How to make a colourful spring planter in six easy steps

This is not the easiest time of the year to get excited about gardening. To motivate yourself to go out in the garden in the cold – and more often than not, the wet – can be really challenging. Your lawn might be a muddy mess, and your borders less than enticing. While you wait for more clement conditions, try treating yourself to a few colourful containers of texture, foliage and colour, which will boost your mood no end.

Pot choice

When plant choices are somewhat restricted due to the season, the decorative impact of the pot itself becomes incredibly important. The choice of container can have as much significance as the plants you choose. We have come a long way since the choice of readily available pots was restricted to terracotta or plastic. Not only are there a plethora of styles and colours available to us at garden centres now – consider the endless possibilities that reclaimed or upcycled containers could bring to your doorstep displays.

These are often incredibly affordable too, if you buy them through online marketplaces or from junk shops. If you’re buying a new container from a retailer, then check whether the pot is frost-resistant or frost-proof. Frost-proof containers are far more resilient to low temperatures than the frost-resistant types. Although the frost-proof types are often more expensive, they are generally more long-lasting and unlikely to shatter or crack in cold weather.

Drainage and frost

Growing plants in containers during the summer can be challenging, due to the compost and the plants drying out more regularly. We have the opposite problem during the winter, when waterlogging and saturation are more likely to cause damage to your plants.

To increase the amount of air that travels through your compost, which will lead to healthy roots and allow that surplus moisture to escape, I would recommend mixing a good few handfuls of grit into your peat-free compost to open the structure.

Forgive my patronising science lesson, but when water freezes it expands, so if the compost within your pot is saturated, then as that water expands there is a greater likelihood that your pot will crack. By allowing that moisture to move through the compost more freely, you are reducing the risk of damaging your much-loved terracotta pot.

Raising the container off the ground is a must in winter. Pots can be elevated by using pot feet, or old bricks or pieces of paving slab – anything that will raise the drainage holes from the ground to allow water to dissipate easily.

Step by step: How to plant a container

Inserting living stems

Dogwoods and willows are easy to get hold of from most garden centres at this time of year and offer a tremendous amount of colour to winter containers. One option is that you can plant your winter stems as living plants and make them an integral part of your arrangement. But if you have any shrubs in your garden with colourful and decorative stems, simply insert a few of those stems into the finished planted container to add that extra level of drama. Dogwoods and willows are very easy to propagate from hardwood cuttings during the winter; as a bonus, you might find that your living stems will eventually root and become plants in their own right that can then be planted out into your garden.

Plant choices

If you’d like to replicate the pots that I have created, the plants that I have used were sourced from my local garden centres and should be available up and down the country; otherwise, you should be able to find close alternatives. The principle of creating these winter displays is to have fun with texture and colour and the kind of effect that you are looking for can be very subjective. If you can’t get hold of these particular plants, then do have fun and experiment in your own way, as the principle of bringing together all of these plants that deliver interest at this time of year is the most important thing; let loose and indulge your creativity.

The plants Tom used

Mulching

Grit or shingle is a perfect mulch for winter containers as it can be easily recycled into a compost heap or onto your beds and borders when your container needs refreshing. Any biodegradable or compostable mulch can be easily reused into your garden, but try to avoid decorative products that are inorganic such as glass, as these tend to persist in the garden rather than breaking down.

Feeding

All of the plants that you use in your container won’t grow to any great extent until March or April, which means you can pack them in to give an opulent effect without the worry of compromising the plants. As a result of this lack of growth, there is no need to feed or try to stimulate growth as the low temperatures simply won’t allow the plants to respond. Save your money for fertiliser during the spring and summer.

Watering

Drainage is far more of an issue than watering during the winter, so you only need to water your container if it is placed under a canopy or if we have prolonged periods without any rainfall. Use your finger and insert it into the compost and if it feels dry then add some water, but otherwise if you sense moisture on your skin then there is no need to add any water.

As the weather warms up and the light levels increase, your plants will respond and begin to grow, needing a little more water, but I suspect in a few months’ time you’ll be ready for a fresh spring display. At which time, all of these plants can either be potted and saved for a winter display next year, or added to your garden, increasing the level of winter interest in your borders.