Pots Bursting with Berries for the Birds

Pots Bursting with Berries for the Birds

When we watch the seasons change we notice the leaves changing colour before fluttering to the floor and creating the crisp natural carpet we all love (when it's not raining).
We notice the shift in temperature as Summer clothes are swapped for scarves and jackets, but do we notice the activity of wildlife around us?
The squirrels hurriedly harvesting and preparing for the Winter alongside the birds, making their nests cosy and safe and searching for food, like berries.
Abundant on shrubs and trees this time of year and something you can grow in pots in your garden, the berries not only add seasonal interest but support wildlife as we head into Winter. 
Berries add that much coveted splash of colour to our gardens and the shrubs and trees on which they grow can thrive superbly in pots and containers. 
In true Tom's Yard style, we have provided you with our ultimate favourite plants,  guaranteed to produce the glossiest, most spectacular berries during Autumn and Winter bringing a feast for the wildlife and much needed glow to your garden. 

 

Traditional red berry varieties

There is something heart-warming about the evergreen shrubs with their bright red berries. I think it's the sense of Christmas they exude, reminiscent of crisp Winter walks with the holly lining the woodlands. Such a magical thought isn't it, well there are lots of varieties of this kind of shrub that would work brilliantly in large pots at home. Varieties such as:

  • Gaultheria procumbens 'Big Berry'
  • Ilex Aquifolium or Holly
  • Nandina domestica
  • Red Column Pyracantha (Best placed away from doors and paths - Ouch!)

Each one boasts glossy green leaves and vibrant red berries that not only look amazing but offer a vital food source to our feathered friends, the birds. 

 

 Buy Nandina domestica 'Richmond' | Heavenly Bamboo | Sarah Raven

 

A Vibrant Choice - Euonymus europaeus 'Red Cascade' (also known as Spindle!)

Not an evergreen varieties but look at those berries! I know you're here to read about berries for the garden but it is worth mentioning how striking the Spindle Tree is a whole. It will thrive in full sun or partial shade, has small green flowers through the Summer followed by these vibrant and fun pinky orange fruits which remain on the plant long after the last scarlet oval leaf has dropped to the ground. 

Euonymus europaeus 'Red Cascade' | Frank P Matthews

 

 Purple Delights 

The Callicarpa varieties certainly win the purple berries category with flying colours. Beautyberry by name and I think it is easy to see why with varieties such as Callicarpa bodinieri 'Profusion' and 'Pearl Glam'.

 Buy Callicarpa bodinieri var. giraldii 'Profusion' (Beauty Berry) in the UK

 

We hope you are feeling inspired by our Tom's Yard Top Choices for shrubs bursting with berries but if you need a little more inspiration check out our article on growing trees in pots and containers which covers further gorgeous varieties that host berries during the Autumn and Winter months. 

Don't forget that whilst slow growing, shrubs need large containers to really thrive. We wouldn't recommend anything smaller than a 45cm diameter and think that our Tom's Yard Medium Tapered Cretan Terracotta Planter would be a perfect vessel to any of the shrubs we've mentioned. 

Tapered Cretan Terracotta Planters – Tom's Yard (tomsyard.co.uk)

— Gem Willis
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