Flowers and plants

Hanging baskets

This page contains following subjects:

• Introduction
• Use
• Care
• Some species

Introduction

For a nice decoration in the garden of by the house a basket with annuals is ideal. This flowery plant combination has its roots in England. For many years it is very popular around the country. Hanging baskets are a nice welcome by your front door, in the garden, on a pergola or architrave, on the balcony or in fact suitable for many places. When you make a good combination of plants and you take care for the basket you will be surprised who rich it will flower during whole summer.
Hanging baskets originally are baskets for outside. But we also see them filled with house plants, ferns and so on.

A hanging basket is as told on many places suitable. You must keep in mind a basket with damp soil and plants in it can be heavy. You must take care for a very good and stable place to hang the basket.
There are baskets made of metal, plastisized metal wire, plastic and you also can use a real basked. There are several models for sale. The size is depending who many plants you want to put in the basket and how much space they need to grow. For the easy gardener there also are prepared sets for sale.
Mix the soil with about 25 till 30 % clay. This keeps the water and let the plants grow very good. Also the food regulation is better when using clay.
Choose a plant combination what is the best for the local situation. Choose also a good color combination, in a single color or a special contrast. A mixed multi colored combination also can by very nice. Be aware on the differences in textures and shapes of the leaves.
Depending the kind of basked and the plant combination we give a standard working method for planting.
First put some moss (Sphagnum) in the basked. Second you put a piece of plastic on the moss. Make a few small holes in the plastic to be sure the water can go out. Fill the basked partly with soil. On the edge you can put in the plants between the holes in the wired. Plant the plants one by one and fill the space with soil.  Push the soil firmly around the stems. Put in some moss again and also some soil. Next you plant the plants in the top of the basket. You also can use now a few upgroing plants. Fill the basket with soil and cover the surface with some moss. Keep the soil in the middle of the basket a little lower to prevent the loose of water. There are different working methods to plant a basket, often it depend on the choice of plants and the type of basket.

Give the basket each day water, better even is twice a day a little bit. Give once a week nutrition.
Old and wilting flowers, ugly leaves you must take away at least once a week. Long stems you better can cut back. The result will be a more compact shape and more flowers.

For the use outside nearly the whole available assortment of annuals  is suitable. Pelargonium are also good. Green plants as Hedera are good in the combination and create rest and harmony. 

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Last update of this page 23.05.2004