HINTS & TIPS - PLANTING HANGING BASKETS & CONTAINERS

Planting hanging basket & containers

Hanging baskets & containers add a whole new dimension to gardening, helping to utilise all the available space. With hanging baskets you can brighten up a sunny wall, or with the right choice of plants, even add colour to those tricky shady areas. You can also grow fresh herbs throughout the winter with an indoor basket next to a sunny window!

When to plant hanging baskets & containers

If you have a greenhouse or can provide frost protection for your plants, then you can start planting up baskets & containers in April. This will allow the plants to reach full flowering size early in the season. If you don't have any means of frost protection then baskets and containers are best planted up in early summer after the risk of frost has passed. Alternatively planted hanging baskets and containers can be placed in a sheltered position outdoors during the day and brought under cover at night until the risk of frost has passed.

Lining hanging baskets

The traditional mesh hanging basket is made of plastic-coated wires although solid plastic hanging baskets are available. Wire hanging baskets require a liner to hold in the compost and plants. There are many types of liner available although the most inexpensive and versatile is sheet plastic, which can be cut to size and disguised by placing in a layer of straw or hessian before lining.

Plants ideas for hanging baskets

• Begonia fibrous (e.g.  Organdy )
• Bidens
• Busy Lizz
• Trailing Carnation (e.g. Fontaine )
• Fuchsia
• Trailing Fuchsia
• Bedding Geranium (e.g. Pelargoniums )
• Trailing Geranium (e.g.  Balcon )
• Lobelia
• Trailing Petunia
• Trailing Sweet Pea
• Trailing Verbena.

Planting hanging baskets

1. Start by placing your empty hanging basket on a bucket so it is held firmly in place whilst you add the plants.

2. Adjust your chosen liner so it fits the basket snugly. Trim off any excess material that protrudes above the rim. Using sharp scissors make a series of 5cm (2 inch) slits in the sides of the basket liner to accommodate trailing plants. The trailing plants will eventually fill out and mask the wire frame. If the basket is deep enough, two layers of slits can be placed around the basket.

3. Create a compost mix by adding 20% perlite to a multi-purpose compost. It is also a good idea to mix in some   water-retaining granules & slow-release fertiliser   to prevent baskets drying out quickly, and to feed plants through the summer season.

4. Fill your basket with the compost mix until it is level with the first layer of slits and gently firm the compost down.

5. Insert your trailing plants by pushing the plants ‘head-first' from the inside through the slits. To protect delicate young growth, try wrapping your plant loosely in polythene whilst you guide them through the holes; once the plant is in position with the root ball resting on the compost and the leaves on the outside, remove the polythene.

6. Continue to plant until all the slits have been filled, and then gently tease out the roots of the plants. Add more compost and work it around the roots of the plants until the basket is almost full – leave a 5cm (2 inch) gap below the rim.

7. Plant further trailing plants around the rim – try and plant them so they grow in between the plants below. Choose a bushy upright plant for the centre. Fill in around the roots with further compost mix; aiming to keep the soil surface an inch below the rim of the basket to prevent compost spilling out when watering.

8. To finish, water your hanging basket thoroughly with a fine-rose watering can and stand it in a greenhouse to grow on. If you don't have a greenhouse and your basket contains half-hardy plants, you will need to bring your basket under cover each evening to protect the plants from frost.

Winter & Spring hanging baskets

Hanging baskets and containers don't just have to be on display for the summer, they are just as effective in brightening up a winter or spring garden. Good perennial plants for winter hanging baskets and containers include dwarf conifers, Euonymus, dwarf Hebes, Cordylines and   Heuchera, which are all good for structure.