The Helpful Hort: Planting an Autumn Feature Pot
Welcome to The Helpful Hort series! This series of insightful articles are brought to you directly from our in-store gardening experts across the country. Each month we'll be posting new content on different gardening topics, handpicked by our Horticulturists. This will range from gardening tips, tricks and advice to project ideas for you and your budding gardeners, as well as posts on some of our favourite plants.
This month, our horticulturist, Teresa O’Grady, from our Drogheda store, put together a great TikTok video of how to plant an autumn inspired feature pot for your path, patio, doorstep or balcony.
Follow Teresa’s guide below for the ultimate Autumn inspired feature pot for your outdoor living space:
To begin, Teresa chose a beautiful, deep ruby red glazed pot, which perfectly complements the colours of autumn.
At the base of the pot, Teresa added potting grit for drainage. This will prevent the pot becoming waterlogged. She used ericaceous potting compost, as one of the plants Teresa chose favours acidic soil.
Next, Teresa carefully selected a range of plants that reflect autumn’s treasure chest of plants, with colours ranging from rich russets to mahogany tones. Autumn really is the sunset of the summer, and the array of deep rich colours grown during this season perfectly capture this. The plants chosen also happened to highlight some of Teresa’s favourite plants.
Firstly, Teresa used an amazing shrub called Leucothoe Burning Love, as she has a passion for Leucothoes. They are a very versatile, evergreen plant with a leathery leaf. They like acidic soil, which is why Teresa chose the ericaceous compost.
As the autumn season proceeds, their leaves go a lovely deep red colour. By the time we reach late spring, early summer, they produce a beautiful white flower. Due to it being an early nectar plant, they attract bees and butterflies. Leucothoe Burning Love is also a low growing plant with a height of approximately 40cm.
To the front of the pot, Teresa decided to plant in Ajuga Reptans Burgundy Glow. They have a lovely colourful leaf which trails down the front of the pot, as well as an attractive blue flower.
Next, Teresa added another one of her favourites, the Heucherella Sweet Tea. Its leaf colour and sprays of foamy white flowers really captures the spirit of autumn.
Following this, Teresa chose Carex Evergold. This is an easy maintenance, evergreen plant that gives a feathery feel to any pot, providing a different texture and foliage form from the accompanying plants in the pot.
Of course, no autumn planter would be complete without a Chrysanthemum. These beautiful flowers add stunning autumn colour, with the added bonus of a lovely scent.
To view Teresa’s video in full, see below:
Pop down to the Drogheda store today and have a chat with Teresa on all things gardening! For more helpful tips, tricks, and inspiration, check out our other posts here.
