This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Pots in the wind
Susienearly65
Posts: 32
hi, haven't been on the site for ages but I need help again.
I want to make our long grass verge look pretty by using several concrete blocks, the kind with two holes in them, painted white and planted to flower through summer. The verge takes the full brunt of east coast winds. Can anyone suggest something hardy and colourful. I thought maybe pansies .
0
Posts
Or grasses and big daisies amongst them? Panicum virgatum 'Squaw' and rudbeckia fulgida?
H-C,
Pansies rarely flower thoughout the summer - they're more of a winter/spring flower.
As a child I used to make a wall around my little plot with concrete blocks and plant up the holes with nasturtiums ... they looked pretty ... but the holes in those blocks aren't very big and the blocks themselves are very porous and the compost soon becomes very dry ... they will need watering two or maybe three times a day in anything but the wettest weather.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thankyou HC, I hadn't thought of grasses, that would make a more permanent display as well. I'll have to look round and see what's about.
Thanks Dove, I thought of putting the plants in plastic pots inside the blocks, nasturtiums would cope with the wind wouldn't they, they seed all over the rest of the garden and that's windy as well.
It all depends on the look you are after. I find Sedum (many types) very adaptable in high drying winds. They are quite structural against your grasses. Nastursium in many forms are also indestructible. From far they always offer bright colours against muted tones in the grass. I think Erigeron can survive many conditions for small gaps and low planting. When mixed with grass in the background, they blend naturally. What about Nepetas and Alchemilla Mollis, they can deal with the winds and go well with the grasses.
Last edited: 21 May 2017 10:35:42
Why not make a decent sized bed or three with lots of the concrete blocks, and give yourself more scope for planting into them
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thanks Fairygirl, I honestly hadn't thought of that idea. That would be the best idea and then I could use the grasses and all the other suggestions and make the verge look really good. Back to the planning stage again. Everyone has been so helpful, thank you.