Growing plants in pots or containers has always been popular with gardeners. No worries about soil conditions, easy to manage planting, perfect for small spaces, and the added benefit of being able to move your plants around on a whim. What’s not to like?

The added attraction of planting evergreen shrubs in containers is that you can have a colourful and interesting display all year round. Even when the rest of the garden is dormant your container plants will provide interest and give you plenty of reasons for pottering around even when the warm summer days are a distant memory.

Why you should grow evergreen shrubs in containers

Portability and flexibility

It’s maybe not something that immediately springs to mind when you think about container gardening. But being able to move your plants around is a big positive. If you don’t like the position you’ve chosen for your plant you can just move it.

You can rearrange your garden as often as you like, move struggling plants into different spots to take advantage of sunlight or shade, or take them into the greenhouse or polytunnel during harsh weather conditions.

Space-saving

The number one reason why many of us love container gardening. Not only does a plant in a container take up less room then when planted in the ground, you don’t need a large garden to have a wonderful display. And of course, whether you have a large patio or a small balcony you can enjoy evergreen shrubs all year round.

Control of soil and nutrients

It doesn’t matter about the soil conditions when you plant your shrubs in containers. You have complete control over the soil you use and nipping down to the supermarket you can find the ideal compost, soil, and fertiliser.

You can create the ideal growing conditions for your shrubs and ensure they receive the nutrients they need to thrive.

Protection from pests

The container will protect the plant from many pests and diseases and your plants will be less vulnerable than ground plants to many pests and diseases because of the quality of the soil.

Gardeners also tend to visually check their potted plants more regularly, probably because they tend to be positioned nearer the house or greenhouse. But of course, pests can strike any plant anywhere.

Control the plant

Managing the plant is so much easier when it’s in a pot. You can plant just about any evergreen shrub in a container and get fantastic results. And of course, you can prune the plant to keep it in shape and manageable.

What about the downsides?

Watering

Seems simple enough but as container-grown plants are more susceptible to drying out, you need to keep on top of it. But water too much and you can damage the roots and kill off the foliage. Something you certainly want to avoid on evergreen shrubs.

Roots

Containers will of course restrict the spread of roots. Which is fine in one respect as we don’t want our container plants to grow too large but do be aware your potted evergreen shrubs will not grow as large as those planted in the ground.

Repotting

Every one to two years you may need to repot the plant as it outgrows its original container. Not a hugely disruptive task but nevertheless one that needs to be kept on top of.

Winter risks

In winter you may need to protect your container shrubs from the worst of the weather. They can dry out quickly in cold, wintry conditions so make sure they are kept moist but also make use of horticultural fleece when required.

Choosing the evergreen shrubs for containers

Before looking at specific plants let’s think about the types of evergreen shrubs which are best for containers. What are the factors you should be thinking about?

When choosing evergreen shrubs for containers, there are a couple of main things to consider:

Slow growing

Look for shrubs that are naturally compact and slow-growing. Unsurprisingly, dwarf varieties are ideal for container gardening but you’re not restricted to only potting small shrubs.

Size

Again, not a surprise. But do think about how tall the plant will grow and its spread. Choose a container that is big enough to cope with its growth and don’t forget to factor in the size of the root ball too.

Best evergreen shrubs for containers

We all have our favourites but here’s a few shrubs you may wish to consider for your next container gardening project.

Azalea

One of my personal favourites so I had to include azaleas in this short list. They are of course popular with many gardeners who enjoy their lovely clusters of pink, white, red, and purple flowers. They will look delightful in containers and a few pots with different coloured azaleas will make an eye-catching display.

Heather

Who doesn’t like heather. Perfect for smaller pots anyone, no matter how little space they have, can enjoy colourful heather. With so many different colours to choose from, heathers will show all year round.

Camellia

Such a wonderful plant with their large, brash flowers in beautiful shades of pink, red, and white. These evergreen shrubs prefer well-drained soil so do ensure you regularly check your containers aren’t getting waterlogged.

Aucuba japonica

The spotted laurel, japonica is always one of the most popular evergreen shrubs on the Direct Plants website. They have large, glossy, dark green leaves with speckles of yellow. Japonica is very hardy and easy to grow, making it a great choice for novice and experienced gardeners alike.

Photinias

Such a versatile plant that is often used in mixed borders, photinias make wonderful container plants. With clusters of flowers in spring and berries in autumn they’ll provide the gardener with interest all year round.

Cotoneaster

Another evergreen shrub which produces flowers in spring followed by autumnal berries. A pretty and colourful plant which will look at home in any garden.

Ceanothus

Also known as California lilac, ceanothus is easy to grow and a profusely flowering plant which produces masses of small, fragrant blue flowers in spring.

Ready to garden? Check out all the evergreen shrubs we have available now.