Choosing plants for pots

In theory, you can grow any plant in a pot. You can even grow an oak tree, if you are willing to go to the effort to bonsai it.

But if you are looking to keep things simple, it is better to choose plants that don't mind the container life.

Some plants will grow okay, but don't have the necessary top-to-bottom good looks and are better mixed into borders where their neighbours can hide up unslightly lower growth. This applies to a lot of the taller and more upright perennials that can often be pretty bare lower down. Look for plants with good overall appearance instead.


Some plants can be very fussy with watering or just very thirsty so you should weigh up how much time you want to devote to care.

Lavenders get fed-up with tapwater, whereas Rosemary will more-or-less survive on whatever falls from the sky, without much intervention from you. Sages will be unforgiving whether you over- or under-water. Lupins could need twice-daily waterings if they don't have a deep enough pot. Acers will virtually get on with it themselves.

Scroll down to a previous post for more watering tips.

Other plants are simply too vigorous for growing in containers. The roots use up all the moisture too quickly, use up all the nutrients in the compost too quickly, and they fill up all available room too quickly.

We recently dug out the planting from our Deer-Proof Garden. The Nepeta (catmints) and Monardas (bee balm/bergamot) all came out of 2 litre pots in March. Although they had grown considerably on top, the Nepetas' rootballs had barely changed in this period, showing why they are well suited to container growing. On the other hand, the Monardas had formed massive rootballs in just these few months, showing why they always look fed-up when in pots: they want room, lots of room!

The right-sized pot will make a huge difference. The ideal is to put it into something about two to three times the size you buy it in (by volume not diameter), and move up again if necessary after six months or a year (this could be a case of planting into a cheap plastic pot that is sunken into the nice glazed pot you want it to end up in if you don't want to keep paying out for proper pots). 

Cram the plant into something too small and the roots will stunt the growth, the nutrients will run out quickly and you'll be constantly watering.

Go too big and the plant could struggle to access the nutrients and water it needs. You could also end up with a lot of soggy compost that will then rot the roots.

The compost is all important. Use good quality; if it's a big container make sure it has some roughage to the structure to stop it going claggy. We don't sell it, but we use long-release fertiliser in virtually everything we grow at Katie's Garden (with the exception of seedlings and spring bulbs) and this makes a world of difference.

Wondered why our plants look so much healthier than at some other places? A lot of it is down to the compost and fertiliser.

So what exactly is good in a pot?? Click here for our Plants for Pots list for some of our top recommendations. You can also pick these lists up by the till at the nursery.

And if you would like to have a go at mixed pots with summer annuals, you can watch our video tutorial here.