By Ninette
United Kingdom 
What would you advise I plant in outside pots along the front wall of the house; the garden is north facing so they won't be in full sun and because the house is a dormer bungalow, they don't get much rain and need to be watered regularly. I am after something that looks good but is generally esay to look after. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
11 Sep, 2011
Answers
agree with Lousie. some nice heathers that are evergreen and flower too and relatively low maintenance. Look at the various pictures on this site to get some ideas. scroll to the bottom of the tub and click on T for tubs and troughs or P for planters then you will hopefully get some ideas.
11 Sep, 2011
You can see some heathers in pots on my latest blog :
The Winds of Change. 10th Sept. 2011.
Use ericaceous compost for callunas, and water with rain water. I hope this helps :o)
11 Sep, 2011
Instead of having pots why not build up a wall to make it a raised bed, using wood, bricks or stone. then you can widen your choices because the plants will be able to root down in to the earth. Plants die in pots because the soil freezes and the roots are killed off or they do not get enough water and the roots die. You could then have camellias and other flowering shrubs which will survive in your shady area. SBG I think the tubs and troughs etc links are gone but there are tubs and pots on the Patio ideas link under P.
11 Sep, 2011
C for Container Ideas has a good mix of plants ...
and S for Shade Container Plants ...
and D for Dry Soil Plants ...
11 Sep, 2011
And add water-retaining gel crystals to the compost when planting. It works like magic!!
Trailing variegated ivies round the edges of the pots with a seasonal "splash of colour" in the middle. Pick whatever you like from the "box bedding" at your local garden centre. e.g. Cyclamen, pansy or polyanthus for winter. I'd just pick one from the list or it looks messy. Tuberous begonias for summer. All the above do OK in shade.
11 Sep, 2011
Welcome to GOY Ninette. You will find us a friendly lot of gardeners of mixed ability. I am currently planting my pots with winter flowering pansies, as suggested by Beattie. I got mine in Aldi. A good tip is to ensure they are flowering when you put them in and then they will flower right through the winter. If you plant smaller ones which are not ready to flower they will not flower till next spring. Cut off all the flowers when you plant them and that allows the plant time to put its energy into settling in and growing a good root system but they will soon send up fresh flowers. You won't need to dead head them because they do not set seed in the cold weather. I use begonia semperflorens in summer because they do not need dead heading and they are ok in shade as well as being very tolerant of dry conditions.
11 Sep, 2011
How about heathers and violas, with some miniature daffs. and grape hiacynth under-planted, so that you'd have a show in the spring. If you use Erica Carnea, they won't need acid soil, so the other plants will grow better, also....Annie
12 Sep, 2011
Many thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions.
13 Sep, 2011
It depends on what size pots you're intending to buy.
If you're just going to buy pots that are about 12" by 12" then you'll be fairly restricted - probably only annuals and bedding plants will survive because the pot size is small.
If you're going to buy pots of a reasonable size, by that i mean 18" by 18" minimum, then you could consider various shrubs - this will cover evergreen one that will look good right through the winter months.
Some flower then too.
11 Sep, 2011