Ideas to enhance your patio

Planting up a specimen container or arranging groupings of three or more pots can make a big difference to an entrance or entertainment patio.

The best tip for successful container gardening is to make sure you plant up the container correctly, with enough drainage and regular feeding.

The most frequently asked questions about containers, in the garden centre at Eckards, include “What about drainage?” and “How often must they be watered?”

Container gardens offer the advantage of changing your garden with every season.

The choice of plant material is limited only by your imagination.

When choosing plants for container gardens, keep in mind the scale of the container and how big the plant grows.

r With a few things to consider, here is the how-to when starting a container:

A drainage layer of river sand is ideal.

Place this in first, about one to two centimetres thick.

River sand acts as a filter and you will find the holes don’t block. The water running through will be clean, not muddy.

This is great on your patio tiles and more importantly, it also means the soil level will not drop.

Use only Potting Soil to fill up your container.

Potting soils is lose and assists drainage, whereas if you use garden soil it becomes hard and plants can’t breathe. The water does not move through the pot.

Fill the container to about two thirds and press down firmly, and then add more soil to the level where the plant roots start.

Place the plant and fill around the sides, pressing down as you go.

During this process of adding the soil, you can add a handful of BioGanic to the mix as a slow-release organic fertiliser.

The final soil level should be level with the soil of the plant going in.

Always water your containers so that the water runs out the bottom.

Less frequent deep watering is better than a little water more regularly, as the deep water encourages stronger root growth.

Pots in full sun need watering at least three times a week and shade containers need water twice a week.

This also depends on the type of plants and how big they are, as you might find you water more. Ideally, your containers should not dry out totally between watering.

Feed containers with water-soluble fertiliser for best results.

This gets the food all the way through the pot and is easier for the plants to absorb.

Multifeed will encourage more flowers and the organic alternative Nitrosol will keep plants green and lush.

Feed at least once a month and if you water daily, then you can increase your feeding to every second week as the nutrients flush out the bottom with daily watering.

n Information supplied by Eckards