What have I done?Advice for replanting Viburnum Eve Price into 40 litre pots!!!

[CreosoteGirl]

Gone a bit mad and waiting for a delivery of lots of viburnum in 5 litre pots. I planned to repot to 40 litre square pots, about a quarter depth filled with plastic bottles before adding the compost-decided on this approach as I want an informal cottage garden hedge in containers and read that viburnum's roots can be 18 inches.Most of the advice I have read since seems to be that the plants will struggle in such a large pot?

You need a mix of topsoil and compost for permanent planting. Multi-purpose compost is all organic matter and will degrade quite quickly. You might also want to add some controlled release fertiliser at the same time. Don't add plastic bottles, they are large shrubs which are going to need as much root space as they can get. You're going to have to water regularly, even through the winter, as they are evergreens. Is there any reason they can't go in the ground? Look up the symptoms of Viburnum beetle and keep an eye out for it. I can't grow Viburnum in my garden because of it. I hope you pots aren't narrower at the bottom than the top as they will blow over easily once the shrubs have grown.

Thank you! They are sturdy square pots so should be stable-I had originally planned some soil, but was told this would impact and cause root rot/block the drainage holes? Watering isn't a problem, I can't plant as I rent and it is all concrete and gravel!!