Top tip
In garden centres and online, look for plants that say they are for containers. These should be a good size to create your container display.
If you are celebrating a royal event, like the Coronation of King Charles, there are many ways you could make a celebratory display. You could, for example, paint your container with a union jack. Or, you could pop small flags in the soil as part of the display. Let your royal imagination run wild!
Another idea is to plant red, white and blue flowers. This is quite an unusual combination, so particularly striking. Here are some plants you could try:
In garden centres and online, look for plants that say they are for containers. These should be a good size to create your container display.
Essential items
Follow these steps to plant your royal celebration container with ease.
Step 1: Gather everything you need
Get all your equipment together where you will be working.
If you are planting a large container, it will get quite heavy when filled with compost. It may be easiest to plant it up in the spot it will stay so you don’t have any heavy lifting to do.
Wherever you are working, make sure you are in a comfortable position. If you are at ground level, a kneeler seat with handles may help protect your knees.
Step 2: Place small stones or crocks in the container
Place your small stones or crocks (broken pieces of pot) at the bottom of the container. You only need a thin layer. Around 2-3cm deep is fine.
This layer will help water drain, so your plants do not get waterlogged.
Step 3: Fill the container with compost
Add compost on top of your layer of stones. You don’t want to fill it to the top as you still need to add your plants.
As a rough guide, fill to around 10cm from the top of the container.
Step 4: Decide how you will arrange your plants
Place your plants on top of the compost. Keep them in their pots. The aim is to decide how you want your plants arranged before you start planting.
Remember, your plants will grow bigger in time, so leave enough space between them. The plant label should tell you how big each plant will grow.
You could draw a circle diagram of your container on a piece of paper and make a note of what you are planning to plant where. This can be a helpful reminder when you start planting, especially if you have quite a lot of plants.
Step 5: Create planting holes
Once you are happy with your arrangement, it’s time to make planting holes.
One good way to do this is to follow the method used for potting on.
Remove your plants from the top of the soil one by one. As you remove each one, put an empty plant pot in its place. The empty pots should be a similar size to the pot your plant is in. Push the empty pots down a little into the soil. You don’t want the top rims to be much higher than the top of the container.
Once all plants are removed and all empty pots are in place, fill around and in between them with compost.
Step 6: Add plants
Gently remove one of your plants from its pot. Find the spot in the container where you want it to go and take out the empty plant pot. This will leave a hole that should be the right size for your plant.
Put the plant in the hole. Add more compost if needed to fill any gaps.
Repeat until all plants are added and all empty pots removed.
Step 7: Gently water
Water your container gently. Try to water the compost around the plants as much as possible and not the flowers and foliage.
A bottle top waterer is a good way to reuse a plastic bottle. It is also light to carry compared to a larger watering can.
Congratulations, you have finished planting your beautiful royal celebration container! Enjoy watching as the plants grow and flower.
You will need to water your container regularly. One way to tell if it needs watering is to gently poke a finger into the soil. If the soil feels dry, it probably needs watering.
Plants in containers usually need watering more often than plants in the ground. This is because the soil gets dry more easily in a container. Also, your container may be in a spot that is sheltered from rain. This means it may still need watering on a rainy day.
Container gardening is a popular and useful way to garden. From individual pots to barrels, long planters and balcony boxes, you can grow almost anything in containers.
Every pound makes a real difference. Donate today to change lives in Birmingham.
Donate today
