Planting a whopper pot for summer

Planting a Whopper Pot for Summer

In this lesson, I'll be showing you how to prepare your summer whopper pots.

This changeover, from spring to summer takes place in mid-May and begins with removing all the tulip bulbs from the pots. The following steps can be repeated for a wide range of summer pot recipes.

It's then time to bring out the tender plants, ready for planting. These plants will take us through to late autumn.

As there was tulip blight in the whopper pots, I washed them very carefully with jeyes fluid, inside and out, to eliminate all traces of the fungal spores.

How to Spot Tulip Blight

Tulip blight, sometimes known as tulip fire, is a fungal disease that affects the leaves, stems and petals of tulips. Tulip blight can affect plants from late winter until summer.

The symptoms of tulip blight include:

• distorted or twisted leaves
• brown spots on the leaves
• fuzzy grey mould that may appear over damaged parts of the plants
• spots on the flowers or flowers that rot in wet conditions
• small black scales (known as sclerotia) may appear on the infected parts of the plant

There is no chemical control for tulip blight and the disease can only be controlled through careful cleaning if the tulips have been planted in pots. Tulips in the ground should be removed once blight is discovered and should not be planted in the same space for three to five years.

How to Prepare Your Whopper Pot for Summer Planting

1. Add Crocks

To begin, add crocks to the bottom of your whopper pot to aid drainage. I have used a mixture of broken plastic pots, polystyrene and packing paper which we have collected from deliveries.

These are put into the bottom of the pot to a depth of around 30 cm. By using these items, your pots will be lighter than if you had used terracotta crocks, and it will also save you money on compost as you won't be filling to the bottom of the pot.

2. Cover with Water-Permeable Horticultural Fleece

Once your crocks are in, cover them with a layer of water-permeable fleece. This will ensure the compost doesn't fall through into the bottom layer.

3. Add Compost

It's now time to add your compost. We make our own compost here using layers of the following:

• organic farmyard manure
• coarse garden waste
• green waste (such as grass clippings)
• newspaper
• straw
• cardboard boxes

You need to aim for a carbon and nitrogen balance in your compost heap that is built up in layers, as this will bring aeration into your heap and aid with decomposition.

Add the compost to your whopper pot until it is about two-thirds full.

Soaking the Roots

When I am ready to plant up my whopper pot, I leave all of the plants to soak in a wheelbarrow of water for around five minutes. This will give them moist root balls and help them to flourish once they are planted.

The Summer Whopper Pot Recipe

Thriller: Dahlia 'French Can-can'

Pillar: Thunbergia 'African Sunset'

Spiller and filler: Pelargonium 'Chocolate Peppermint'

Peat-Free Compost

Once your pot is two-thirds full of homemade compost, fill the remainder of your pot with bagged, peat-free compost.

Our compost heap might not have been hot enough to kill off any weed seeds it might contain, so by using sterile bagged compost for the top layer, we are hopefully ensuring that any potential weed seeds below won't have the energy to reach the surface.

Our homemade compost is also a lot richer, so it's great to have this at the bottom for the roots to grow into.

Fill your pot to around 10 cm below the rim, it is now ready to plant into.

Making a Teepee for the Thunbergia

I use birch to create my teepee frames, which will be 1-2 metres in height. This adds architectural interest, giving the garden some structure while the plants develop below.

The pot I am using is around 75 cm in diameter, so I am going to be using six silver birch branches for the uprights. Silver birch is very pliable if you pick it before it starts to produce leaves. The best time to do this is between January and March.

Place your birch branches around the edges of your pot, pushing them down into the compost until they are secure.

Next, take a length of flexi-tie and tie the six branches together at as high a spot as you can reach.

Weaving the Silver Birch Twigs

Once all of your branches are secured together it's time to start weaving the twigs around the teepee frame. Start by grabbing one group of twigs and then following the frame round, adding more as you go and then twisting them together.

Gradually move up your structure so that you are creating a sort of helter-skelter shape. Repeat this a few times until all the twigs are secure, tucking in any loose bits as you go.

Planting the Dahlia, Pelargoniums and Thunbergias

Now it's time to move on to the planting. Once your plants have soaked for at least five minutes, plant your dahlias in the middle of your whopper pot.

Create a hole in the middle of the compost and push the excess to one side of your pot. Water the hole and then remove the dahlia from its pot and pop it into the hole without burying it too deeply.

Plant your pelargoniums around the edge of the pot at a slight angle as you want them to spill over the edges of the pot.

Next, plant the thunbergia close to the base of the branches of your climbing frame.

Removing Any Air Pockets from the Compost

Once all of your plants are in, water the whole pot to displace any air pockets that may be in the compost. If you feel that the compost level is too low at this point, add some more and firm and water it in.

Feeding and Watering

Dahlias are quite thirsty and hungry plants. The compost I've used will have enough nutrients in it to last for around 4-5 weeks but after that, I will start to feed them with a liquid seaweed feed, which I will apply once a week at the end of a watering session.

I generally water our whopper pots three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.