Planting containers in autumn

Most people plant their patio pots in May to provide colour all summer. These pots are probably looking a bit scruffy by now. Many people leave the pots in their dead state over winter, only paying them attention at Easter!

Yet they should be replanted now and they will give colour and interest through autumn and winter and peak in spring when you can replant them for summer.

Basics

If you are taking out the summer plants and the pot was filled with fresh compost in spring you do not need to replace all the compost. Pull up the old plants and put them on the compost heap and just replace the top 15cm of compost. To give your plants the best possible start mix some controlled-release fertiliser with the old and new compost. If the compost has been in the pot for more than a year, tip it out on a flower bed and refill the pot.

When wet compost freezes it will expand and this can crack pots over winter. To prevent this and to help protect the plant roots from frost, line the sides (not the base) with bubble plastic before and as you fill with compost. It can be a bit fiddly but it can help prevent cracked pots. See top photo

You can use evergreen shrubs like skimmia, euonymus, small conifers, osmanthus, coprosma, nandina and many more. These will not make any growth until late spring so you need to pack the plants in quite close. Then you can add colourful plants like cyclamen that will provide colour until the New Year and then will probably be past their best and can be replaced with primroses.

Don’t forget winter-flowering heathers for texture and spring colour. They can be planted in the garden in late spring and, unlike most heathers, they will grow in any soils, not just acid soil.

This can all get a bit pricey but the thing to remember is that in May you can deconstruct your pot and all those small shrubs can be planted in the garden where they will grow for years. So the initial expense is well worth while.

There are lots of other foliage plants that will provide colour. My favourites are heucheras in a bewildering array of leaf shades, ajuga and ivies to trail over the edge of the pot. Heucheras will live in a pot for several years and provide colour all year round.

Then there are violas and pansies in a host of colours. These will bloom on and off all winter but will be really colourful from March onwards. They will be at their best just as spring bulbs are in bloom.

Of course you want to plant spring bulbs too.

If you are only planting violas and pansies on top, which have small footballs, you can plant layers of bulbs: tulips first, about 15cm deep, then daffodils, and then smaller bulbs like crocus.

If you are planting a range of shrubs, which may have large, dense roots, you cannot expect the bulbs to grow through these so plant the shrubs first and pop bulbs in the compost around them.

You can also plant a pot with just tulips or other bulbs and these look lovely when in bloom, though rather dull in winter. But you can place these in a border to bring an extra splash of colour in spring.

You can be really creative and match your planting to suit your container, in style or colour. There is no limit to what you can achieve.

Once planted, keep your patio pot moist at all times and do not let it dry out, even in winter. A sunny spot is best for most plants.

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