Perhaps us gardeners are all pretty mad! We only water the veggies and the pots and hanging baskets (I don't dare ask how many of them you have!). Plants in the garden have to survive drought once they have been watered enough just to settle them in when newly planted. If they die, they are not the right plant for my garden.
One thing to bear in mind when planting trees in pots is the wind. I have just had to give away a five-year old loquat tree. Even though it was in a large pot and kept watered to keep it heavy, the wind kept blowing it over, as it grew very top heavy. I have given it to a friend with a very sheltered space for it.
Thanks again for your replies, they have given me some great ideas. Probably only going to go for 4 or 5 pots, so should still be able to go on holiday Bookertoo !!! Silver Birch and Willow sound good.
Glad to hear not everyone is quite as mad as we are!! Whar started as a convenience as work demanded that we moved house every year for a few years, has become little short of an obsession since we settled here 15 years ago. You are absolutely right about wind and things in pots, but eventually when you have enough they become a wind baffle in themselves. Meanwhile things like yur doubtless lovely loquat and some acers really do not like the wind.
Pouring with rain today so no watering, and the butts will fill up too - sorry for the Jubilee celebrations, but from a purely selfish point of view, it is good stuff.
Watch out for silver birch, it gets very tall and needs a great deal of weight to stop it falling over (mine is atually planted in the garden, not in a pot), I have some full grown willow trees in pots - but they are less than 1 inch high so perhaps don't quite count. One is slightly larger as 12 inches, our contorted willow is also a ground dweller.
Silver birch is such a lovely tree, but there are many different varieties. How about trying the weeping one, which can be pruned back to a sort of umbrella shape? Be sure and research, as some varieties grow very tall indeed.
I didn't mind keep picking up my loquat tree each time it went over, but in the end it broke the very expensive big pot it was planted in. Enough was enough, but I do miss it!
I too am a slave to my pots but would probally have to employ another slave to help with the watering if I had as many as Bookertoo !!
I 've got a love affair going on with Sambucus at the moment - one's a nigra black lace ( which looks a bit like a black acer ) and the other is a Black Beauty. Just a little bit different . They are both growing well in large pots and you can restrict the size of them. They both don't mind a good haircut and the only problem I've had with them is the occasional bout of blackfly but sort that out with a good squirt of soapy water. The flowers are pretty as well.
Anyone got any info on bird of paradise ( can't spell the strez name !! ) Mine hasn't flowered this year - got flower stalks but think they've perished.
I love the Sambucus, planted a small one a couple of months ago, but the slugs love it so I`m struggling to keep it. I may go down the pot route with them cos they are stunning
I have 5 beautiful acers growing in containers. They are all doing well. I'm sure there are many, which will survive with plenty of water. I also have arbutus (the strawberry tree); a bay tree, and a beautiful rareity called Zenobia. The only one I have trouble with is lilac, but have seen them in huge containers in monastery gardens. Not many people could accomodate containers of that size.
Posts
Perhaps us gardeners are all pretty mad! We only water the veggies and the pots and hanging baskets (I don't dare ask how many of them you have!). Plants in the garden have to survive drought once they have been watered enough just to settle them in when newly planted. If they die, they are not the right plant for my garden.
One thing to bear in mind when planting trees in pots is the wind. I have just had to give away a five-year old loquat tree. Even though it was in a large pot and kept watered to keep it heavy, the wind kept blowing it over, as it grew very top heavy. I have given it to a friend with a very sheltered space for it.
Glad to hear not everyone is quite as mad as we are!! Whar started as a convenience as work demanded that we moved house every year for a few years, has become little short of an obsession since we settled here 15 years ago. You are absolutely right about wind and things in pots, but eventually when you have enough they become a wind baffle in themselves. Meanwhile things like yur doubtless lovely loquat and some acers really do not like the wind.
Pouring with rain today so no watering, and the butts will fill up too - sorry for the Jubilee celebrations, but from a purely selfish point of view, it is good stuff.
Watch out for silver birch, it gets very tall and needs a great deal of weight to stop it falling over (mine is atually planted in the garden, not in a pot), I have some full grown willow trees in pots - but they are less than 1 inch high so perhaps don't quite count. One is slightly larger as 12 inches, our contorted willow is also a ground dweller.
Silver birch is such a lovely tree, but there are many different varieties. How about trying the weeping one, which can be pruned back to a sort of umbrella shape? Be sure and research, as some varieties grow very tall indeed.
I didn't mind keep picking up my loquat tree each time it went over, but in the end it broke the very expensive big pot it was planted in. Enough was enough, but I do miss it!
I too am a slave to my pots but would probally have to employ another slave to help with the watering if I had as many as Bookertoo !!
I 've got a love affair going on with Sambucus at the moment - one's a nigra black lace ( which looks a bit like a black acer ) and the other is a Black Beauty. Just a little bit different . They are both growing well in large pots and you can restrict the size of them. They both don't mind a good haircut and the only problem I've had with them is the occasional bout of blackfly but sort that out with a good squirt of soapy water. The flowers are pretty as well.
Anyone got any info on bird of paradise ( can't spell the strez name !! ) Mine hasn't flowered this year - got flower stalks but think they've perished.
want to grow a light coloured leaf, medium tree in a container where it will get the sun until 11ish
Is it possible to grow a dragon claw willow tree in a pot? Thanks for any help - I'm a beginner gardener!
I love the Sambucus, planted a small one a couple of months ago, but the slugs love it so I`m struggling to keep it. I may go down the pot route with them cos they are stunning
I have 5 beautiful acers growing in containers. They are all doing well. I'm sure there are many, which will survive with plenty of water. I also have arbutus (the strawberry tree); a bay tree, and a beautiful rareity called Zenobia. The only one I have trouble with is lilac, but have seen them in huge containers in monastery gardens. Not many people could accomodate containers of that size.