21 April 2025
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Hardy perennials offer the best potted value, says Ruth
ahead of time in the summertime I set a couple of terrace containers of bedding , with nicotiana , petunia , nemesia and marigold . They look fantastic , a drunken revelry of colour despite the indifferent conditions ( or perhaps because of all the pelting ) but with fall lurking in the wings and the banking company holiday on the horizon , I ’ve make up one’s mind to produce a late summer pot to sum up colour for the next few month .
I do n’t go to the garden centres all that often because I usually buy plants from the market place , where they are mostly flashy , or propagate my own , so the increase in prices since I ’d last popped in gave me quite a shock .
With this in mind , I spend most of my money on perennial because they can be reused and added to a border when I need to reprocess the container for something else .
I bought a ‘ Hotlips ’ salvia , which has been on my wishlist for ages , a tray of bedding salvias that I aim to suck through the wintertime , some cheap(ish ) and cheerful tagetes and a couple of herb .
These are a audacious silver - exit thyme and a hesperozygis ‘ Midnight Mohito ’ . This is an attractive herb with purple flowers and mint - scented farewell . It does n’t take kindly to the cold weather so come in autumn I ’ll pot it up and move it into the nursery .
I ’m reusing an old container which I ’ve washed out to take away as many pestilence and possible disease job as I can , and lined its pedestal with crock .
I ’m using Sylvagrow peat - free multipurpose compost to which I ’ve added a little fertilizer to give the flora an extra boost , and some water - retaining quartz glass which will make watering easier down the line if we get a hot , wry Indian summer and early fall , as seems to be the trend these day .
When buying your plant , always choose healthy ones with tidy sum of efflorescence buds . Avoid any with pale leaves or moss growing over the compost as this show they have been languishing in the shop or garden centre for too long .
support them all in water , still in their corporation , for at least 30 minutes before planting so their roots and compost are saturated and they are gentle to slip from their containers .
Always raise your mint off the ground so excess water can escape easily . I assay to set the deal where I desire it to go before planting , as sliding the pes under it is easier to do when it ’s vacuous and lighter .
I usually initiate feast container plants with a potassium - productive tomato feed around 4 - 6 weeks after planting to further encourage flowering , and deadhead bloom regularly to keep buds form .
Watch out for pests , especially slug and snail that lurk under leaves and around the rim of the jackpot . If plants suddenly droop and die , they may have had their roots chomped by the cream - coloured vine weevil grubs .
These brown - headed menaces can be handle with a nematode watered onto the compost , and any whole stricken plant can easily be put back to remove any gaps .
Plant a pot
clamant summer terrace people of color
1 . replete the heap with peat - free compost to within 5 curium ( 2 in ) of the flange . bring a lilliputian fertiliser and piss - retaining crystals .
2 . lightly tease out the root word of your central feature works and bestow it to the pot , firming the compost around it .
3 . Now add the edging and trail plant . Do n’t worry about gaps , they will soon grow to take them .
4 . Top the great deal with compost if need and piddle well to settle down the plant . Keep the compost dampness , not soppy , and deadhead on a regular basis .
