Yes, big pots and their weight is always an issue!
I fill my larger pots with anything from the recycle bin - cans, plastic bottles, etc. About 1/3 of the bottom with the ‘space fillers’ and then the rest with a good potting mix. I like the Miracle Grow brand, or Walmart also sells an ‘Expert’ brand that is just about as good and a lot cheaper. Don’t fill them with garden soil; they need something lighter.
Make sure the pots have good drainage; the pot caddies will help with that. I put mine up on bricks for drainage - they won’t drain properly if they are flat on the ground or the cement patio. I put a coffee filter over any drainage holes and that keeps the dirt in, yet lets the water out. So, coffee filter, ‘space fillers’ then, potting mix.
...and fertilize, fertilize, fertilize anything you’re growing in pots. Plants that are ‘pot bound’ use up all the nutrients in the soil quickly. With pots you’re usually watering once or twice a day (in the Summer heat) so I always add a lesser dose of water soluble fertilizer to my watering can every time I water. You can also add granular fertilizer to the soil when you’re planting - something like Osmocote brand is good. It releases fertilizer slowly over the season.
Here’s a bunch of great ‘pot filling’ ideas, too:
https://singlegirlsdiy.com/how-to-fill-the-bottom-of-a-large-planter/
Thanks! We have plenty of plastic bottles, etc. we could use for pot filler. I have quite a few pieces of landscape fabric scraps I could use over the drain holes or even use between plastic fillers.
I am sure we’ll need to move/rotate the pots around the patio, plus, being able to move them, I can keep the slate washed off under the pots.
My native monarda has taken off - I can’t believe the difference between last year & this year! It’s huge - looking for those first purple blooms! The red one is still very small, but looks healthy. My baby boxwoods I planted February a year ago have grown at least 6 inches. We were thinking of transplanting them around the front porch at the new place, but I do believe they’re too big now for me to move. My brother in VB and SIL next door both have asked for the boxwoods so they’ll probably end up with a new home & avoid a bulldozer fate unless someone wants to dig them up for me.
Oh boy ... just got pics from the great-nieces ... they now have baby goats! No further info like names, bucks/does, breed, etc. yet. I suspect they are in for a LOT of adventures with those goats!
I have always filled my big container pots with a couple of flakes of straw, compressed. Soil on top with compost. By the time they are ready to be dumped the straw has rotted nicely.
I went to the garden center today, the one I really like but is the furthest away from me. They always have the best stuff, very healthy. I tried hard to behave, and did pretty well until I saw a purple queen bougainvillea, offered as a hanging basket or in a container with a small trellis to climb. Actually the ones as a trellis were a very dull purple, not the vibrant color of the hanging basket. I succumbed. I have wanted one for many years, even though I know it will be very hard to overwinter inside my house. So I’m going to just enjoy the heck out of it this season, and if it hangs on through the winter, that’ll be a bonus. I’m not sure I will leave it as a hanging basket, but I might. It’s just beautiful. When something brings you this much joy, it’s hard to turn it away. I hope I don’t kill it right away.