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growing skimmia in pot

growing skimmia in pot

Question from Shoot User
1320 1
a bit of an unusual question, but we want to grow a skimmia in our north facing front garden which is heavy compacted clay. Its covered in weed suppressing membrane and gravel so we can't really dig it over. We have decided to sink a heavy duty plastic pot into the ground until just part of the rim is showing and grow the skimmia in this, thus avoiding the temptation for anyone to help themselves to it. No really, my next door neighbour had one of her plants pinched, they left the pot though!..
Will this be okay? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
Posted: Saturday 2nd of March 2013 05:14 PM

  • Re: growing skimmia in pot

    Richard Fenwick
    Yes it will be ok, but containerised plants height is always dwarfed and they can flower earlier. Also it will never anchor therefore will be easy to remove from the pot therefore could disappear. My suggestion would be to dig a hole 3x the size of the pot [cutting the membrane in a cross] remove the soil and replace with a mix of topsoil/compost, plant the Skimmia and then watch for new growth forming this year. This way the roots will anchor into the ground/under the membrane making it harder to remove the shrub.
    If it does disappear may I suggest replacing it with either Berberis or Pyracantha, you have to be brave to steal this with out gloves.
    Replied: Sunday 3rd of March 2013 04:09 PM

    • Re: Re: growing skimmia in pot

      Shoot User
      Hi Richard
      We've tried growing a few plants in the front without any success the soil is like concrete, and we're not gardeners.. Will a skimmia survive if we plant it direct? Yes, Pyracantha is very good, its stopped our low wall being used as a seat..
      Thanks very much
      Replied: Sunday 3rd of March 2013 04:52 PM

      • Re: Re: Re: growing skimmia in pot

        Richard Fenwick
        Hi Chrissy,
        Yes with good soil preparation the Skimmia, should be fine, try and dig down as much as you can, removing the poor soil and enrich with multipurpose compost. Water in well and then observe, any changes in leaf colour or no new growth after a few months you could always dig it back up and move it to another part of the garden and try another shrub e.g. Hebe
        Hope this helps
        Replied: Sunday 3rd of March 2013 05:49 PM
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