Planter - sheltered from sunlight and rain

tryu

Can anyone out there advise what plants I can use?

joconnell

tryu wrote: »

Can anyone out there advise what plants I can use?

Some of the nicer tropical bits - ferns, big leaf hostas and palms if you're into large shapes - normally they grow below other taller plants so they're used to having a canopy of shade from the sun. Nice soft grasses or sedges spilling over the edges are nice too and are pleasant to the touch if anyone brushes off them.

tryu

Thanks J. I do like grasses so will look into getting some. Will have to check out sedges as I haven't a clue what they are. Prefer nothering too big. I live in Dublin north east - can you recommend anywhere I can get these where they are not very expensive?

Am not good at gardening hence the planters but between the dog jumping onto them and lack of sunlight etc they are not doing so good. Lavender in a larger planter has died and totally bent out of shape in two smaller ones.

joconnell

Sedges are the same type of thing as grasses. I was in woodies in the malahide road opposite the coolock cinema and they've tonnes - normally you'll pay more for a bigger older plant but most of the grasses are less than a tenner each. They've a huge section of them and even looking at the large blocks of each arranged beside each other it's something you'd copy right away. The smaller ones normally spread to a max of about 25cm but you can get others that spread more. What may look really nice is if you've a large planter, put down a few smaller ones spread out and then buy a bag of white gravel (bout a tenner) to spread about 2cm deep over the top - gives a nice clean finish and stops weeds from growing through.

There's a good breakdown here to give you an idea what type of plant to ask for - http://homebase.crocus.co.uk/ - I go for contemporary bits which is covered here too - http://homebase.crocus.co.uk/bomcard/_/classid.2000009669/

Good luck with it! Buy some decent potting soil with it too (normally about a fiver a bag) and some tomato food (bout 7 quid, it's a liquid you mix in with a watering can - apparently everything loves it) - it's addictive!

tryu

Thanks for all the info and wishing me luck - I will need it!

joconnell

All good - I'm an eejit at this stuff and haven't managed to kill anything yet despite having very poor soil to start with. The freezing winter claimed one house plant though. Thankfully any of the the folks you talk to are normally very enthusiastic about it and full of helpful advice - even a big place like woodies / homebase / b&q normally have a specialist that you can talk to for recommendations.

geranimojess

Hi Tryu,I'm not trying to be smart or funny but if your really interested in filling your Planter with Plants why not take a trip to your local Library,thats the way I began my life-long love affair with Gardens,everything you need to know is at your Fingertips Free of charge.When you decide what serves your needs pop along to your local Garden Center and make a Bee-line for the "Special Offers" section you could be lucky and pick up what your looking for they may look tired and ragged but it's suprising what a little TLC does to plants,When you see what your capable of doing you will wonder why it took you so long.We all had to start at the beginning but thats the great thing about Gardening you can make as many mistakes as you wish without it costing you the Earth.
When was the last time you took a walk down a Country Lane and saw Ferns by their Thousands growing wild,a Trowel and a plastic Bag and the discreet removal of 1/2 is not going to upset the balance of nature.Happy Gardening.

joconnell

Good idea jess - Shame I don't have more sheltered areas in my garden, love the things!