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Lots of Medium-Large Pots, What to Plant?

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  • 30-05-2024 12:34am
    #1
    Thargor
    Registered Users Posts: 17,935 ✭✭✭✭


    Untitled Image

    Recently bought a house and it came with loads of these ceramic pots full of soil, I assume Ill have to dump the soil and replace it with compost.

    I have a nice sunny south facing deck and patio that would look great with a few pots full of interesting flowers/plants growing in them but Im a bit of a useless gardener so looking for help/suggestions please.

    Mainly interested in low maintenance (dont mind giving them the odd feed)/colourful/interesting/attractive to pollinators and no annuals, must come back year after year. Would Ecchiums be a good choice for pots or are they too delicate/need to be in the ground?

    7FDFWrX.jpeg

    This one has put out some flowers by itself twice now with zero help from me and I love it even though its a bit ragged looking, looking for more of this kind of thing but is it too late in the year now?



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    #2
    HeidiHeidi
    Registered Users Posts: 29,332 ✭✭✭✭HeidiHeidi


    If it's south facing and sunny, you'll need to water anything in pots basically every day for six or more months of the year.

    Geraniums are about the only thing I know of that will withstand total (well, near total, I'm sure even they will die eventually! ) neglect.



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    #3
    Thargor
    Registered Users Posts: 17,935 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    Forgot to mention Im in Limerick so it basically rains every day anyway, what do you think about echiums? I might just try it and see how I get on, getting a bit obsessed with them lol.

    I would like some hardy perrenials aswell though, that crocus in the OP has never had any help from me whatsoever and it seems to be doing fine.



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    #4
    Kaybaykwah
    Registered Users Posts: 3,182 ✭✭✭Kaybaykwah


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122200296#Comment_122200296

    Yes, you may be right about geraniums as far as Ireland is concerned. In Canada, the summer sun is strong and you need to water them every day if the weather is hot. I love them because they bloom all year long. I bring my pots in to my solarium in the fall and they bring life into an otherwise gloomy environment. Great, tough plants.



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    #5
    looksee
    Registered Users Posts: 28,434 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    The plant with pink flowers appears to be a carnation/pink (so called because of the zig-zag tip on the petals, not because its pink colour) which are very hardy and obliging. Just cut back the straggly bits once it has finished flowering and it will (may, they tend to straggliness) grow more tidily.

    Not sure which echiums you mean, they are mostly pretty big and probably not all that suited to pots.

    Ceramic pots tend to evaporate water via the pots so dry out pretty quickly. Relying on rain most of the year round is probably ok but in warmer weather you will have to water them, rain only does so much.

    I would not completely throw out the soil, though this may be controvertial. I'd tip it into a wheelbarrow (say), check for little curly cream and brown grubs (vine weavil) and if there are none mix half and half with compost and re-use it. To be sure there are no vine weavils or other pests soak the soil with an insecticide and wash out the pots thoroughly. Don't use 100% compost as it dries out and is very difficult to get wet again. Some soil through it is better.

    You could put bulbs in some of the pots, spring bulbs and also lilies do well in pots. Snapdragons are self seeding and will come back year after year, you can tidy them in winter but they will regrow in milder winters, also grow from their own seeds. Heuchera does well in pots and is easy, keeps its colourful leaves all winter. Some smaller shrubs will be ok in pots, Sarcococca is a very easy shrub with glossy dark leaves and little scented flowers in winter.

    There are some very good suggestions here https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/pot-plants-that-will-tolerate-neglect/

    Growing in pots actually requires a bit more 'gardening' than plants in the ground, but they can be very rewarding.



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    #6
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 49,496 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    I would not completely throw out the soil, though this may be controvertial.

    we often dump it into the compost bin, so it gets reused maybe six months or a year later.



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    #7
    Tree
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 4,703 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tree


    I'm also a tip it in to a wheelbarrow bucket and mix it with stuff advocate. I add a mix of new compost and chicken manure pellets.

    Watering daily isn't the worst if you're around, get to survey your kingdom. Anything in a rainshadow needs watering no matter how damp Limerick seems.

    I have a nice sage in a plant pot around that size. Another with spring bulbs. Small trees have been of mixed success. And I have some agaves in pots that size too.



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    #8
    Thargor
    Registered Users Posts: 17,935 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122200521#Comment_122200521

    Ah thats brilliant thanks for taking the time and everyone else.



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