Hello,

We're not good gardeners. We have a courtyard/town garden which we recently
had block paved (with full drainage).

We're planning on putting in a large wooden planter (2.5m long, 40cm wide
and 50cm deep.

I went on one site and it said we would need 1 ton of topsoil to fill it!

Can we put stuff at the bottom of it so we need less soil? Does it need to
be top soil or is multipurpose compost ok?

We are thinking of having a couple of lavenders in it and a hardy perennial
(?) and perhaps something else ... but nothing that grows more than say
...... 75cm wide and 75cm high.

We want things that are low/zero maintenance, provide all year round colour
and flower sometime in the year.

Ideally we'd like to do it in the next month or so .... but is it something
we should leave to do next spring??

Your expert advice appreciated.

Phil

I had charge of a similar sized planter, built in brick. The bottom third was filled with rubble to provide good drainage. A drainage outlet is essential. The remainder was filled with a mixture of John Innes no 3 soil based compost, composted wood bark, and a little composted manure. It was allowed to settle, then topped up with more John Innes before final planting.

It was planted with a prostrate rosemary, a Temple bamboo, a small black phormium, Bergenia, and bulbs to come up through the other things in the spring. The owner subsequently also planted a shrubby convulvulus. Until last year, when the house was sold, everything survived and flourished.

Watering was only carried out when there had been more than three consecutive days of dry,hot weather.

Hi, Phil, you don't say where you live ? Regarding the planter, makesure that you have drainage holes in the bottom. If you had some stones or rubble you could put a 20-30cm layer over the bottom, and there is nothing to stop you using multi-purpose compost apart from the cost. Ideally a mixture of topsoil and multi-compost or even just plain Irish moss peat would do but try to put a layer on top of pure compost to stop the weeds. Also its important that you leave 10cm gap between the top of the planter and the compost to give you a watering space for when it's very dry.

Regarding the planting, unless you have a theme eg. 'cottagey', coastal, or alpine etc. personally given this type of situation I always find that texture and foliage will look better for longer and will require less maintaining than plants which rely on flowers for effect, so with this in mind here are a few plants that would look good all year, Pieris, especially some of the variegated varieties, Euonymous fortunei sp. in gold or silver forms, Azalea japonica, any of the short bushy evergreen grasses, lavender, Phormium 'Bronze Baby' or indeed any of the smaller flax varieties , some of the new varieties of Heuchera are exceptional eg. 'Creme Caramel', Blackbird, Marmalade etc. and finally any of the winter flowering Erica carneas and throw in a few Cyclamen Miracle for more winter colour. Finally, when planted to your satisfaction and remember the golden rule of gardening is that there is no golden rule, if you like it then thats fine- top any remaining bare surface with pebbles, gravel, bark or anything that highlights the foliage colours and not only will it finish the whole thing off but will help to retain the moisture in dry weather.
best wishes and good luck from Cornwall

"beccabunga" wrote in message
...

Phil C;863683 Wrote:
Hello,

We're not good gardeners. We have a courtyard/town garden which we
recently
had block paved (with full drainage).

We're planning on putting in a large wooden planter (2.5m long, 40cm
wide
and 50cm deep.

I went on one site and it said we would need 1 ton of topsoil to fill
it!

Can we put stuff at the bottom of it so we need less soil? Does it
need to
be top soil or is multipurpose compost ok?

We are thinking of having a couple of lavenders in it and a hardy
perennial
(?) and perhaps something else ... but nothing that grows more than
say
...... 75cm wide and 75cm high.

We want things that are low/zero maintenance, provide all year round
colour
and flower sometime in the year.

Ideally we'd like to do it in the next month or so .... but is it
something
we should leave to do next spring??

Your expert advice appreciated.

Phil


I had charge of a similar sized planter, built in brick. The bottom
third was filled with rubble to provide good drainage. A drainage
outlet is essential. The remainder was filled with a mixture of John
Innes no 3 soil based compost, composted wood bark, and a little
composted manure. It was allowed to settle, then topped up with more
John Innes before final planting.

It was planted with a prostrate rosemary, a Temple bamboo, a small
black phormium, Bergenia, and bulbs to come up through the other things
in the spring. The owner subsequently also planted a shrubby
convulvulus. Until last year, when the house was sold, everything
survived and flourished.

Watering was only carried out when there had been more than three
consecutive days of dry,hot weather.




--
beccabunga
Hello beccabunga,

that's very helpful. Tks very much.

Phil

"lannerman" wrote in message
...

Phil C;863683 Wrote:
Hello,

We're not good gardeners. We have a courtyard/town garden which we
recently
had block paved (with full drainage).

We're planning on putting in a large wooden planter (2.5m long, 40cm
wide
and 50cm deep.

I went on one site and it said we would need 1 ton of topsoil to fill
it!

Can we put stuff at the bottom of it so we need less soil? Does it
need to
be top soil or is multipurpose compost ok?

We are thinking of having a couple of lavenders in it and a hardy
perennial
(?) and perhaps something else ... but nothing that grows more than
say
...... 75cm wide and 75cm high.

We want things that are low/zero maintenance, provide all year round
colour
and flower sometime in the year.

Ideally we'd like to do it in the next month or so .... but is it
something
we should leave to do next spring??

Your expert advice appreciated.

Phil

Hi, Phil, you don't say where you live ? Regarding the planter,
makesure that you have drainage holes in the bottom. If you had some
stones or rubble you could put a 20-30cm layer over the bottom, and
there is nothing to stop you using multi-purpose compost apart from the
cost. Ideally a mixture of topsoil and multi-compost or even just plain
Irish moss peat would do but try to put a layer on top of pure compost
to stop the weeds. Also its important that you leave 10cm gap between
the top of the planter and the compost to give you a watering space for
when it's very dry.




--
lannerman

Hello lannerman. Tks for the reply. All very useful. We are townies from
Gloucestershire.

Tks again.

Phil

On 2009-09-05 22:53:05 +0100, beccabunga
said:


Phil C;863683 Wrote:
Hello,

We're not good gardeners. We have a courtyard/town garden which we
recently
had block paved (with full drainage).

We're planning on putting in a large wooden planter (2.5m long, 40cm
wide
and 50cm deep.

I went on one site and it said we would need 1 ton of topsoil to fill
it!

Can we put stuff at the bottom of it so we need less soil? Does it
need to
be top soil or is multipurpose compost ok?

We are thinking of having a couple of lavenders in it and a hardy
perennial
(?) and perhaps something else ... but nothing that grows more than
say
...... 75cm wide and 75cm high.

We want things that are low/zero maintenance, provide all year round
colour
and flower sometime in the year.

Ideally we'd like to do it in the next month or so .... but is it
something
we should leave to do next spring??

Your expert advice appreciated.

Phil


I had charge of a similar sized planter, built in brick. The bottom
third was filled with rubble to provide good drainage. A drainage
outlet is essential. The remainder was filled with a mixture of John
Innes no 3 soil based compost, composted wood bark, and a little
composted manure. It was allowed to settle, then topped up with more
John Innes before final planting.

It was planted with a prostrate rosemary, a Temple bamboo, a small
black phormium, Bergenia, and bulbs to come up through the other things
in the spring. The owner subsequently also planted a shrubby
convulvulus. Until last year, when the house was sold, everything
survived and flourished.

Watering was only carried out when there had been more than three
consecutive days of dry,hot weather.

Is Temple bamboo Nandinia domestica, aka Heavenly bamboo?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

"Phil C" wrote
We're not good gardeners. We have a courtyard/town garden which we
recently
had block paved (with full drainage).

We're planning on putting in a large wooden planter (2.5m long, 40cm wide
and 50cm deep.

I went on one site and it said we would need 1 ton of topsoil to fill it!

Can we put stuff at the bottom of it so we need less soil? Does it need
to
be top soil or is multipurpose compost ok?

We are thinking of having a couple of lavenders in it and a hardy
perennial
(?) and perhaps something else ... but nothing that grows more than say
..... 75cm wide and 75cm high.

We want things that are low/zero maintenance, provide all year round
colour
and flower sometime in the year.

Ideally we'd like to do it in the next month or so .... but is it
something
we should leave to do next spring??

You will need drainage holes in the bottom of the planter as others have
said and a layer of rubble or shingle in the bottom to aid drainage.
Soil is OK and will probably be your cheapest option and delivered by
Builders Merchants. John Innes Compost is also OK as it's also loam based.
However, do not use a peat based type compost (multipurpose) as it will
quickly stop providing any nutrients, is difficult to wet once dry, and is
loved by Vine Weevils and their grubs. It's not meant for permanent
planting.

Lavenders need full sun to thrive, will get straggly in time and will need
replacing. If it is in sun then other herbs might be a good idea too, sage
and rosemary never get too big and can be pruned anyway. Then there's thyme,
marjoram and oregano for ground cover, all pretty maintenance free, all
flower and attract butterflies.
Being Mediterranean plants all do need full sun.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"Phil C" wrote
We're not good gardeners. We have a courtyard/town garden which we
recently
had block paved (with full drainage).

We're planning on putting in a large wooden planter (2.5m long, 40cm wide
and 50cm deep.

I went on one site and it said we would need 1 ton of topsoil to fill it!

Can we put stuff at the bottom of it so we need less soil? Does it need
to
be top soil or is multipurpose compost ok?

We are thinking of having a couple of lavenders in it and a hardy
perennial
(?) and perhaps something else ... but nothing that grows more than say
..... 75cm wide and 75cm high.

We want things that are low/zero maintenance, provide all year round
colour
and flower sometime in the year.

Ideally we'd like to do it in the next month or so .... but is it
something
we should leave to do next spring??

You will need drainage holes in the bottom of the planter as others have
said and a layer of rubble or shingle in the bottom to aid drainage.
Soil is OK and will probably be your cheapest option and delivered by
Builders Merchants. John Innes Compost is also OK as it's also loam based.
However, do not use a peat based type compost (multipurpose) as it will
quickly stop providing any nutrients, is difficult to wet once dry, and is
loved by Vine Weevils and their grubs. It's not meant for permanent
planting.

Lavenders need full sun to thrive, will get straggly in time and will need
replacing. If it is in sun then other herbs might be a good idea too, sage
and rosemary never get too big and can be pruned anyway. Then there's
thyme, marjoram and oregano for ground cover, all pretty maintenance free,
all flower and attract butterflies.
Being Mediterranean plants all do need full sun.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London

Hello Bob,

That's really useful stuff. You guys and girls certainly have green
fingers.

When the jobs done (by the end of the month) we'll post and let you know how
it ended up.

Any further advice still gratefully accepted.

Phil

Sorry - yes, that's right.