JOB OF THE WEEK
Bring fresh colour from flowers and foliage to see you through the colder months
Now’s the time to refresh your autumn pots with a burst of colour, texture and interesting foliage. You could go for a complete remodel or just edit existing pots and plant a few new seasonal additions.
After months of flowering, compost may need refreshing; so replace the old stuff with fresh peat-free compost. If you’re sprucing up an old pot, just remove the first 5cm or so of soil and top dress with fresh compost. Keep your eyes peeled for signs of vine weevil damage.
Make sure the conditions and soil type suits all the plants. Think about light and shade, and use ericaceous compost for acid-loving plants.
Autumn and winter pots are prone to waterlogging, so raise pots up onto ‘feet’ to help rainwater drain away rather than pool at the base. Combine structural evergreen shrubs, ferns and trailing foliage with showy blooms and contrasting colours. Or how about an edible pot of purple sage, rosemary and oregano or, for something completely different, try colourful ornamental cabbages.
Extend your pot life even further by planting layers of spring bulbs to see you through to next year
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Try slow-growing, evergreen flowering shrubs such as skimmias ‘Rubella’ or ‘Globe White Dwarf’ (pictured) or Sarcococca hookeriana.
English ivy is a useful filler. Its evergreen trailing stems look good spilling over pot edges. Try a variegated type.
Plant pittosporum, Nandina domestica and heuchera or grasses such as carex ‘Bronze’ or ‘Everest’ or Festuca glauca (pictured).
Plant hardy Cyclamen hederifolium (pictured), winter pansies and chrysanths for a riot of orange, deep purple, yellow and rich red.
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