A Six-Container Patio Planting Plan

What this is, and isn’t

A worked example, not a documented trial — six real crops, combined into one layout, using the container sizes, light needs and sowing windows already checked elsewhere on this site (see the linked articles and Grow Finder throughout). It’s a suggested plan for a first patio season, not a claim that this exact six-container combination has been grown and measured as one project.

Built for a genuinely average UK patio: a paved or slabbed area with at least 3-4 hours of direct sun for part of the day, and enough floor space for six containers with room to walk between them.

The layout

Basil (6) sits closest to the tomato (1) on purpose — a well-documented companion pairing (see Companion Planting) — while carrots and salad, both more shade-tolerant, sit at the far end where the wall’s direct sun is slightly less consistent through the day.

The six containers

#	Crop	Container	Light needed
1	Bush tomatoes	Large — 35cm+ pot or grow bag	High — 6+ hours direct sun
2	Courgette (1 plant)	Large — 35cm+ pot	High — 6+ hours direct sun
3	Dwarf/bush beans	Medium — 20-35cm pot	Medium
4	Short/stump-rooted carrots	Medium — 20-35cm pot, at least 25-30cm deep	Medium
5	Cut-and-come-again salad	Small — under 20cm, or a shallow trough	Low — tolerates shade
6	Basil	Small — under 20cm pot	High — 6+ hours direct sun

These aren’t arbitrary — they’re the same container tiers used throughout Grow Finder’s crop data, cross-checked against the dedicated container guide for tomatoes (which goes into materials and depth-versus-width in more detail than this plan needs) and the root-vegetable container guide for why carrots specifically need real depth, not just width.

Sowing and planting schedule

Crop	Sow	Notes
Bush tomatoes	February-April (indoors)	Plant out after last frost, typically late May in most of the UK
Courgette	April-June	Direct sow outdoors from May, or start indoors in April
Dwarf/bush beans	May-June	Direct sow once frost risk has passed
Carrots (stump-rooted)	March-July	Several short sowings beat one big one
Cut-and-come-again salad	March-September	Resow every 2-3 weeks for continuous cuts
Basil	April-July	Keep off cold windowsills and away from draughts until truly warm

Cross-check against the full UK Sowing Calendar for exact windows by month, and adjust a week or two either way for a particularly early or late spring locally.

Succession: keeping all six containers working

Salad (5) and the first carrot sowing (4) are both finished, or close to it, well before summer ends — that’s the two containers to resow rather than leave bare:

• After the first salad cut-out (roughly 6-8 weeks in): resow salad again, or switch that container to a second carrot sowing.
• After the first carrot harvest: a second, later carrot sowing (up to July) or a quick salad crop before autumn.

Tomato, courgette, beans and basil run for the full season and aren’t practical to succession-crop in the same container within one summer.

Watering and feeding

Six containers on a patio dry out at different rates depending on size and material — see how much water container vegetables actually need for why a fixed schedule is the wrong approach, and check compost moisture directly instead. The two large containers (tomato, courgette) will need checking most often in hot weather, potentially daily; the small herb and salad containers dry out fastest relative to their size despite needing less water in total.

All six will need feeding once the compost’s own built-in feed runs out, typically 4-6 weeks in.

Materials

• 6 containers in the sizes above (2 large, 2 medium, 2 small) — plastic or fabric grow bags dry out slower than terracotta, worth knowing before choosing
• Peat-free multi-purpose compost — enough to fill all six at their stated size, plus a bit extra for topping up over the season
• A stake or support for the tomato plant
• Drainage material (broken crockery or coarse gravel) for the base of each container

What this costs

Deliberately not put a number on this: pot prices vary enormously by material and size, compost prices vary by brand and bag size, and how much of each you need depends on exactly which containers you choose. What actually drives the cost is container material (plastic is cheapest, terracotta and glazed ceramic cost more) and total compost volume (roughly the sum of the six containers’ fill volumes) — price those two against your local garden centre or online supplier rather than trusting a number here that can’t reflect current prices.

What to actually expect from the harvest

Also deliberately cautious here: yield depends heavily on variety, weather, and how consistently the containers get watered and fed, and this plan hasn’t been run and measured as one project. What can be said with more confidence, because it’s backed by the crop data and articles linked throughout: courgette is “genuinely prolific once fruiting starts” once a single plant gets going, salad and carrots give real but modest repeat harvests from small containers, and tomato and beans are both crops where picking discipline (regular harvesting) measurably affects how much you actually get.

Adapting for less sun

Under 4 hours of direct sun, swap the high-light slots: courgette and basil in particular struggle without real sun, while salad, carrots and chives (a reasonable basil substitute in a shadier spot) tolerate it far better — see full sun vs partial shade for what reduced light actually costs a fruiting crop like tomatoes specifically, and north-facing balcony? here’s what will actually grow for a fuller shade-tolerant shortlist.

Frost and season caveats

Everything in slots 1-3 and 6 is frost-tender — don’t plant out before your local last-frost date, typically mid-to-late May across most of the UK but genuinely later in colder or more exposed areas. Carrots and salad are hardier and more forgiving of a slightly earlier or later start.