Now containers are no longer her only option, Alice Vincent wonders if they still have a place in her garden, or is it time to leave her dolly tubs and chimney pots behind? Illustration Alice Pattullo <\/p>

The longer I garden, the more I realise that I go through as many cycles in my habits and tastes as the growing world around us, only with far less predictability.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve come to see their reliance on water and soil nutrition as sustainability failings <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
Mostly, those pots moved to the garden with me<\/a>, whereupon the best of them tucked neatly into the sunken path by the back door and have continued to be the low-maintenance wonders they always were. (I can\u2019t rate ferns, Muehlenbeckia<\/em>, and persicaria<\/em><\/a> cultivars \u2018Red Dragon\u2019 and \u2018Purple Fantasy\u2019, underplanted with narcissus<\/a> and spring starflower Ipheion uniflorum<\/em>, more highly as a zero-effort, shade-tolerant<\/a>, evergreen container<\/a> combo.)<\/p>\n
However, faced with a blank expanse of grim patio<\/a>, I began to accumulate more pots to break up all the paving. In came bargain reclaimed chimney pots from Croydon, and rather less affordable Victorian dolly tubs from Herefordshire. I planted them up, and I primped and fussed. I filled antique seedling pots<\/a> with iris bulbs and terracotta tubs<\/a> with nasturtiums. Two summers on \u2013 one of them blisteringly hot \u2013 and I\u2019m trying to purge the bulk of my containers altogether. Could this be the end of my container gardening era?<\/p>\n
We\u2019re finally taking up the patio. The new garden design is one built around lower intervention, greater climate consciousness and, frankly, less faffing about now I have a small human to attend to. Pots made me a gardener, but since gaining ground I\u2019ve come to see their reliance on water and\nsoil nutrition as sustainability failings. The fact is, too many pot-grown plants need replacing too often. It\u2019s not good for the planet or my pocket. I may dream of opulent tubs spilling over with dahlias<\/a> or sweet peas<\/a>, but for me the ends increasingly don\u2019t justify the means in a climate crisis.<\/p>\n

Containers provide an opportunity for planting at different heights and house flowering plants in the depths of winter <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
I am not, of course, ruling out all containers; urban greening depends on them, and their contribution from what grows in them is larger than many think. A recent study showed that even in New York City, an environment far less green than London, photosynthesis from the plants grown in urban gardens was significant enough to absorb the carbon generated by its vehicular traffic. Containers provide an opportunity for planting at different heights and house flowering plants in the depths of winter, something of a lifeline for early pollinators. Certain adventurous plants (mint comes to mind) are simply better contained. Plus I spent a fortune on those dolly tubs.<\/p>\n

I am now container gardening more consciously <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
Instead, I am now container gardening more consciously: only using ones 40cm or wider across (far less needy of all resources), planting them mostly with perennials<\/a>, and relying on home-made compost<\/a> for mulch<\/a> and nutrition. They\u2019ll be watered from the water butt.<\/a> Ideally, containers should work a little like my beds, with a flow of plants popping up throughout the seasons, not unlike how they used to work on the balcony. Perhaps I\u2019ve not changed so much after all.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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