Making up Hanging Baskets

Hanging baskets have their place in the summer garden. They can be a lot of work though if you don’t have a watering system, but don’t let that put you off, it can be a lovely meditative job on a summers evening caring for them.

Making up your own Hanging Baskets
To get started you will need the following: A basket, basket liner or moss, plants, slow release fertilizer granules and some water retaining granules (optional).

• First rest the basket onto a bucket or pot for a good base when working.
• Water the plants and soil.
• Insert the liner I used coco fibre liners last year; they have holes already in the sides, which saved me having to use my brain to get the plants evenly spaced. If you are using moss, then line the basket to halfway up the sides.
• There are no fixed rules on plants to use, but you won’t go far wrong putting three or six plants (or clumps if you use Lobelia) through the side of the basket. Trailing plants also look effective. Then line the moss to the top of the basket and fill with compost.
• Add slow release fertilizer granules and moisture retaining granules if needed.
• Put a tall plant in the centre, such as a begonia or a pelargonium (geranium) and lower growing plants around it. If using trailing plants on the top of the basket, put them 6cm (2in) from the edge. They will fill out nicely by the time they trail over the edge of the basket. If you do buy the plants from the garden centres it is still early days for annual plants. Harden them off for a few days in a sheltered spot before you plant them up
• Once planted, water thoroughly, allow to soak, and then water again. Protect from strong sunlight for a few days and take them in if there is a frost or a very cold wind like we had last week. Deadhead the flowers regularly and water them frequently (They will need watering even if the weather is cloudy and wet in summer) and an organic liquid feed when the plants look as though they need perking up.

Tip- If you use moss peat and the basket does dry out, no amount of watering will wet the inside of the soil. Take down the basket and place it in a large container full of water, leave it until it is just about to sink, then pull it out. This sounds drastic, but it will save the plants! Alternatively you could use a John Innes soil based compost or mix some weed free garden soil into your peat. This will soak up the water without resorting to drowning the baskets in a bucket.

Plants for the Baskets
Choose plants that have a long flowering season to get the best out of the basket. Whichever plants you choose remember that they have been grown indoors and they will need a bit of protection against the elements for the first few days, so put them in a sheltered spot for a day or two. Try filling the basket with just one type of plant for a dramatic effect. Busy Lizzies; fuchsias or geraniums give a brilliant display until the first frosts. Avoid plants such as nemesia unless you can grow new plants at regular intervals as they only flower for a short period. Here are a few on offer that I found to be reliable in baskets: Ajuga ,Bidens, Begonia,Brachycome.,Cineraria maritime, Fuchsias,Geranium, Golden Creeping Jenny,Helichrysum , Ivy leaf- geraniums, Ivy varieties,Nasturtium ,Pansies,Petunia,Purple heuchera and Verbena.

Care of the Basket
Hanging baskets are very demanding things. Unless you have a very reliable relation, friend or neighbour you will not get a holiday in summer. Even on the driest days they will need watering at least twice a day. If you have a lot of baskets then you might like to consider a self-watering system. This will drip feed your baskets at a set time throughout the day and night by means of a twenty-four hour timer. For a regular house you could fit one of these systems for as little as €200 euro or less. You will be free all summer and the plants would thrive. A small price to pay I think.

When you fit the basket to the wall or a post, remember that they are heavy when full of water. Check the brackets are in good condition and that the chains are strong. The baskets can come down with a mighty bump.

If you do let the basket dry out then they are impossible to water in the normal manner, as the water will just run off the surface. Take the basket down and put it into a large container full of water. Leave it long enough until the basket starts to sink and pull it out. The basket is now fully watered.

Even if the basket has slow release fertiliser in it you will be well advised to still feed the plants at regular intervals. There just isn’t the soil in the containers to meet the need of all the plants. I find organic tomato feed as good as anything as it promotes flowering.