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Evergreen plants for planter

cathytoal83801cathytoal83801 Posts: 3
in Plants
Hi, I'm looking for some advice. I recently got some landscaping done in my back garden and I have a retaining wall built between the upper and lower levels which has a planter built in along the top. My garden gets the sun in the summer until about 4pm and and not much at all in the winter. I want to fill the planter with nice plants/shrubs that will look good all year round and are pretty low maintenance and don't need a lot of sun. The planter is only 25cm wide so it wont hold anything too big, or anything that requires deep roots. Any advice is much appreciated!

Posts

  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    Hi and welcome to the forum.
    There are plenty of things that will fit the bill so to get the ball rolling.......
    Heuchera: lovely foliage in all sorts of colours and it can take shade or sunshine. Vine weevil larvae can be a problem but if a plant keels over without warning, you can just get bits to reroot and start all over again.
    Ivy to flow over the front of the planter. Lots of beautiful varieties and you can start cheaply by buying a pot of ivy from the houseplant section. They usually consist of many small plants and will happlily grow outside.
    Spring bulbs. A lot of sellers are reducing prices and it isn't too late to plant things for spring flowering.
    Some of the smaller euonymus shrubs.
    Grasses. Pick an evergreen variety. You can grow a lot of these from seed or go to a seller such as Knoll Gardens.

  • cathytoal83801cathytoal83801 Posts: 3
    Ceres said:
    Hi and welcome to the forum.
    There are plenty of things that will fit the bill so to get the ball rolling.......
    Heuchera: lovely foliage in all sorts of colours and it can take shade or sunshine. Vine weevil larvae can be a problem but if a plant keels over without warning, you can just get bits to reroot and start all over again.
    Ivy to flow over the front of the planter. Lots of beautiful varieties and you can start cheaply by buying a pot of ivy from the houseplant section. They usually consist of many small plants and will happlily grow outside.
    Spring bulbs. A lot of sellers are reducing prices and it isn't too late to plant things for spring flowering.
    Some of the smaller euonymus shrubs.
    Grasses. Pick an evergreen variety. You can grow a lot of these from seed or go to a seller such as Knoll Gardens.

    Thanks so much for your advice! I was wondering about heather's as well, would they thrive in a planter? Also, I'm not sure if this time of year is best to fill it, I would love to as its so bare looking, but am I better waiting until the spring to plant?
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It's a full sun site, so it's better to pick plants which will be happy with those conditions, but it also depends on your climate in the location you're in. A sunny site here where I am gets more moisture than a similar one in the south east of England. The amount of hours of sun is calcualted by summer conditions.  :)
    However, if the planter is shallow - alpine plants will do well enough. Aubretias and Arabis for example. Armeria [thrift] is another easy plant for well drained sites. What you fill the planter with is also a factor - it can't just be compost. You'll need a soil based medium, with decent drainage. Heathers will manage if you pick the right ones, but all plants will need adequate moisture until well established. Many people like lavender, but even that needs proper moisture until it's well rooted and growing, just as it would in any pot or container. 
    The aforementioned bulbs will also work with any perennial you plant. Some will do better than others depending on the soil mix. 
    You can certainly plant now, if the site is ready and it isn't going to be frosty/icy in the next few days, but just avoid putting in small plants - only use ones that are filling a four to six inch pot. Anything smaller will be too vulnerable. The soil will also settle over winter, so make sure the plants aren't put in any lower than the level they're already at. 

    Whereabouts are you located - roughly? That can also affect choices as some plants will do better than others depending on that - some will thrive while others won't survive.  :)  
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • cathytoal83801cathytoal83801 Posts: 3
    Fairygirl said:
    It's a full sun site, so it's better to pick plants which will be happy with those conditions, but it also depends on your climate in the location you're in. A sunny site here where I am gets more moisture than a similar one in the south east of England. The amount of hours of sun is calcualted by summer conditions.  :)
    However, if the planter is shallow - alpine plants will do well enough. Aubretias and Arabis for example. Armeria [thrift] is another easy plant for well drained sites. What you fill the planter with is also a factor - it can't just be compost. You'll need a soil based medium, with decent drainage. Heathers will manage if you pick the right ones, but all plants will need adequate moisture until well established. Many people like lavender, but even that needs proper moisture until it's well rooted and growing, just as it would in any pot or container. 
    The aforementioned bulbs will also work with any perennial you plant. Some will do better than others depending on the soil mix. 
    You can certainly plant now, if the site is ready and it isn't going to be frosty/icy in the next few days, but just avoid putting in small plants - only use ones that are filling a four to six inch pot. Anything smaller will be too vulnerable. The soil will also settle over winter, so make sure the plants aren't put in any lower than the level they're already at. 

    Whereabouts are you located - roughly? That can also affect choices as some plants will do better than others depending on that - some will thrive while others won't survive.  :)  
    Fairygirl said:
    It's a full sun site, so it's better to pick plants which will be happy with those conditions, but it also depends on your climate in the location you're in. A sunny site here where I am gets more moisture than a similar one in the south east of England. The amount of hours of sun is calcualted by summer conditions.  :)
    However, if the planter is shallow - alpine plants will do well enough. Aubretias and Arabis for example. Armeria [thrift] is another easy plant for well drained sites. What you fill the planter with is also a factor - it can't just be compost. You'll need a soil based medium, with decent drainage. Heathers will manage if you pick the right ones, but all plants will need adequate moisture until well established. Many people like lavender, but even that needs proper moisture until it's well rooted and growing, just as it would in any pot or container. 
    The aforementioned bulbs will also work with any perennial you plant. Some will do better than others depending on the soil mix. 
    You can certainly plant now, if the site is ready and it isn't going to be frosty/icy in the next few days, but just avoid putting in small plants - only use ones that are filling a four to six inch pot. Anything smaller will be too vulnerable. The soil will also settle over winter, so make sure the plants aren't put in any lower than the level they're already at. 

    Whereabouts are you located - roughly? That can also affect choices as some plants will do better than others depending on that - some will thrive while others won't survive.  :)  
    Thanks for that. We are in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It's been quite a mild October and it's not to be frosty anytime soon, it's very wet at the minute also. 
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    Heather will be fine in a planter but you are going to need acid soil for those. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/heathers
    Here is a brief guide to soil types and while it doesn't go into much detail, some plants prefer soil that is more acidic and they won't be happy in an alkaline soil. Heathers are acid lovers which is why you see them on heaths and not in meadows. https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/find-out-your-soil-type/
    I grow acid lovers in pots and that way they can have the soil they like and don't have to mix with the common herd that are happy in alkaline soil.
    With this in mind, you will have to decide what sort of plants you are going to put in the planter.....will they all be happy in the same soil? The RHS has advice on what type of soil plants need.......just Google the plant in question and pick the RHS site from the list.
    You can certainly start planting now and it doesn't have to be with the permanent plants that you want to grow. Winter bedding such as pansies and spring flowering bulbs will give a good show of colour and you can get the rest of the things planted in spring which gives you the whole winter to trawl the internet looking at plants.



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