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Tubs and containers
Gwynydd Deakin
Posts: 3
Hi everyone.
I have been lucky enough to purchase some new large tubs for the garden to replace my old tatty ones. The trouble is which is the best thing to fill them with?
Do I need to use topsoil or compost or a mixture of both please? I will need to buy in bulk as the containers are quite large and would welcome any advice as to suppliers and type of filling to use.
Thank you.
Gwyn
0
Posts
Hi Gwyn I think it will depend on what you decide to grow and how mature they are when you plant them
Also will you need to move them around?
Pots and containers with me are filled with a mix of garden soil, from the veg plot and garden compost about 70 - 30 soil to compost, in these I grow pot mums, fuchsias and geraniums, large containers would be expensive to fill with bought proprietry composts, but as KEF says do you need to move them around, then my mix would prove to be ardous.
Thank you all for your prompt replies.
The pots will be used as follows:
My soil is heavy clay and either is unsuitable or there isn't any spare to put into these new tubs which is why I need to purchase something in bulk.
I am not planning to move the tubs around and they will become a permanent feature in the garden. I have plenty of polystyrene or old plastic pots or broken terracotta to aid drainage and bulk up the pots if needed.
For permanent plantings go for a mix of 75% of a John Innes #3 loam-based compost mixed with 25% bagged well-rotted manure. Alternatively you could look at 1 tonne bags of a good topsoil and a few bags of well-rotted manure. For very large planters I've used tonne bags of Rolawn veg & fruit topsoil and I've also used Wickes topsoil mixed with their bagged manure with excellent results.