New to gardening - list of plants; which are compatible?

Jul 22, 2011 2 Replies

Mum and I have never had a garden before but a couple of years ago the garage was torn down (before it collapsed) and I've built a deck and whitewashed the walls. I'm building some nice planters out of left-over deck boards and we've been walking around a couple of garden centres noting down plants that we're interested in and would like to have in our pots, planters and hanging baskets (hanging baskets will probably be a job for next year).



I'm wondering which of these plants will be incompatibile (requiring different types of soil etc). My mum doesn't have a lot of free-time so we can't have anything high maintenance (I'm away studying most of the year). If soil composition is an issue, I will be at home twice a year (summer and winter) and can make adjustments then - but again, I have no experience so we want the most beautiful arrangement we can have with minimal risk of destruction.



Here is the list of plants we made:



Lilium (red pixie) Cordyline Begonia Pansy Fuscia Geranium Campanula Phoenix canariensis Coleus



Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer.


If you're just going to stick them in planters, your main concern should be whether they can overwinter outside in your climate. As for soil, if you're going to just fill a bunch of planters, go out and buy bags of potting soil. It will be initially expensive but save time in the long run. In a year or so, add some slow-release fertilizer if they're still going :)

(I did not look closely at your list to see if they are all perennials or what- remember, annuals in planters will require new plants...well, pretty much annually).

Chris

You can go on-line and with any decent search engine, get answers to your questions.

HB

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