Just thought I'd throw this out to more experienced gardeners.....I'm putting 2 large containers in front of my front door. They're only 12" at the mouth but get fatter around the middle, maybe 16", and 18" high. My overhang, not very deep, is only 8 feet high. I'd like to put something mostly vertical and evergreen in the container. Any ideas? I'm in zone 8a, it gets a little sun in the morning then shade in the afternoon. I thought maybe a camellia? If you plant a shrub in a container will it stay bound by the container size, or does it eventually die if you don't size it up? Any input would be appreciated!
Suitable container shrubs
That container size is pretty small for any sort of large plant or shrub to survive for very long. Except for bonsai, they won't stay bound by the container size - they'll die.
I have 2 Dwarf Alberta Spruce in large resin-type containers flanking my deck entrance, & they've done quite well - with lots of water & consistent feeding, of course. But my containers are much larger than what you have - probably twice as wide & twice as high.
If I were you, I'd keep small containers like this planted seasonally with different annuals & forget about the evergreen idea.
Yes, I was surprised when I measured them for this post that they were so small...they seemed bigger, maybe because they're heavy. Now that I think about it, I have house plants in containers about that wide, if not that deep. So what you're saying sounds good. I'd still like to have vertical elements, so that will be the tricky part here in the winter. Other seasons would be easy, but I'd like to have my front door not naked in the winter. Anyway, thanks!
If you learn a little about soils and root pruning (and I can help you) you could keep any number of evergreens in a container of that volume indefinitely - if you had a little more sun. Lack of sun is going to restrict your choices. One of the upright Taxus, like cuspidata 'Capitata', Hicksii, would be nice, adding an attractive vertical element, and the baccata 'Fastigiatas' are all very tolerant of shade & respond well to pruning.
There is a second problem looming on the horizon. Imagine trying to remove a root-bound plant from the container you described. If you're not willing to sacrifice the plant to depot it, or sacrifice the pot to save the plant, it's best to use it for something that will be easily removed (plants and soil) after a single growing season.
Al
Thanks so much, those are a few plants I hadn't even considered. There's some other spiky leaves like that going on in the shrub border, it could look neat. I had thought about possibly doing a little bonsai-ish thing, possibly pulling it out and trimming the roots so it could stay in the container. I don't know much about bonsai, though. Can you do that technique with lots of varieties, maybe even a blooming shrub, or do they need to be the more traditional bonsai trees that I've seen? Do you know of any good resources to learn what I can do and what I can't? Thanks so much!
(I'm a newbie and I still can't believe people are so nice to answer all my newbie questions!)
You can apply bonsai techniques to nearly any woody plant in order to keep it compact. Some plants just lend themselves better to the pruning and other aspects of bonsai culture.
A geranium
And a snapdragon just getting started
Same plant before I pruned blooms (they slow development)
So you see, bonsai techniques can be applied to most plants, not just a few select trees. There are many flowering bonsai: apple, cherry, jasmine, azaleas especially, quince, pomegranate, and hundreds more.
Al
Very very neat, Al. I've never looked into bonsai - I'm amazed at your pictures! Thanks for sharing!
Sanna