Hanging About

Hanging Baskets by Rachel Vogan

View our hanging baskets Slide Show here for more colourful images.

I adore hanging baskets; they brighten and accentuate key areas of your home and garden. And just quietly if you place them cleverly they draw the eye away from areas of the garden or home that may not be so attractive, a bit like woman’s accessories. With careful planning you can have your baskets looking great all year round. Choose plants, which will survive in your area.

Hanging baskets are not restricted just to flowers. My favorite combination is actually edible; I plant Strawberries and parsley with nasturtiums. I love this combination as I can often pick a ripe strawberry to pop into a fresh glass of bubbles in the summer - cheers! Tailor your plant colours to the tones of your home if you like or if you are feeling brave, choose contrasting bold colours to make a statement. Let your imagination run wild.

Remember, hanging baskets need more attention to watering than other containers. This is because they have air movement all around them, so more water is required to replace that which is lost through evaporation.

To get started, firstly choose a basket and liner that you like, choose a larger rather than smaller container and liner. Plant selection is important, select plants that will survive where you want to hang your baskets, if your spot is sunny, windy or in the shade choose plants that happily grow in these positions. Now it’s all about the potting mix, talking about dirt, soil or compost always seems to make people yawn, but if its success you want you need to invest in the right sort of potting mix to ensure your plants pack the punch you want them too. Look for specific hanging basket or container potting mix. All good garden centres carry a range of these. My favourite is Pot Power; it has all the goodies in it that make up for the odd time I may forget to water my baskets. If you already have potting mix at home then you can add water storing agents such as Saturaid and extra fertilizer to what you already have and blend it in.

Before planting soak your plants in a bucket of water. Fill your basket with potting mix and water prior to planting. If your potting mix is dry and dusty, discard it to the compost heap and start again with some new mix, it’s important your potting mix can hold onto moisture to enable your plants to survive.

I often fall into the trap of over planting; this gives me big headaches over the summer months as the baskets become over crowded and hard to water. I take my baskets down on days when there is a gentle rain falling, and let them get a good soaking for a day or two. There are not too many tricks in hanging baskets other than keeping them well watered. If you are going away for a long weekend or holiday ask your neighbours to water them for you – or leave them inside in the bath for a few days with a little water.

Plants for hanging baskets

Annual Flowering Plants
Alyssum, Sweet Peas, Impatiens, Lobelia, Nasturtium, Pansies, and ground cover Petunias

Perennial favourites
Colourwave Verbenas, Colourwave Petunias, Helichrysum "Limelight", Ivy Geranium, Ivy, Prostrate Rosemary, Bacopa White & Pink, Veronica Oxford Blue

Edible baskets
Strawberry, Parsley - curly is best, Carpet Thyme or Pizza Thyme, Nasturtium, Tumbling tom Tomato, Peas, Frilly lettuce.