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Best 'bagged' growing medium for Lavender, Grass & Ivy in pot - Advice Please

AtacamaAtacama Posts: 87
edited June 2023 in Problem solving
Good morning to you. 

Installed 3 very large Ironstone pots last year ... 100cm x 80 cm in full sun, irrigated & with very good soil mix bought. They have lavender, ivy and pyracanths in and doing really well.

Looking to add some smaller pots in front of these in same conditions but are short of soil to fill them and wondering what large bag product would be best to fill them with?

They will have new lavenders, grasses and ivy's in. I have a little of the previous special 1 tonne bag (apologies I don't remember the mix description but it was pricey and very good looking stuff ... think was loam based) but not enough to complete the job. And of course another tonne bag would be way too much .... always the same issue :-)

Appreciate your knowledge and input as to any bagged products that would be best to support these plants and we can use to top up / mix with the soil.

Many thanks 

Posts

  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Approximately what size are your smaller pots and are you planning to put combinations of your three plants in these pots or one species of plant per pot?  Also, which grass/grasses are you planning to use?
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • AtacamaAtacama Posts: 87
    Thanks for the reply. .... the additional pots will be approx 50 cm high, 50 cm diameter in Ironstone. Going to collect those today.

    Aiming to replicate what we did with the larger 100 x 80 pot and put Hedra Helix Ivy to grow over edge and against wall, a Stipa tennuissima Pony Tail and the normal Hidcote lavender. The grass will be kept small.

    Should have added that all of those pots are full sun and shielded by either a full height or half height wall and irrigated. 

    The large pots have these and a pyracantha and are doing amazingly well.

    Can provide photo of the large pot plants if useful

    Thanks
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    edited June 2023
    That's fine, if you want to use up your previous mix which you think is loam based, I would use it with standard peat free MPC and horticultural grit in a 50% loam /25% MPC /25% grit mix.  The proportions are not crucial and can be varied but it is important to include the grit to ensure good drainage.  Lavender doesn't grow well in rich soil.  The ivy and grass will also be happy in the suggested mix. If you are running short on the loam mix, use John Innes No 3 or 2 instead.  Hope this helps!
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • AtacamaAtacama Posts: 87
    Plantminded said:
    That's fine, if you want to use up your previous mix which you think is loam based, I would use it with standard peat free MPC and horticultural grit in a 50% loam /25% MPC /25% grit mix.  The proportions are not crucial and can be varied but it is important to include the grit to ensure good drainage.  Lavender doesn't grow well in rich soil.  The ivy and grass will also be happy in the suggested mix. If you are running short on the loam mix, use John Innes No 3 or 2 instead.  Hope this helps!
    Absolutely perfect. Many thanks for explaining that. I have maybe a quarter of a bag left which will do much of it but was keen to make sure we top up with something suitable. Will do just as you mention. Very much appreciate you taking the time to advise. All the best
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    “ Can provide photo of the large pot plants if useful”

    Not so much useful, more being nosey. Your pots sound fabulous and I’d love to see them and know where you sourced them from. Thanks.
    Rutland, England
  • AtacamaAtacama Posts: 87
    BenCotto said:
    “ Can provide photo of the large pot plants if useful”

    Not so much useful, more being nosey. Your pots sound fabulous and I’d love to see them and know where you sourced them from. Thanks.
    Of course, no problem. I'm not much of a photographer but just took these.

    We have a large Hanoi Ironstone pot each side of the bay window. I've actually seen these things being fired on the banks of the Mekong. You can probably see a gnome hiding there .... made by a young member of the family so whilst it might not be the best aesthetically .... I'm obliged to put it on show  :)

    Then we have one trying to obscure a green bike and car security shed. So another one placed there only a year back and the idea is to grow over and around it. Unfortunately our place has limited options out front .... busy road outside a busy school so car parking is important, hence it's that gardening curse .... pavors. But with good reason.

    The grasses are only just going in. So a white lie told earlier  :D:blush:

    The irrigation comes from the rear of the house over the garage and the black pipes are spray painted terracotta to blend into the old brick best we can.

    And finally, the small empty pots are new just collected from garden center, nothing special unlike the big ones but effective enough.

    Apologies the images came out sideways .... I tried a little while to get them the right way round but without success. I have no idea why sorry.

      



  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    edited June 2023
    I was going to ask for photos too!  They look great!
    (Crop the photos even a mm and they'll go the right way up - nobody knows why, it's a GW mystery. 😄)
    I like those pots, I bet they're a beast to move though? 
  • AtacamaAtacama Posts: 87
    Slow-worm said:
    I was going to ask for photos too!  They look great!
    (Crop the photos even a mm and they'll go the right way up - nobody knows why, it's a GW mystery. 😄)
    I like those pots, I bet they're a beast to move though? 
    Going to try and do that right no slow-worm. And yes they are very weighty. 

    We had a couple of those but a third the size by the front wall / road edge. Was quite entertaining about four years back watch a seriously drunk guy at about 4.30 in the morning trying to lift them ....  he spent an age trying take it then ended up disgusted, gave them a kick and headed off  :)
  • AtacamaAtacama Posts: 87
    edited June 2023
    The amended (hopefully amended) photos .... should look better now .... many thanks Slow-worm. P.S Slightly embarrassingly, the Christmas lights are still up! Ahem  :)




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