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landscape designGardens
sarah_unwinsuter

Planting advice for an old tin bath

Sarah U-S
3 years ago

Hi, I’ve recently acquired a gorgeous old tin bath and was looking for planting suggestions. It’s 85cm long by 65cm wide but only 35cm deep. I’m looking for a long term scheme and not annual bedding. I love roses and hydrangeas and have several in pots - but all are deeper than this. I like typical cottage garden colours - pinks, purples and whites. I was looking at the Flower Carpet Rose as it says it is happy in a wide container, but not sure if the depth is still too shallow? Any ideas gratefully received. Thanks.

Featured Answer
  • E D
    3 years ago

    Here’s ours, patiently waiting for it to be turned into a planter.

    For now it functions as a ‘plant feed’ container, being filled with last autumn’s fallen leaves and rainwater. 😊




    Comments (16)

    • Sonia
      3 years ago

      That tub is just my kind of thing! I have two in my garden. One has a Camellia in it and the other smaller one has a hardy fuchsia in it. The fuchsia looks a bit lonely so I could do with a few more in it! Roses tend to have very long tap roots so need a deeper pot maybe? I think those tubs look best full of frothy perennials in them rather than shrubs, although ground covering roses such as The Fairy or Laura Ashley look good if their roots aren’t too deep.

    • Sarah U-S
      Original Author
      3 years ago

      Huge thanks Sonia. That first image is gorgeous - is that one of yours, and do you know wheat everything is in it? You mentioned having a camellia in one of yours and I was wondering how deep the tub is??
      I’ve got a gorgeous David Austin rose in a dolly tub - but it’s much, much deeper. Have you got any ground covering roses? I also love the last image - is that the Fairy?

    • Sonia
      3 years ago

      No that image is not mine, sadly. Mine has one little, only just emerging, fuchsia in it! I need to plant more in it! I have the Laura Ashley ground cover rose in the ground but it’s still only in bud so not much to see except a load of leaves, the flowers are similar to the second pic. The last picture is Pink The Fairy. The original The Fairy is a pale pink but still very pretty. Here’s my Laura Ashley rose in bud waiting to open!

    • Sarah U-S
      Original Author
      3 years ago

      Ooh - I’ve just googled the Laura Ashley Rose - very pretty!!
      I have quite a few David Austin’s, but know very little about any others!

    • Sarah U-S
      Original Author
      3 years ago

      ED - what are you thinking of planting?

    • E D
      3 years ago

      Sorry, I have no idea. This kind of decisions is left to my OH! 😉

    • PRO
      Gerbera Designs (Garden Design)
      3 years ago

      If it doesn't have holes in it it would make a great pond!

    • Sonia
      3 years ago

      Sarah I just thought what about Osteospermums? Perennials that some up every year and come in lots of gorgeous colours.

    • Sarah U-S
      Original Author
      3 years ago

      They’re gorgeous!
      I’ve got various cuttings on the go of Erysimum Bowles Mauve, lavenders and various dianthus - so maybe they would all work together...

    • Sonia
      3 years ago

      Sounds lovely.

    • PRO
      User
      3 years ago

      I would fill this with a mixture of cottage garden plants such as alchemilla mollis, erigeron karvinskianus, geranium 'Mrs Kendall Clark', euphorbia characias and perhaps ornamental grasses such as stipa tenuissima and anemanthele lessoniana. Gorgeous container! Where did you purchase it from?

    • Sarah U-S
      Original Author
      3 years ago

      Ooh thanks for the suggestions! I’ve got lots of geraniums, but not heard of that one, so will look it up! I picked this beauty up from eBay - you have to be careful as lots of people put huge prices on them, however I was really lucky to get one locally from a fab couple at a reasonable price.

    • HU-284488465
      3 years ago

      I also have a tin bath which belonged to my grandparents and which I would like to use as a planter. However I am worried about it deteriorating any further, should I coat it with something before using it?

    • Sarah U-S
      Original Author
      3 years ago

      Hi - I have a confession - I still haven’t planted mine (job for late spring!). However, I did plant up a large galvanised bucket, and it looks great. To do this I had to drill drainage holes (easier said than done - I nearly burnt out the drill!). I then gave the inside and the bottom a couple of coats of hammerite paint, paying attention to the holes. It’s now a few years down the line, and it seems to be holding out well and no sign of rusting.

    • HU-284488465
      3 years ago

      Thanks for the Hammerite idea, will get some at the weekend 👍

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