Tree in a Pot in a Windy Spot

Lizzie27

I'd appreciate suggestions please for a suitable small tree  or large shrub for my daughter to grow in a pot on her south-east facing front patio. The house is on the side of a hill, high up and exposed to full sunshine and high winds (she's about 15-20 miles from the coast) in mid-Devon. She hasn't got a lot of money to spare and it's a rental property, hence the pot.
I'm a bit stumped, thought of olive, pittospermum, griselinia or laurel, any thoughts please?

Borderline

Arbutus Unedo do well in containers. There are now smaller versions like Arbutus Unedo 'Compacta'. Leathery leaves stay evergreen and can withstand winds well.

I suspect for the location a Polygala Myrtifolia shrub can do well there provided it is not too cold. They too cope well with windy positions. 

Posy

May I suggest you use a large pot with some very heavy material - stone or bricks - in the bottom? i have two standard bays and learned the hard way that a tree in leaf is very easy to blow over.

Lizzie27

Thanks Borderline and Posy, I'll look into those suggestions. Bricks in the bottom of the pot had already occurred to me!!!

Obelixx

Whatever she chooses she'll need to be vigilant with the watering cos of the added drying effects of wind on the foliage.

Lizzie27

Yes, Obelixx, she's already talking about acquiring a hosepipe and putting a water butt on her shed. 

raisingirl

Well I'm 20 miles from the coast, high up in mid-Devon and I can't grow a laurel in a pot - the leaves burn. I'd suggest a deciduous type stands a better chance when it's windy. Although, having said that, my neighbour does have a rather bedraggled olive that is still alive - they are a bit more sheltered than us though and it's on a warm west facing patio.
Phormiums will cope, if she likes something like that, or probably bamboo. Or lilac if she'd rather have something more floriferous, or weigela.