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Nature has offered us the best of gifts, and greenery is the major one among them. With the rise in concrete jungles around us, greenery has become rare and has gained a special place in our hearts. We go around in search of it on vacations at remote locations, to the barely left gardens and parks in our area, and to a few plants we see placed around us. They are not just a thing of beauty in between the buildings and apartments but also give pure oxygen and take out carbon dioxide to offer us a place to breathe.
You must have surely heard about green therapy to enhance your mood, make you feel calm, and refresh your mind in between chores. But you do not have to go searching for these green elements as you can build your own garden and plant hardy evergreen shrubs for pots uk with just a small place like a balcony, backyard, or front yard around your house, with just a few efforts.
Hardy Evergreen Shrubs for Pots [UK]
You can find a lot of hardy evergreen shrubs for pots UK if you look around yourself in a nursery or garden. You can get wide varieties of hardy evergreen shrubs for pots in your neighbourhood that can help you enrich your backyard on your own.
If you are someone who cannot spend a lot of time taking care of the plants, there is a huge variety in low maintenance hardy evergreen shrubs for pots uk. You can choose a few among them and begin your gardening journey and boost the air quality and elegance of your house.
Here are 15 hardy evergreen shrubs for pots uk for you to choose from based on the weather conditions and soil in your area.
1. Dwarf Mountain Pine
Dwarf mountain pine is a little plant that fits perfectly in pots. It covers the pot completely, giving it a fuller look to it. The plant is known to reach a height of up to three feet approximately. The growth of this plant is very slow, so you can expect it to reach this height within 10 years.
The shape of this plant is globular with a flat top. It comes with beautiful needles that usually change their colours based on the seasons. In the winter season, the plant looks gold in colour and stays greenish-yellow in the summer season. It gives a beautiful statement to the plant for the entire year.
You must water the plant every week with one cup of water. But in the summer season, you must increase the frequency of watering. The plant loves the sunlight, so you must keep it in the sunniest place in your garden. If you are a beginner, this is the best option you can choose for planting as it is not picky with the type of soil and grows easily.
2. Kaleidoscope Abelia
Kaleidoscope Abelia is a shrub that changes its colour based on the seasons. In the spring season, the leaves are yellow and green, whereas, in summer, they turn to golden colour, followed by red in winter and fall. The plant is bushy and requires sunlight to grow. On hot and sunny days, the plants can be kept in partial sunlight.
The plant grows up to a height of 2 to 3 feet tall and up to 4 feet wide, which makes it perfect to grow in a pot. It produces white flowers with red-coloured stems that blossom for a long time through the year. You can use the plant as an eye-catching centre point in your balcony or garden. It is easy to plant and grow.
3. Boxwood
Boxwood is a shrub that requires a lot of water, such that it reaches deep inside the plant’s root zone during its growth stage. So it should be watered once every week. For mature plants, you can water them every two to four weeks. It is a dense and hardy evergreen shrub for pot uk and adds beauty and elegance to your garden. It creates a green bed on your balcony with its bushy nature.
The plant loves to stay in the sun for growth, but if the day is very sunny, it will require relief of partial shade. It is easy to grow this plant in your backyard just by taking proper care concerning watering and sunlight. Further, a general-purpose fertilizerwill go a long way for the plant.
4. Yucca
If you do not want to make the effort of even watering the plants regularly, you can begin your gardening journey with Yucca. It is a plant that originates from the desert region, so it stores water in the trunk and also flourishes in drought regions.
To keep the plant in healthy condition, you must place it in a place that gets a lot of sunlight. This plant can grow in your house as it does not shed leaves and stays well in closed conditions with some sunlight. This plant also gives cream-coloured flowers, and its leaves come in different shapes, thicknesses, spines, etc.
You can water these plants once in a while but do not keep the pot filled with water as it can rot the roots of yucca. These plants grow up to a height of two to four feet. So if you don’t have enough space in your house, you can choose a compact plant.
5. Phormium
Phormium is an evergreen plant that has bold leaves and flowers. If you are looking to give a bold look to your garden or even planning to add attractive borders to your collection of plants, phormium is a good choice. It requires highly fertile soil. Ensure watering the plant such that it retains the moisture, but the plants do not get waterlogged.
You can also use a slow-release fertilizer during the spring season every year. It has sword-shaped leaves that hang out from the pot and makes it look like a beautiful, huge flower vase in your garden. Its leaves are of different colours, like purple, green, yellow, red, cream, or brown, depending on the variety of the plant. It is a low-maintenance plant that requires sunlight on regular days and partial shade on days of high temperatures.
6. Ceanothus
Ceanothus is a great choice to grow in your backyard as it gives a rich and classy look to your garden with its dark green leaves and blue-coloured flowers. Along with its beauty, the plant is a nitrogen-fixing shrub. Based on the size of your garden or space allocated for the plant, ensure you choose the correct variety of plants, as some of them grow larger than others.
It grows in a bushy form, low in height. You can plant this in a container that can grow up against a fence or wall in your garden. This plant requires low sunlight and partial shade on sunny days. They usually flower in the spring season but also show blue in late summer and autumn, depending on the variety of the plant.
7. Choisya
Choisya is a beautiful evergreen shrub with elegant leaves, all of equal shapes and different sizes, that are placed together like the petals of a flower. The flower brings a unique shade of green to your garden, along with its beautiful structure. The plant grows densely, so ensure to keep it in a place that is not congested. The plant produces white flowers that look elegant and smell great.
These plants are another example of low-maintenance shrubs, but you must keep them in the sun as much as you can for their good growth. The plant is small, and you can plan to grow it in a container.
8. Cotoneaster
If you are planning to build your garden in your balcony space instead of a backyard, this is a great option to add to your small space. Cotoneaster is a beautiful green plant with glossy leaves that shine in the sunlight and gives beautiful and elegant flowers in white colour. The plant also gives red berries that attract birds from everywhere.
This plant requires a good amount of sunlight to grow. But you must keep them in partial shade on days when there is a high temperature. Based on the variety, the plant can take different forms. Sometimes, it is an upright shrub, or sometimes it can sprawl against any wall or fence. The plant grows healthy with very little effort.
9. Heathers
Based on the variety of heather, a lot grows well in pots and small containers on your balcony. Major requirements of this plant include ericaceous compost and acidic conditions. If you choose the right heathers, you can enjoy its bloom throughout the year with low maintenance.
The plants give beautiful blooms in bright colours and also have foliage that changes colours over different seasons. If you are looking for a plant that will be there for you throughout the year and yet require low maintenance, Heather is a great option. The plant is not very fussy and requires sunlight to grow and shine.
10. Skimmias
Another shrub that goes on a blooming year-long is skimmias. It is a low-effort plant that goes well in small containers and pots. The plant grows in all weather conditions but usually prefers sunlight with partial shade for efficient growth. In case of intense sunlight, the leaves are likely to burn. So keep them in shades on hot summer days.
If the female plants of skimmia grow near the male plants, they produce berries. This makes the plant look extra beautiful even after giving away the beautiful flowers. The berries are grown in the months of the winter season. To ensure good growth of the plant, keep it in acidic conditions with moist and well-drained soil.
11. Hart’s Tongue Fern
This is a plant that does not have any mandatory requirement of sunlight but requires acidic soil conditions and partial shade. As the name suggests, the leaves of this plant look like tongues. The plant originated from the woods and thrives in damp regions. They are easy to maintain. They give glossy green leaves with spores in orange colour below them. This plant lightens up your place with its beautiful shape and colour. You can keep the plant in a pot on your balcony or a well-shaded garden.
In the growing stage of the plant, you must water it regularly. When the plant matures, you can lessen the water and do it only when the temperature is high. This plant is a must if you want to fill your garden with shrubs that do not require too much maintenance.
12. Bay Laurel
Imagine wandering around your garden and smelling a beautiful fragrance coming from a shrub you have planted yourself. This is what bay laurel is for! Its leaves smell spicy and fresh. Bay laurel is a beautiful plant to add to your garden or balcony. The plant has yellow flowers in the spring season that turn into dark berries during the fall. Further, you can use its leaves for cooking. This tree can grow up to a height of 60 feet in your garden if you plant it in the ground. If your plant it in the pot, it can go up to a height of 2 to 3 feet.
The best part of this plant is that it is adaptive to any type of soil. It can grow fine in acidic or alkaline soil conditions. The plant requires partial shade on hot and sunny days. You must keep the soil moist but not waterlog your pot.
13. Coral Bells
Coral bells are evergreen plants with large leaves in a heart or round shape. They are found in different colours based on the species, such as gold, green, chocolate, burgundy, purple, and others. You must grow this plant in partial shade to get efficient growth.
It is fine if you do not give light to the plant daily, but you must water it and keep the soil moist. You must water only its roots and keep the leaves dry to avoid any kind of fungal disease.
14. Golden Mop False Cypress
If you have an Asian-style landscape or a formal setting, this is the plant that will add elegance and richness to your place. It grows up to 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, making them a great option for pots and containers.
The plant grows slowly; hence you need to be patient with it for several years. It grows the best in sunlight, although you must keep it in partial shade on days of high temperatures.
15. Blue Star Juniper
Juniper is a short plant that grows up to a height of 3 feet and spreads wide up to 4 feet. The plant is known for its beautiful blue needles that make it look unique and attractive in any place.
Its leaves are gold and green, which gives a beautiful contrast to the flowers. The plant requires a good amount of sunlight to grow to it to the fullest and radiate beautiful colours.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are wide varieties of hardy evergreen shrubs for pots uk that require almost little to no effort in planting them and making your space look beautiful.
You can explore your interest in gardening with these safe and easy-to-maintain plants that will make you proud when you look at your balcony just in a few months. They can be planted in pots or any containers that you were about to throw out.
Tell us about your first-time experience with planting green shrubs in the comments.
