Newbie gardener looking for advice please

Lafindub

Hi, after many years dreaming of a beautiful garden and wondering if I’d ever have the right coloured fingers and the purse to back it up, I’ve decided this summer and the lockdown is opportunity to give it a go.

My garden is nowhere near ready for grass seed never mind flowers and foliage so I’ve decided to try my hand at container gardening.

My experience since beginning two weeks ago..

I got a beautiful gift of my first plant, a hydrangea, from my mother in law and I think it’s dying already! It has black spots all over the stems. She says it’s fine, the internet says it’s diseased. 😳
Will wait and see.

I bought three beautiful dahlia and one ended up covered in tiny black dots and I saw the smallest spider imaginable weaving a web on it so back to google and I think it was spider mites. I treated with something the garden center recommended and it only began to wither and flop so I took a leap and clipped off all the dead stuff and I now have three naked blooms which seem to be fine. Fingers crossed 😬

I bought some gorgeous Celosia in Lidl, two reds and a burgundy. I planted them in a raised bed just before the bad winds and they got battered for three days straight. Wind, rain and coastal area. I went out when things settled and found the reds had held their own but the burgundy was lying flat along the soil. I considered just drawing a white line around it and and calling the cops but I decided they’re far too busy so instead I got some bbq skewers and propped it up. It seems to be alive! If it pulls through I’ll toast its survival with a warm Jameson on a cool evening sitting beside it ðŸ‘ðŸ¼

I bought hanging baskets and planted upright instead of trailing fuchsias in them. They’ll be strange but colourful and I’ll take some pictures to remember all the great mistakes I’m making in my first year of gardening.

So, they’re a few mistakes. I’ve made loads more but my next project is one I really don’t want to mess up and is why I need advice. I’ve bought four half barrels that I’d like to plant some evergreen shrubs in as my garden won’t be done this year and perhaps not even next. I’d like to have some greenery to look at year round. I don’t know enough about shrubs though. What size different ones might grow. What soil they like. How would they do in a coastal area (couple miles inland but we get sand on our car when it’s windy). Are they truly evergreen in our climate. Has anyone any idea what might be right for me?

I’m really winging it and using YouTube to educate myself somewhat but not finding what I’m looking for today.

Thanks in advance for any help 😊

Lafindub

Sorry, all those weird signs at the end of paragraphs were originally emojis.

looksee

One of the easiest and most satisfactory shrubs to grow in a container is pieris. There are several variations with yellow or red new growth and flowers. They are easy, inexpensive, grow to a nice convenient size and look lovely.

Lafindub

Thank you. I have two lovely Forest Flame that I got because my mother in law has them and they’re beautiful! I didn’t think they’d get big enough for the half barrels though. Do they grow tall as well as wide?

looksee

I have one in a very large pot for a good while and it is currently nearly a metre high and a metre wide. Another one (the Lily of the Valley bush) that had a good while in a very large pot got to nearly the same.

Lafindub

Sorry I’m so long getting back and thanks for the help. I decided to transfer my two forest flame to barrels and I bought viburnum tinus for the other two. Fingers crossed they cope with the wind and bad weather coming this week. Also picked up two fab cordyline passion pink but they’re still very small so gave them small pots and hopefully they last until I want to put them in the ground next year.

Such a great hobby to have found. Loving it

looksee

The viburnum may get a bit big for pots, though it is a hedging plant also so you may be able to keep it trimmed to size.

I would suggest you keep the cordyline in a sheltered place as small pots can get frosted in the winter and dried out in the summer. If you had a sheltered corner in the garden you might consider just dropping the pots into a hole and filling round them to protect them, you will still be able to transplant them next year without disturbing them too much.

Welcome to the club! Gardening is a lovely hobby and a lifetime interest.