Choosing pots and containers

By Hosea Omole

Selecting containers for your garden, balcony or indoor planting is more than just picking your favourite from the first roadside vendor you come across. Besides choosing a style, shape and colour that suits your decorating theme, you also need to consider the material from which the containers are made.

Here are some of the merits and demerits of different container types to help you choose wisely:

Clay pots

Clay pots may be glazed or unglazed, coloured or patterned, light or dark in colour. Whichever you choose, they are attractive and can make a long-lasting addition to the garden, often improving with age and wear. They also suit a wide range of applications and garden styles.

Clay pots are however best avoided in exposed sites because they are fragile and easily break. Being a porous material, plants also tend to dry out pretty quickly under exposed conditions. Because of their substantial weight, their mobility is also limited.

Metal

Containers made of metal may seem like a contemporary idea, but in fact some of the most desirable antique pots are made of lead and are suitable for a wide range of applications. Modern metal containers tend to be made of steel or galvanized aluminium and are simply styled, unlike lead planters, which feature more elaborate, classical designs.

By nature, metal containers are long lasting, and can be heavy (especially the lead ones), which makes them good for open sites. They can also be very stylish and rich. They are, however, comparatively more expensive, particularly those made of lead. They also usually look out of place in informal gardens and may not suit some plants.

Wooden

Wood is a good material for a planter; it is soft, warm and very versatile. It weathers beautifully if treated and suits a very wide range of situations. Although fairly lightweight and therefore easily moved, wooden containers are strong and durable. They are also extremely attractive and are a good choice for situations where large planters are required.

Good-quality wooden containers can however be quite expensive, especially those suited to more formal sites. They also need regular treatment with preservatives to keep them looking good.

Stone

Pots and containers made of stone make beautiful ornamental planters. Granite containers can be used to give a Japanese feel, while old stone troughs suit alpines and other small plants. Being quiet heavy, they are not easily stolen or knocked over and are extremely long lasting. Stone also looks good and gives a feel of permanence, especially once it has become colonised with mosses and lichens in an informal garden.

Genuine stone containers are very expensive and often many people feel that a concrete alternative gives better value. Their mobility is also limited due to their weight.

Synthetic Pots

Plastic has long been used as a material for pots, and it may be disguised to look like clay, wood, or stone, although not always very convincingly. Increasingly, resins and other new materials are being used instead of plastic. They are generally lightweight and easy to handle and transport. They also tend to be tougher and more durable than clay and are far cheaper than stone or timber. They, however, lack the charm of traditional materials and age rather ungracefully.

The writer is a landscape architect.