Colourful Evergreens for Winter Container.

Containers full of flowering plants in the summer usually give a maximum of five months of colour – depending on the weather conditions, yet a tub of colourful evergreens can supply us with unlimited colour and interest. This is especially the case when it is much needed. Winter!

Planting up a tub of evergreens for winter colour is different to planting a summer flowering container. With summer bedding containers you have to allow the plants room to grow and develop, which means that the newly planted container can look a bit ‘empty’ until the plants have established. Not so with a winter tub of evergreens. Instant effect! Four or five specimens in a container are often all that are required for immediate colour.

As evergreens do not grow (too much) through the winter months, fairly mature specimens should be planted to give the desired effect. There is no need to allow the plants room to grow because they won’t!

A downside is that the plants will have to be removed from the container in April the following year, before they start to grow and spoil. (April is a good month for transplanting evergreens.) The cost will also be considerably more than that of planting up with a few so-called winter flowering pansies. The upside is that you will have six months in which to plan where to put them in your garden!

The choice of colourful evergreens has never been better. Many new varieties have been introduced, with gold, silver, lime green, and bi or tri-colours now available. Add the pinks, bronzes and oranges of the phormiums and you will be hard done by just to plant one container!

Most reasonable garden centres should have a good selection at this time, but (hate to say it) a better selection can often be found at the large DIY stores. They have the retail expertise – if not the horticultural equivalent – to stock up on instant colour as and when it is available. (Garden centres please take note!)

Planting the container is not rocket science. In computer terms it is WYSIWYG! (What You See Is What You Get). You can experiment with the planting as much as the budget will allow. No need to allow for things to grow; no need to worry about overcrowding or planting distances; no need to try and visualise what your finished container will look like, for once you put your trowel down, you have the finished article in front of you.

A good starting point is the right plant for a central feature. Generally speaking, it should be no taller than twice the height of the container – especially if is going to end up in an exposed, windy place. The choice of feature plant could well determine the rest of the plant types. But, there are no hard and fast rules to follow. If it looks right to you, it is right! Experiment, as far as the budget and enthusiasm allows.

It's always good if you can get help. Thank you Julia!

It should also be borne in mind that these plants are going to be used in the garden next spring – so try to buy with that in mind.

Before committing plants to compost, you can have as many trial runs as you like. Use bits of polystyrene or anything else to hand as packing under the plants until the positioning looks right. Leave the plants in their pots when you do this. Don’t worry too much if there is not quite enough room to get individual pots into the container. The plants rootballs can be squashed (carefully) into shape when you get round to the actual planting. A good thing about container plants at this time of year is the fact that the plant will have spent enough time in the container to have a good firm root ball that should not fall apart once you knock it out of the pot.

Any multi-purpose compost will do. Do not add any extra feed to the compost. If it is a cold winter, the feed will not get used, which could result in scorching of the roots. If it is a mild winter, then the feed could force the plant into tender new growth, which will spoil with a savage wind – or snap frost!

I fancied the pot, so I bought it! I always had a Phormium in mind for the central feature. There are so many to choose from, and they are so tough – in spite of their Mediterranean look/feel. (Ok, I know they originated in New Zealand, but they still look Mediterranean!) The colour of the pot rim seemed as though it would compliment the Phormium ‘Sundowner’ I had already ‘collected’. The evergreen Carex Evergold was a natural choice, as was Acorus ‘Ogon’ – even though this is only semi-evergreen.

The Curry Plant (Helichrysum italicum) backed up with Hebe x andersonii Variegata even had a bit of flower remnants, which were ignored for this exercise. The Ivy (Hedera helix Goldchild) has always been a favourite for holding its winter colour. Many of them lose their fresh colour in the winter months. The golden Cistus is Cistus x hybridus ‘Gold Prize’

Keep the compost moist throughout the winter. Even if it rains, don’t forget that you have created a rainproof canopy of foliage. Containers can dry out in winter – especially in windy weather. Keep the pot in as light place a place as possible. This will help the evergreens to hold their colour. Some will soon lose colour if placed away from the light.

In the spring, remove the plants – carefully for most of them will have started sending out some new roots ready for the oncoming growing season. Plant them in your ‘earmarked’ spot that you have had all winter to think about, and double check that they will have enough room to grow in their new positions. Don’t be fooled by the fact that you have has a tub of ‘compact evergreens that have hardly moved during the last six months! Keep the newly transplanted evergreens well watered throughout April/May. You now have a spare container to plant up with summer bedding plants. More about that next year!