Right pot, right place

Whatever size your garden, containers are likely to feature. Tulips packed into big oak barrels look fabulous even among rolling acres: and if all you have is a handkerchief-sized yard, pots are your garden in Surrey.

Choose with care from the extensive range in our garden centre so the right pot is in the right place. Here are a few tips:

A few larger pots are better than lots of little ones: large pots make a great statement and have a greater volume of compost so need less watering.

Choose the pot to suit your situation: lightweight plastic is more sensible than weighty terracotta on roof gardens; and match pots to their environment. Modernist planters sit uncomfortably in a rural idyll.

Theme your containers: decide your style from the start: modernist metal, or traditional terracotta? Painted ceramic or warm wood? If all your containers follow a single theme it pulls your display together.

Choose the container to fit your plants: Shallow-rooted salads, herbs and flowers thrive in as little as 15cm of soil, so are happy in trays, windowboxes and troughs. Save big, roomy pots for hefty bananas or container-grown fruit trees.

Please ask the staff in our Surrey garden centre for more information and advice about choosing containers for your garden.