Whether your garden is large or small, use containers to add colour, structure and interest

  • Containers in shady areas need enough light for plants to survive. Choose shade-loving plants for those in shady areas.
  • Plant low-growing, cascading flowers around tall, leafy plants.
  • Mix popular herbs with flowering plants, for example chives and carnations.
  • Fruit and vegetables such as dwarf tomatoes and peppers and lemon trees are colourful and ornamental in containers.
  • Consider putting big, heavy containers on a platform with wheels to make it easy to move them.
  • Group a selection of containers in different heights and sizes.
  • Roses can be grown successfully in a container in a sunny spot. A climbing variety can be used singly with a support or even combined with a low-growing variety.
  • Use containers planted with evergreen shrubs like lavender or a small cupressus tree to lend a particular style such as French or formal or just as a focal point.
  • To hide bare walls, use hanging containers or vertical planters or place containers with climbing plants next to a trellis. Obelisks also look attractive placed on top of a pot.
  • To keep containers looking good, water them fairly frequently, remove dead and tatty growth and pinch of the ends of some of the shoots for a more compact or bushy growth.