphnes now which are repeat flowering and the scent is amazing! Stick in bulbs for interest and don’t forget summer bulbs like alliums and autumn bulbs like autumn crocus or Nerines. You could also separately (not combined with the shrubs) train a climber onto the shed itself- trachelospermum (false jasmine) is a beautiful climber- evergreen with a slight red tint in winter/ autumn and highly scented small white flowers and copes well in shade. I also love grasses in planters paired with softer flowers like geums or Achilleas but the Daphne and sarocca suggestion is pretty bomb proof and evergreen and grasses etc need more sun. Bamboo is equally an easy fix. For large planters think about fitting wheels so you can move them more easily and makes their use more flexible.

Thank you! Am in the garden centre and will check out now….such great suggestions and really appreciated

I have also gone for jasmine (night blooming) and clematis. I’d plant some evergreens for winter colour. Have you sorted out the planters? We had our planters custom made, they have metal bases so will hopefully stand the test of time!