Blog and review: Recycling strawberry planters to make an easy-care feature
If you’re after a drought-tolerant feature for full sun or a gravel garden, give my sedum terracotta pot project a try – it’s easy to make and look after.
I was lucky enough to find a large broken terracotta strawberry planter on my father-in-law’s allotment. He was going to take it to the tip! Only the shoulders of the pot were left, and there was a big crack, easily fixed with glue. An unused pot was lurking at home with a crack in the base. Here are more recycling and upcycling tips.
Of course, use your imagination. Ceramics look best, and as they break easily, you’ll often have a supply! The secret is to place them in the ground or gravel at angles, hiding the broken edges. I’ve also made similar displays with wide bowl-type whole pots, which are easier to manage if you’re less able. Beware, though, they are heavy.
Use your imagination in this sedum terracotta pot project
The sedums came from a collection I reviewed for Thompson & Morgan. The sempervivums I already had, as well as the small Whichford Pottery pot.
Sedums and sempervivums, both being succulents, thrive in hot, sunny sites with very well-drained, poor soil. Add lots of gravel to the compost. It’s a bit of a delicate operation to ease the small plants through the strawberry pot openings. Place the roots first so the succulents don’t get damaged. Once you have the gritty compost mix built up around all the plants, top it off with pure gravel.
The beauty of using this range of succulents is that they are evergreen and provide interest at all times, not just when they flower. And when they do, bees and pollinators love them.
More on the Sedums…
The Sedum Collection* is used traditionally for ground cover or even green roofs. If they get too big for your display, cut them back and use the trimmings as cuttings, as they root easily. You can also divide plants in the spring. They’re tough and perennial, flowering at the end of summer, with a maximum height of 40cm and a spread of 50cm. The Sedum Collection consists of:
- Sedum cauticola Robustum (Ruby Glow): A low spreader with purple-green leaves and dark crimson flowers.
- S. kamtschaticum var. floriferum Weihenstephaner Gold: Grey-green foliage with starry yellow flowers.
- S. Lemon Ball: Citrus gold unusual leaves.
- S. kamtschaticum var. kamtschaticum Variegatum: Variegated foliage on low spreading stems, with golden blooms.
- S. Cloud Walker: Upright pink flowers above dark burgundy-green leaves.
This selection is no longer available, but Thompson & Morgan has a wide range of hardy succulents to choose from. Visit www.thompson-morgan.com.
