Hanging Baskets maximise space and give this garden an extra vertical dimension. What a riot of colour!

Hanging Basket Tips

Hanging baskets make a wonderful addition to small gardens or even the outside of buildings where no garden space is available. The downside is that they are quite labour intensive. The upside is that they can offer a riot of colour throughout the summer and can brighten up a bare wall considerably. Also, the summer daily routine of watering can be quite an enjoyable feature – as long as you don’t have too many!

In fact that is one important tip for using hanging baskets – make sure you have a manageable number you can keep to a regular watering and feeding routine.

Making a Hanging Basket

• The type of basket depends primarily on preference. The traditional make is based on a simple wire frame. There are also synthetic plastic models available which can be nice.
• Note, the bigger the basket the easier it will be to water and feed.
• For the base choose the traditional moss or a manufactured hanging basket liner. These will keep the compost in place and allow excess water to escape.
• Choose a good compost that can retain moisture and is relatively free draining. Peat is the best, though there are increasingly alternatives for those worried about environmental damage of using peat.
• Mix some water storing capsules into the compost. This will help reduce the frequency of watering by storing some water that gets added.

These small hanging baskets are a very nice feature. But, the small the basket is, the easier it is to dry out so extra care is needed with watering.

Tomorrow – the art of watering hanging baskets

Related

• Hanging Baskets at Amazon
• Hanging Baskets at Thompson & Morgan