Filling pots with home-grown combinations

Filling Pots with Home-Grown Combinations

Pots are invaluable for patios, balconies, adding another dimension to a garden or for anyone who rents, allowing you to create a beautiful display in a small space. In this lesson I'll share my top tips for creating impact and getting the most from your pots, along with some container planting inspiration. You'll also have a chance to design your own.

One of the best things to do with home-grown seedlings is to create pot displays to decorate around your house. You can try different styles and colour schemes each year.

This year, I haven't bought any plants for my pots. It's so satisfying to have grown even my own bedding plants, such as Lobelia, from seed.

Look for a mixture of shapes and habits in each pot. These are some of the plant combinations I've used:

Pot 1:

• Dahlia Bishop's Children mix (focal point) – single-flowered dahlia, really satisfying to grow. This one's come out red
• Panicum 'Sprinkles' – soft habit to pad out the dahlia
• Verbena 'Nana Compacta Apricot' – filler at the front of the pot

Pot 2:

• Dahlia Bishop's Children mix – this one's come out pink
• Panicum 'Sprinkles'
• Phlox drummondii 'Crème Brûlée' – relaxed habit that weaves through other plants and spills over the edge of the pot, really easy to grow

Pot 3:

• Agastache 'Navajo Sunset' or 'Apricot Sprite' – aromatic perennial I sowed from seed last year. Two good cultivars
• Orlaya grandiflora – grey/green colour goes well with foliage of Agastache. Lovely low-growing lacy plant, great for cutting. Quite hardy so can treat as hardy annual; I grew it under cover and planted out in later spring

Pot 4:

• Orlaya grandiflora
• Lobelia erinus – really easy to grow from seed, also easy to sow too many as seeds are tiny

How to Get Your Pots Looking Their Best

I planted my pots towards the end of May. They don't take long to get going and start flowering.

Here are some top tips for keeping your pots thriving.

• Ensure there's enough drainage with big holes in the base of the pot. You can additionally put crocks or gravel in the bottom to increase drainage further.
• If waterlogged, plants won't thrive.
• Use a compost that retains moisture well.
• I use a loam-based peat-free compost.
• You can also mix well-rotted homemade compost into multipurpose peat-free compost to improve water retention.
• Keep watering them throughout the growing season.
• Probably every couple of days when it's hot, but test the compost with your finger.
• Try to collect and use rainwater.
• Put chicken manure pellets into the mix when you plant for real flower power.
• These act as a slow-release fertiliser that keeps the flowers going for longer.
• If you haven't used chicken pellets, feed with a seaweed-based liquid fertiliser.
• This can be done weekly if they're starting to dwindle.
• Also, deadhead to prolong flowering.

Flowering should continue until end of summer or beyond, so I won't dismantle the pots until the end of autumn.

What to Do with Your Plants After They've Flowered

• Annuals – can go on the compost heap at the end of the autumn.
• Perennials – leave in pot for up to three years, then plant out in the garden to prevent pot from becoming too congested.

Creating Impact in a Small Space

Pots are really useful for creating a garden in a tiny space like a balcony.

I like to do something different with my pots every year. I've gone for quite a bright look this year, which works well in this cottage garden style.

Include several elements in your pot – a focal point, a spiller that tumbles over the edge, and a filler that weaves through the other plants.

• When you're planning, think about the types of plants and the roles they can play for a good mix, and the different forms you can put together in a pot for maximum impact.

Did You Know?

While there is a popular belief that peat-free composts don't retain moisture as well as peat-based mixes, recent results from extensive trials by the RHS have revealed that peat-free mixes often retain water just as well or even better than peat-based composts.

The perceptions of dryness stem from the 'dry on top' look of peat-free compost, which often leads to overwatering. Though the compost may look dry on the surface, there is usually still moisture lower down in the pot.

To judge whether you need to water, instead of just looking at the top of the compost, test its true moisture levels by poking a finger into the compost.