Pots & Planters

The range divides into garden planters for outside and indoor plant pots for the house. Outdoors, terracotta and stone weather into the space and suit period gardens; polystone and fibreclay give the same visual weight at a fraction of the actual weight, which matters on a roof terrace or a balcony with a load limit. Indoors, most pots are covers rather than planters: the plant stays in its nursery pot and the cover does the decorative work.

Whatever the material, drainage decides whether a plant lives. A container with nowhere for water to go stays saturated after a wet London winter, and roots rot. Where a decorative pot has no hole, use a liner or keep the plant in its own pot inside. Pot feet lift a container clear of the ground so water drains away rather than sitting underneath and freezing. Use potting compost rather than garden soil, which compacts once it is confined.

A pot only slightly larger than the root ball suits most plants; a much larger one holds more water than young roots can use. Large containers dry out more slowly than small ones and are far more stable on an exposed terrace.