Hi As I had some great advice here at the RHS forum re another conifer plant-out issue - Goldcrest Cupressus conifers: will this plant (1 or more) fit in our size of ceramic planter? - as I still have those Goldrest cupressus left over i.e. not yet in use, I have another query I hope I can have help with. Here are both the long ,-) & the short versions of that query!: (1) THE SHORT VERSION : Can I plant out a conifer - Goldrest cupressus - in its pot in the ground, & have it thrive healthily? i.e. 'bury' the pot under the soil in a garden border. I am sure I read somewhere about this idea & that is an OK thinkg to do with ?some/?all plants, to restrict root growth & thus to stop the plant growing wildly our of control e.g. too big for the location it is put in. (2) THE LONG ,-) VERSION : We have some scrubby old hebes that really need to be replaced in a small (long & narrow) border, & I was thinking of replacing them with a few buxus [or is that "buxi"?!?! ,-) ]. But then I realised I have several spare Goldrest conifers that really need a good home. And that this location of a thin garden border would at least have them planted out. At the moment they're thriving in the pots just as when purchased, but at some time they're going to look a bit the worse for wear. And there is nowhere to plant them in our garden where they can be left to grow to their potential height. I am aware this particular conifer can grow to be a giant over several decades. Ours cites to "5ft x 3ft" (as per the plant suppliers' label that I have just found). So we need to keep the conifers small, hence the pots-under-the-ground idea. They don't need to grow very tall, as the border to be used is only approx. 1.5ft wide, & if they get too big they will overshadow etc. the garden. They are currently in a plastic pot of approx. 13cm/5in. Presumably that's too small to stay in long-term &/or under the soil, & will throttle it?! Or am I wrong in this? (Much as with our last query [see the URL above], we just need the plant to thrive well & NOT give up the fight to survive in the given location. I hate the idea of killing a plant in this way.) Is there a particular size of pot in which I should bury them under the soil, in order for them to thrive; i.e. do I need a larger pot? And will a plastic pot eventually split underground so should I replace it with a pot of a more durable/sturdy type (perhaps clay or some such)? All help appreciated by this relative newbie to gardening! :-)
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