Planting a hanging basket is great fun and gives you a lot of colour and pleasure all summer long. There are a couple of categories of basket. One which I entitle tubs and it really is any solid sided container and the other is the traditional wired basket which is the one that has moss on its sides.
Choose a Container
First up we will look at solid sided hanging tubs and containers. Tubs are so easy to plant, first of all many of them are lined if it’s a solid plastic container in has natural drainage holes as part of it. If it is a cone or a wicker wear sided it is usually lined with plastic the key here is to make sure you’ve got plenty drainage so if it is has a plastic liner container punch a few holes in the bottom of it to make sure that the water drains out, that’s very important.
The other secret is to make sure you get the biggest basket/hanging pot as possible if it is bigger it holds more soil therefore holds more moisture; moisture is key during the summertime to make sure that it doesn’t dry out and damage your plants.
For additional support, it is worth putting a few crocs in, now the words crocs really refers to either gravel or broken pot pieces. This makes sure that the soil doesn’t block the holes which drain out the excess moisture. Adding a few crocs in does a real good job.
Choose your Compost
Next thing to do is choose your compost,it is always best to buy hanging basket or tub or container specific compost as this has good advantages. One it usually contains a wetting agent, this is something within the compost that enables you to water it when it’svery dry,and secondly it has sufficient nutrients to be able to feed the plants as they grow it works pretty well.It’s usually better to pay that little bit extra for compost to really give your plants a good start.
If you want to be clever, to help your watering even more you can add hydration crystals which are little jelly crystals which store moisture or you can put in the base of the basket a water slice. These are available from garden innovations and are a little dry pepperoni slice but it is in fact the polymer, so when you soak it in water it expands into a saucer sized gel that holds in moisture. They are fantastic and help you keep your plants lasting longer on those dry days.
Fill your Container
First of all get hold of your compost and fill your container to about three quarters full. It is always best to remember that when your basket is fully planted there is a least 2 cm depth between the top of the soil and the top of the basket. This helps when watering so you can fill in that 2 cm gap and help it soak through rather than filling it right up to the top with compost and having the water just roll off the surface. The reason that you fill it three quarters of the way full to start with is to make sure that you do not put too much compost in because obviously the root ball on the soil base of the plants your adding are going to fill up the container.
Which Plants to choose
The best thing to do is to choose three categories of plants, one is the upright main central one, two is your trailing plants that come around the outside and three the fillers that really give some volume to the basket.
Classic examples of upright centre plants are Fuchsia’s or Geranium’s; these give that big and tall, bright central colour.
Trailers could be things like Helichrysum or Ivy. Ivy is pretty good because it’s hardy and evergreen so it will give some colour during the autumn/winter months too and more or less becomes a full-time resident of the container. Good trailing plants that just give colour are things like the Lobelia or trailing Geraniums they are brilliant.
Fillers such as Begonia Semperflorens or Busy Lizzie’s add that extra volume and dimension to your basket.
You could of course choose one bulky trailing plant rather than do a mixture, such as trailing Petunia Sufinawhich will fill the whole container on its own and drip down the side and look fantastic.If you are just planting the Sofina trailing option all you need to do is bed the plants in solid together and they well grow and look great.
If you are planting a combination of tall fillers and training it is best to start with your big plant first and here’s a tip when you get hold of the container. If you squeeze the sides it frees the roots and the separates the plant from the container easily for you to tease the pot off.
Move the soil around the outside push the main central plant in and then move the soil back around the plant and get ready to put in your trailers and follow the same principle tease the plant out and put 3 to 4 trailers into the container. Then fill in with your mid-plants and firm well in.
Again top up the compost making sure you have at least a couple of centimetres at the top to help you with you watering and then give it a good soak. What normally happens here is the compost compresses itself down a bit due to the weight of the water so you can top up with a little bit more compost.
Where to place your Container
With a lot of these flowering plants it is best to position them in a sunny position to make sure that they maximise with perpetual flowering.I find it is best to liquid feed your plants during the growing season.
It’s as simple as that; great results with very little effort.
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