Hanging Baskets

Gardening Basics

There are many different types of hanging basket on the market today from wire ones to ones that are actual wicker baskets. The type of basket you buy will influence how you must treat it.

There are many products you can buy to hold back the compost. Water absorbent felts and matting specially designed for the job work well as you can easily cut slits in them to insert plants. They come in a wide range of natural colous to suit all tastes.

Traditionally moss was used, and if you happen to have a wall that's covered in good thick spongy moss that you want to get rid of, then it's just as good.

Obviously you should never take moss, or any other plant, from the wild so as not to destroy a natural habitat. Only consider using your own if you really were going to destroy it anyway.

If you do plan on using moss make sure you remove it from the rocks very carefully and in the largest pieces you can so they won't fall through the gaps in the basket, and don't allow it to dry out.

If your hanging basket has a pretty wicker finish on the outside then you don't need felt or moss. All you need is something to stop the water washing straight through and taking the compost with it. You can buy special plastic liners that last for years, but these are expensive. A good alternative is a strong black dustbin bag with drainage holes poked in the bottom.

To make up your basket have ready everything you are going to need. This is likely to include the basket, a bucket (or something to stand the basket on while you work on it), felt or moss, a sharp knife and compost.

Keep the plants somewhere cool and out of the sun until you are ready to use them if you are working outside in summer. If you have a good memory and are going to remember to water your basket at least every day in the high summer then you could go for any decent compost, maybe with some slow release fertiliser added so you don't have to think about feeding as well. If you're not sure you will remember, or wish to go away for a couple of days and don't entirely trust your neighbours to water your plants, then it would be a good idea to invest in some special hanging basket compost and/or some water-retentive gel.

Make sure your basket is stable in its bucket so that it doesn't roll all over the place, and carefully lay your felt/moss inside making sure the inside of the basket is covered up to the top and there are no gaps in the felt/moss.

If you're using felt then it will likely be already cut. If it's not, push it into the basket and weight it there with a rock.

Next, press it up against the sides of the wire, following the curve of the basket. The felt will fold as it's pressed up to the sides but don't worry about this and don't bother trying to mark the folds. You will be able see where each fold is by where the circle breaks when you unfold the felt later.

When the felt is folded into the basket, use a marker pen to draw on the felt around the top of the basket.

Lay the felt flat and you will see a vaguely circular broken line (this is represented by the black in the picture right).

Cut this circle out an inch or so above your marked line (as shown in red in the picture right). Cutting the felt slightly larger means that any mistakes in marking can be corrected later. Once the basket is filled just cut off the remainder.

Make cuts in the felt towards the center (also shown in red in the picture), being careful not to let them meet. The piece should come away whole.

Place the felt back in the basket so that each of the flaps overlap neatly. Leave any final trimming until the basket is filled.

If you plan on having some plants coming out of the side of the hanging basket as well as the top then these need to be planted first.

Obviously you can only do this if you have a wire basket with large enough holes to poke the plants through.

Fill the basket up to the level where you want the side plants. Use a sharp knife to cut a slit in the felt large enough to get the plants through, soil first. Once the plant is in place, replace the felt so that it fits snuggly round its stem close to the base.

Fill the basket up to the top with compost once all the side plants are in and plant the top growth carefully so as not to disturb the side plants.

Once finished water thoroughly and hang up in a cool place out of direct sunlight if it is a hot day. The next morning hang it in its final place and keep the compost moist at all times, especially whilst the plants are establishing (spreading their roots and settling in).

The hardest part of any container growing is the after care.

Container plants, especially hanging baskets are entirely at your mercy, if you don't feed them they won't grow very much and if you don't water them they will die. If you don't put them somewhere safe, away from strong winds, they will blow all over the garden and all the hard work, money and time will have gone to waste.

On the positive side this care and maintenance need not be seen as a chore and given just a few minutes each day the hanging basket will give months of pleasure.

For more on gardening with pots and containers see Container Gardening.