It is an old debate among gardeners: a square hole or a round one? I don’t think it makes an enormous difference but, in a pot, this question has much bigger ramifications in terms of design rather than plant health. And the options are not just round or square but oblong, cylindrical, hexagonal, octagonal, triangular, short and wide, long and thin . . . The choice is yours, but it pays to think about it in advance if you want a cohesive design.
ROUND
Most containers tend to be round (for example, urns), but they can be subtly varied in shape, perhaps cylindrical or bowl-shaped. If you want to change things up, here are a few ideas on how to maximize the impact of round containers.
•Round containers look particularly good when displayed en masse. Round pots are some of the easiest to arrange in large displays and lend themselves to being positioned in corners or in circles.
•Place a large round pot at the center of a circular piece of concrete or deck or slightly off-center in a circular feature in your yard or garden.
•Arrange a few pots in a spiral or sprawling cluster; they look particularly nice if you use pots of varying sizes, with the largest positioned at the back.
•Generally, circular pots give a slightly rustic look, so they work well in a cottage-garden-style design or something a little more traditional, unless they are cylindrical or columnar, in which case they can create a striking statement.
It is hard to make square pots look haphazard, and they can be untidy-looking unless they are lined up perfectly, either in a diamond formation, as a bigger square, or in a straight line. For this reason, it can also be hard to combine square and round pots in the same space.
For a more modern-looking design, use square containers. To show them off at their best, try one of these ideas.
•Make them a stand-alone feature in your garden.
•They can be fantastic when placed alongside other square pots, either with a little separation between each container, such as four or five spaced evenly along a wall, or positioned right up against each other to make a continuous line of containers, which also can be used to create a boundary or pathway.
•Complement their modern look by using architectural plants in a simple planting scheme.
•Use them in a highly formal garden or something with an Italianate twist. They look equally good in an incredibly simple design, such as a Scandinavian or minimalist look.
This shape is a common type of floor planter and also frequently used on walls and windowsills. Troughs look good and also serve as raised beds of sorts, housing many plants and maximizing productivity. Here are a few ideas to make simple look sensational!
•Troughs make wonderful temporary or movable hedges, planted either with shrubs or less traditional hedging plants. Try using grasses, such as Miscanthus giganteus, or even sweet corn as a see-through hedge.
•Troughs are fantastic along a boundary or border to define the edges, or they can work as screens along the edges of windows or balconies or to hide unsightly parts of the yard, such as a compost area or shed.
•A small, narrow trough is a great option for a windowsill if you have limited space.
•As well as being placed on the ground, troughs can sit on any other hard surface, such as the top of a wall, if properly secured.
•Brighten up the bottom of a boring wall with colorfully planted troughs.
•Use troughs to create pathway edges in the yard or to separate certain areas of the garden.
•Use troughs not in a neat line, but staggered for dramatic effect, especially if planted with something tall and architectural.
