When you water a free-draining compost you should see it draining out of the bottom in a few seconds. If you don't then you need to add something to improve drainage. Horticultural grit is best as it will last forever, but if weight is an issue then use perlite which weighs almost nothing. It'll last several years but will eventually break down. If I was making the mix I'd use about 40% John Innes, 10% multipurpose compost and 50% grit/perlite
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Decide what you want to plant and we'll let you know what compost/soil mix to use. All the plants I've suggested will be happy with 50/50 topsoil/MPC. For herbs I usually use one third each of MPC/topsoil/horticultural grit.
Just looking at @Pete.8's earlier post, different gardeners use different recipes, just to add to the fun!
Many plants that would be upright if planted in the open will tend to lean away from the fence, so you might need some support e.g. tying in to the fence.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Just a thought about drainage holes. Won't the water leak onto the bench? Drainage holes are essential.
Violas would be lovely for winter and spring and Nemesia for summer, either on their own or between the grasses suggested by @Plantminded. Some Nemesias are scented too.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Just a thought about drainage holes. Won't the water leak onto the bench? Drainage holes are essential.
Violas would be lovely for winter and spring and Nemesia for summer, either on their own or between the grasses suggested by @Plantminded. Some Nemesias are scented too.
We're all good on the drainage front. The planter is actually behind on the seating area. Although it's around 70cm in height, it has a false bottom so only around 40cm on soil height and then I drilled a lot of drainage holes when I built it.
I like the idea of grasses with planting colour in between depending on the time of year.
A couple of varieties of rosemary would look stunning there. Especially something upright like barbecue and maybe a foxtail one for some extra texture Would leave enough space for some violas or nemesia and they wouldn't need much looking after and are great to use for drinks and cooking. You can get some lovely pink flowered varieties or even ginger rosemary which is a personal favourite.
And when they outgrow the space easy enough to propagate some new ones from cuttings.
A couple of varieties of rosemary would look stunning there. Especially something upright like barbecue and maybe a foxtail one for some extra texture Would leave enough space for some violas or nemesia and they wouldn't need much looking after and are great to use for drinks and cooking. You can get some lovely pink flowered varieties or even ginger rosemary which is a personal favourite.
And when they outgrow the space easy enough to propagate some new ones from cuttings.
Oooh, I like that idea. I suppose I've got to be careful of overplanting as I always forget to allow for growth (as you can see by the grasses I originally planted!!!)
I’d experiment with some of the suggestions above and try something new every year. Your compost will probably need replacing annually anyway. Container gardening is a bit different from planting in borders, you don’t expect plants to last that long because of the restrictions. Those upright Rosemaries are nice too, I have one called Miss Jessopp’s Upright, narrow and columnar.
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If you don't then you need to add something to improve drainage.
Horticultural grit is best as it will last forever, but if weight is an issue then use perlite which weighs almost nothing. It'll last several years but will eventually break down.
If I was making the mix I'd use about 40% John Innes, 10% multipurpose compost and 50% grit/perlite
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Just looking at @Pete.8's earlier post, different gardeners use different recipes, just to add to the fun!
Violas would be lovely for winter and spring and Nemesia for summer, either on their own or between the grasses suggested by @Plantminded. Some Nemesias are scented too.
I like the idea of grasses with planting colour in between depending on the time of year.
Would leave enough space for some violas or nemesia and they wouldn't need much looking after and are great to use for drinks and cooking. You can get some lovely pink flowered varieties or even ginger rosemary which is a personal favourite.
And when they outgrow the space easy enough to propagate some new ones from cuttings.