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Potted evergreens for exposed front door

Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,030
edited August 2018 in Plants
Been focused so much on the back garden the past year and I have absolutely sod all round the front, just monoblock paving.

Looking to at least add something with a couple of matching evergreen shrubs in pots either side of the door. It faces east and gets early morning sun through to around noon at this time of year, it is exposed though and usually windy here anyway.

Thinking along the lines of holly or viburnum tinus. Any other suggestions over what's here?

https://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/vid.188/vid.190/vid.4/

Ticking 'exposed' in the filter massively narrows down the options though, to the point it sounds overly fussy to me, so anything not there that can still tolerate a lot of wind would be helpful.
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Posts

  • Joyce21Joyce21 Posts: 15,489
    A dwarf form of Skimmia Japonica.
    SW Scotland
  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,030
    Joyce21 said:
    A dwarf form of Skimmia Japonica.
    I've since been looking at these since posting. I have rubella already which I believe doesn't like wind and I'd mistakenly thought they were all like that but apparently not.
  • Joyce21Joyce21 Posts: 15,489
    Mine are in an exposed position and withstand strong westerly winds.
    SW Scotland
  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,030
    What kind are they? Depending on what the local garden centres have I'll look to try and get a male and female version of each, whether holly or skimmia.
  • Joyce21Joyce21 Posts: 15,489
    I've had them for about 20 years and just bought them as Skimmia Japonica.
    SW Scotland
  • Dirty HarryDirty Harry Posts: 1,030
    Well they last then!

    Have you bothered with ericaceous compost at all for them?
  • Joyce21Joyce21 Posts: 15,489
    No.  Mine are in the ground.
    SW Scotland
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 6,633
    one of the small junipers or pinus mugo if your pots are a decent size
    “Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first” 
  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    I wouldn't get tinus as if they get the beetle they will look g*dawful! And you don't want that at your front door. And they get big!
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,699
    I don't recommend Viburnum Tinus in a container. They don't suit in containers. Smaller leaf plants like Ilex Crenata can be shaped just like Buxus and can deal with wind. Osmanthus Burkwoodii can also do fine in exposed surroundings and limited sun. Again, they can be lightly shaped or pruned yearly to suit the size of the container. 
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