44LimitedEditionEssex
never spoils
A watched pot
LEstyle
Summer's the season to replace your damaged planters
I
F you've lost lots of your old
terracotta pots to the frost this
winter, it may be time to perk
up your patio with some new
containers.
However, think carefully before
buying and consider the style of
your property and garden. If you
don't, you could end up with a
disastrous mish-mash of colours
and designs.
If you have an old, traditional
house and matching garden, it
makes sense to stick with classic
materials such as stone or
terracotta, while a modern setting
may require stainless steel,
coloured concrete, zinc or
aluminium.
Dramatic black
glazed pots, with
stand alone
specimens such as
a cordyline or
date palm, can
look stunning in
a contemporary
setting and are
widely available, while troughs and
pots made of metal can also look
good in minimalist gardens.
You can get away with a variety
of brightly-coloured glazed pots
(check out B&Q's range or
rainbow glazed pots, starting at
�1.98 � www.diy.com) in a
modern setting to brighten up a
corner, but generally it's better to
stick to one style and finish if you
don't want the patio to look
messy.
Don't buy pots on a whim, as
there simply may not be a natural
place to put them.You may
actually find they look better
without any plants in them.
Small gardens don't
restrict you to small
pots. In fact, large
pots and plants in
a small
garden
will create much more drama and
impact than having everything
below eye level.
There are pros and cons with
whatever you choose.Terracotta
pots, even if they are frost-proof,
have a tendency to crack and chip
and are porous, which means you
will need to water the plants
regularly to stop them drying out.
However, terracotta pots can
achieve that weathered look
quickly because algae and moss
soon grow on the outer surface.
Glazed ceramic containers come
in a huge range of colours and are
not porous, so you'll need to
stand them on pot feet to ensure
adequate drainage.
Galvanised metal containers,
which look great in modern
settings, are poor
insulators, so
compost and
roots may be
baked in hot
weather and
frozen in
winter.This is
where glass
fibre pots,
which look
like metal, may
All things
bright � Rainbow
glazed pots, from
B&Q, from �1.98

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