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Hanging Flower Baskets

 

Hanging Flower Baskets

Hanging flower baskets are a wonderful way to add color and fragrance to the exterior of your home. Depending on the flowers used, hanging baskets can last a very long time. They are easy to build, grow and maintain. A well manicured hanging flower basket will keep its color long after most flowers have wilted for the season. Hanging baskets can be brought indoors as well. This allows you to keep your plants out of harsh weather, and bring some color and fragrance inside.
Getting a hanging flower basket started is a simple task. You can either buy baskets or make your own. There are many different styles of baskets to choose from if you choose to purchase one. There are a few things to consider first before purchasing your basket. Consider where you would like to hang the flower basket, and what types of plants to grow.

Hanging Flower Basket

Plants to use

For baskets that are going to be exposed in full sun Bacopa, Felicia, geraniums, helichrysum, lobelia, lotus vine, marigolds, nemesia, petunias, scaveola, tagetes, trailing schizanthus, verbena are good plants to grow.
For Baskets that are going to be kept in mostly shaded areas Alyssum, fibrous begonias, fuchsias, ivy geraniums, hedera, impatiens, trailing ivy, lobelia, tuberous begonias are good choices.

Materials needed

• A basket, wire or plastic
• A liner. Sphagnum moss or a synthetic liner made from coconut fibers or wool. You can use bamboo leaves, fern fronds or even phormium swords as an environmentally friendly alternative to sphagnum moss.
• Potting compost
• Fertilizer. A small amount of time release fertilizer is a great option
• Plants

Assembly: Wire Hanging Basket

Line the basket with the sphagnum moss or other liner. This holds everything together and will help retain moisture. Cover the bottom of the basket with the potting compost, pressing down to eliminate air pockets.
Now you’re ready to start planting your plants. To achieve a nice full flowering basket, it is important to plant in layers. Start at the lowest layer with trailing plants; use the middle layer for hanging plants, building up to the top layer for tall, upright plants. Lay bedding plants on the compost through the wire mesh from the outside. Press down to secure roots in place. When this layer is fully planted, cover well with compost to make the next layer. Continue to fill the basket with plants followed by layers of compost to within two inches of the rim.
The top layer can be planted with taller plants. Geraniums and Marigolds are good choices for this layer. Remember that these plants will spread so do not overcrowd the hanging basket.
Attached your chains or wire to hang the basket from, making sure that they are strong enough to handle the weight. Hang the basket in the desired area, water and enjoy.
Remember to feed, water and deadhead (remove dead flowers and blooms) the basket regularly. This will help your hanging flower basket grow and last all summer long. Pruning helps plants grow larger, bushier and promotes additional flowerings. So don’t be affair to trim and prune plant growth that trails too far.  http://www.workingoutside.com/gardening/hanging-flower-baskets

Watering and Feeding Hanging Baskets

The best time to water hanging baskets is early in the morning, so that the plants are prepared for the coming day. In the heat of summer, plants need plenty of water and should be checked at midday, if possible, and in the evening too. Multipurpose compost is difficult to rewet once it dries, so water regularly and mix swell gel into the compost to prevent it drying out completely. It’s a good idea to put a container display underneath your hanging basket to catch the drips, rather than allowing excess water to drain away.

The best, and safest, way to water a hanging basket is using a “lance.” which delivers water right into the heart of the basket and helps to avoid wetting the foliage and flowers, which can damage them and encourage disease. You can make your own lance by attaching a hose to a bamboo cane, leaving the end of the hose overhanging by 6 inches to create a bendy “spout.” This is much safer than standing on a ladder and watering with a can, but if you have to do this make sine the ladder is secure and the watering can is lightweight and filled only with as much water as you can carry safely. It’s easier to have a tall stepladder and hold the can at arm’s length than trying to water at head height. Ideally, install an irrigation system??it saves considerable time and effort and makes watering more efficient.
Plants in hanging baskets need regular feeding as there arc-lots of roots packed into a small space. Until the plants are established, feed at the same time as watering using soluble plant food dispensed through a container at the end of the hose. Alternatively, you can use a lightweight watering can or add slow-release fertilizer to the compost mix. Start with general fertilizer, then change to a high-potash fertilizer, such as tomato feed, once the baskets are established; apply once a week to boost flowering, feed regularly to prolong the display and check regularly for signs of pests or disease.   http://www.gardeningadviceguide.com/watering-and-feeding-hanging-baskets/

Hanging Baskets for Hummingbirds

Use these tips to create an irresistible floating garden of nectar-rich blooms.

By Kris Wetherbee, Oakland, Oregon

 

Hanging flower baskets are a great way to brighten the view almost anywhere. But if you plant blooms that also attract hummingbirds, the scene can be even more spectacular.
Imagine several gorgeous hummingbirds hovering around your hanging baskets, each vying for a dining spot. And once they find your flowers, it's likely they'll return again and again all season long. Luckily, it's not difficult to make that dream a reality. Just start with the simple tips and ideas on these pages.

1. Select the Right Flowers

There are several factors to consider when choosing flowers that will thrive in hanging baskets and attract hummingbirds.
Nectar. First, look for nectar-rich, tubular blooms, such as those on penstemon, salvia and petunia. Hummers are able to access the nectar easily with their long, narrow bills and tongues.
Plant form. Since hummers typically feed while hovering, flowers that stick out from a plant's foliage, by either protruding or dangling, provide ample air space so the birds' beating wings easily clear any leaves.
Color. People often associate hummingbirds with the color red, and for good reason. These inquisitive birds can see red from a great distance, so offering nectar-rich flowers in crimson shades should always get their attention. However, they'll eagerly sip nectar from flowers in almost any hue, including orange, pink, purple, white and yellow.
Number of flowers. The amount of blooms a plant produces also plays a big role in attracting these tiny birds. Plants with multiple flowers in open clusters are more appealing than plants like hibiscus that feature a small selection of large blooms.

Think about it from their perspective. How much more enticing is a buffet table laden with multiple food offerings than several tables spaced 10 feet apart, each featuring only a few dishes of food?
Bloom time. Plants with a long flowering season will provide nectar for an extended period of time. Another way to achieve this is to choose flowers with staggered bloom times—whether in one basket or by offering several hanging baskets.

2. Basket Basics

Hummingbirds aren't going to care what type of container you use—whether you select plastic, wood, pottery or a wire basket lined with sphagnum moss. However, the size of the planter will affect its upkeep and placement.
Hanging baskets for hummers should be at least 12 inches in diameter. Lightweight pots or smaller containers are easier to handle, but larger containers hold more plants, make for a more eye-catching display and keep plant roots moist longer.
Just remember that a heavy pot or large container can easily weigh 50 pounds or more when filled with damp soil and plants. These will need heavy-duty hooks and require strong support.

3. Compose the Display

The sky's the limit when it comes to the variety of flowers and foliage that work well in hanging baskets. You can always count on traditional hummingbird favorites—geraniums, fuchsias, nasturtiums, petunias, lantana and impatiens, for instance—to create a spectacular hanging display.
But even vines and upright perennials, such as garden phlox, veronica or penstemon, can look attractive in larger baskets and appeal to a hummingbird's appetite. Here are some other design factors to consider:
Color and texture. A combination of both foliage and flowers creates the most alluring effect. For example, the purple foliage of some coral bell cultivars add drama, while the blooms provide nectar. Combine different leaf shapes or forms for a striking arrangement, and create special tactile interest by using plants with different textures.
Height and form. Bring depth and visual interest to your hanging garden by combining plants with staggered heights and habits. For example, you could place mounding or upright plants, such as salvia, penstemon or zinnias, toward the center of the pot, then accent with trailing plants—such as verbena, parrot's beak or trailing petunias—positioned along the outer edges to spill over the sides.
Plant requirements. No matter what combinations you select, be sure that plants destined to share the same basket also share similar water and light needs.

4. Put It Together

Now that you know what you'll be planting, it's time to gather the materials needed to make your baskets. Start with the soil. A good lightweight potting mix is a must, preferably one that includes peat moss and perlite or vermiculite to provide aeration and drainage.
Plan the arrangement. It's a good idea to set out your plants ahead of time to figure out the best arrangement. The spacing needed between each plant will depend on the varieties and the container you've selected, and the nature of the plant's growth habits and characteristics.
Smaller plants can be spaced closer together than larger plants, so the total number will vary. But as a general rule, a 12-inch container will house about five to seven plants. Wire baskets fit more plants since you can also plant in the sides.
Time to plant. Once you've determined the arrangement, fill the pot two-thirds full with potting mix and plant the largest plants and those in the center first, followed by the smaller plants and those around the outer edges of your container.
Be sure to place the plants at the original depth as they were in their containers. Then secure them in place with additional soil and water well. Wire baskets are a bit different because in addition to the top, both the sides and even the bottom of the container can be planted, creating a colossal sphere of living color.
Line the basket with a thick layer of damp sphagnum moss or a preformed fiber mat liner. Plant the bottom and sides by poking holes through the moss or liner and gently pushing in the plants' roots from the outside. Add potting mix and secure the roots as you work your way toward the top of the basket. Then plant the surface as you would for a regular basket.

1. Hang It Up

When hanging your basket, choose a sunny, sheltered location within easy viewing range so you can watch the hummingbirds up close. Or, if your basket contains low-light garden plants, pick an appropriate spot in the shade.
And don't limit locations to areas near windows—think of the other places you spend time outside. Add pizzazz to boring entrance areas by hanging several baskets near the front door, bring a new dimension to walls and doorways, or add colorful charm to a courtyard. Or, why not expand your hanging garden to a balcony, arbor or gazebo?
Wherever you decide to hang your hummingbird garden, be sure to include a comfortable place nearby where you can sit back, relax and enjoy the view.
Editor's Note: Kris Wetherbee is the author of Attracting Birds, Butterflies & Other Winged Wonders to Your Backyard.   http://www.birdsandblooms.com/Birds/Hummingbirds/Hanging-Baskets-for-Hummingbirds

Container Gardening Ideas – Unusual Hanging Flower Baskets

Unusual Hanging Flower Baskets and Planters

Hanging flower baskets need not necessarily be of wire. They can be of wickerwork and it is quite possible that the first ones were of plaited or woven rush or cane. Deepish baskets with carrying handles, woven from natural materials, can make original and useful containers for use under the cover of a porch, sunroom, etc., hanging from either a beam or a wall. Many interesting hanging baskets are imported nowadays and are easy to find. Fishing, shopping, and bicycle baskets are often seen used cascading flowers from a wall or ceiling, depending on their shape and style. Junk shops, car boot sales and market stalls are well worth searching.

There are many intriguing and beautiful handwoven hanging flower baskets around which have been imported from China; they range from variously-sized wicker birdcages to work baskets, hampers, etc., some with handles or chains. Some are strange shapes whose actual intended use is something of a mystery.
Such baskets made of sea-grass, cane, wicker, and similar natural materials, may well suit both the modern home and the country house where antiques predominate. Of course, they display plants very sympathetically, and they do not mind getting the occasional soaking so long as they are allowed to dry out in between. They can be lined with plastic, or you can put plant pots directly into them. I love the wicker hanging birdcages for displaying a plant in a pot, in a conservatory or sun room. The round ones in particular are prettier even than the conventional hanging flower baskets.
White or green plastic-covered wire letter baskets, meant for fixing behind the front door to catch the mail, can be used as wall baskets if provided with a back made from half-inch mesh chicken wire. Lined with plant material such as moss, they make an effective decoration. Brightly-coloured plastic cutlery drainers, with a hole made in the back for a hook or nail, can look effective if chosen in a colour to match the house.
Some other container gardening ideas include a macrame string plant holder, which will hold a half or three-quarters coconut shell just as easily as an expensive small bowl. The shell should have a hole in it for drainage. A matt-textured grey-green succulent or stonecrop can look well against the rough texture of the coconut and the string, a good effect indeed at all times of the year, and especially in harmony with ‘cottagey’ bay windows or in country gardens hanging from the low branch of a tree.
This reminds me that some friends have a large real shell hanging in their bathroom window, planted up with blue-grey succulents. It is eye-catching against fine voile, and hangs on fishing line which, incidentally, is a marvellous idea for ‘invisibly’ hanging any container in a window.
Modern buildings in particular look good when hung with plastic hanging containers of ‘modern’ shape. Generally of soft ‘earth’ colours, they come in various sizes. They have no drainage holes, so care must be taken with watering and to ensure that they do not become waterlogged with rain. Slightly better, modern gardening containers do have drainage holes and are supplied with a useful built-in saucer which catches excess water underneath. There are also containers which are completely covered except for holes in the top to take the plants.
It was once thought vital that all growing plants must be in containers with drainage holes. In fact, indoors or under cover of a porch etc. if care is taken over watering, drainage holes are not necessary, and I have successfully grown everything from geraniums to exotic bromeliads with no thought to drainage other than the usual bits of broken pot at the bottom.
I was amused recently when I saw a kettle hanging in a cottage tea-room, filled with a mass of orange nasturtiums which were growing in a pot hidden inside the kettle. The proprietor told me she had different potted plants coming along all the time, to keep the display in the kettle fresh and attractive. See-through plastic or coloured glass looks sparkling in a window, and I have seen a great green plastic ice bucket with a handle showing off dark-foliaged dwarf pink begonias. See left for unusual container gardening ideas utilising coloured tin pots and pegs.
Some of my own very best effects with container gardening have been won with the help of some chunky white plastic buckets sold at our local fishmonger’s very cheaply. They originally held deliveries of cockles, but hanging from a beam in my conservatory their depth allows me to grow many things from schizanthus (a half-hardy annual, which I allow to trail over the sides) to runner beans (which make a handsome jungly trailing plant), golden hop (another trailer for summer), strawberries, and so on. You do not have to spend a great amount of money on containers — any dish, pot, or vase with handles can be hung just as well as stood, and I have seen keen flower arrangers display pot plants in a hanging piece of suitably-shaped driftwood!
In recent years there has been a fashion for growing woody-stemmed plants such as fuchsias ivies, geraniums, and even mint, in upturned wine bottles, and you might wonder how this is done. You need a large bottle with a dimple in the bottom, then with a glass cutter or a special bottle cutter you make a round hole in the dimple of about an inch in diameter. Next cut a strong piece of galvanised wire about 9 inches longer than the bottle and push it right through, hooking one end over the base to secure it and making a hook at the neck end for hanging it up. Holding the bottle upside-down, half fill it with compost, pass a well-rooted cutting through the opening at the base, and you will see that when the bottle is turned the right way up the compost settles down, securing the cutting, which should grow into a fine plant, covering the bottle as it develops up around the sides. Water the plant from the top.
Conversely, some hanging containers have flat bottoms and can be stood instead of hung. They can be filled with plants to stand in an alcove out of doors or on a deep window ledge. Terracotta and stoneware ones look good outdoors, and china, light plastic, etc. indoors.
Flat-backed and other containers of all kinds to hang on walls can be attractive and are, of course, like hanging baskets, space-saving. They can be arranged together in a row or group, or singly, along a wall or trellis, round a door or window, or in a porch. They come in pottery, plastic, metal, basketware, and terracotta, some with holes in the back for hanging, others with built-in baskets, and some with a saucer as part of the hanger. Or an ordinary plant pot can be used by twisting a length of strong wire around it, under the rim, with the ends of the wire formed into a loop for hanging.
A visit to an equestrian shop that sells bridles, stirrups, etc., can be interesting, for they will have (or will be able to get) those marvellous old-fashioned black metal hay racks. They come bow-fronted to fit against a wall or in a corner. They require an extra liner of fine mesh wire netting, and hold lots of moss and plenty of compost. They make handsome decorations for terraces, patios, yards, wide passageways, balconies, sides of garages, or the entrance to a house or flat, and are excellent for places which have no garden at the front other than a paved sunken area. I have also found similar planters on sale at a flower and plant shop and I understand they are available throughout the country.
While you are in the equestrian shop you may see that they sometimes stock deep green or white plastic feed and water containers designed to hook over the bottom half of a stable door. With a short length of suitably sized pole fixed ‘proud’ of a wall (this taking the place of the door) you have an unusual and most useful container for planting, ideal for a houseboat or mobile garden. It seems there is no end to the unusual container gardening ideas available to us – just use a little imagination.
Many different kinds of container are available and better things are offered each year – particularly for indoor sunrooms, conservatories, covered balconies and so on, or where some cover such as a porch is available.
From Italy and Spain, pottery hanging containers come in all sorts of shapes, including tub and butter churn shapes, updated versions of a Victorian idea though on the whole far better, being deeper and roomier so that less watering is needed and more plants can be accommodated. They also have the advantage that they don’t drip.
They are generally hand-painted underneath and round the sides, with somewhat brightly coloured flowers and leaves and this is a point to watch when choosing them, as it might be difficult to find real plants to tone in colour with the painted ones. Certainly they can look great with matching or toning flowers, but are easiest to use with foliage plants. However, the growing leaves should go with the artist’s colours. If the painted leaves are a blue-green, try planting up with grey-green ivies, sedums, and such, but if they are yellow-green then lime-green ferns, or the acid-coloured helxine (Mind Your Own Business) will be pleasing and effective.
Sometimes antique shops and junk stalls have Edwardian or Victorian hanging pots. Like many available today, they have holes in the top to take wire, ribbon, or cord hangers. I have a matching pair of these cottage window pots; they are a strange pink-red decorated with an embossed acorn design. They are very small and quickly dry out, but are amusing to have.
There are real baskets of various sizes to take pot plants indoors or in porches or similar situations. They hang from long plaited wickerwork ‘chains’ and come from the East. The chains are designed for indoor hanging but as a temporary decoration for a party, a number along a verandah or below a balcony, each holding a plant, can be most eye-catching on a still summer evening. They can also be used in a conservatory or sunroom.
Out of doors, real baskets of suitable shape, as well as wire ones, make romantic-looking hangings for garden archways, pergolas, or the bough of a tree. Though real baskets possibly work best when used to hold potted plants than actually being planted up themselves.
Imagine a stone archway or porch overhung with pale pink roses and underneath it, a real basket holding warm pink begonias. Or think of a white clematis over a trellis arch supporting a white wire hanging basket spilling with yellow double calendulas. The pots can be placed at different angles by cushioning them in moss.
Container gardening ideas are limitless once you start thinking around the subject. One spring, for example, I hung a staggered row of wire mesh baskets the whole length of a very large wedding reception marquee which was lined with blue and white. The moss-lined baskets held pale blue and deeper blue hyacinths, and were caught up with ribbons of darker blue and white. On another occasion, for a friend’s daughter’s wedding, I close-planted baskets for the church porch with coleus plants in massed colours to match the Bridesmaids’ dresses and bouquets. The effect was very novel and much admired, and afterwards the bride enjoyed the plants in patio pots at her new home.
A point worth remembering always is that a basket should never be hung so high that it cannot be reached easily for either watering, tending, or taking up or down. However, if for some reason you find you must hang a basket sky-high a stepladder or a handy bedroom window can come in useful although now baskets on adjustable chains or pullies are available. A rafter or beam is best for hanging a basket from a ceiling or in a porch or conservatory, and this is simply a matter of a strong hook screwed into firm wood. Swivel hooks are available which allow hanging flower baskets to be swivelled round so that all plants can get the light.
If a hanging flower basket is to be hung out from a wall an arm or bracket support, in wood or metal, is required and this must be attached to the wall very firmly by means of screws and wall plugs (such as Rawlplugs and similar makes). Special hanging brackets are available to buy; the metal ones not only look decorative but are strong and long-lasting and usually have a hook on which the basket can be hung. Types in which basket and bracket are permanently fastened together have the disadvantage that, once fixed to the wall, the basket cannot be easily removed for replanting or other attention.  http://www.gardeninginfozone.com/container-gardening-ideas-unusual-hanging-flower-baskets

Container Gardening Ideas – Window Planters – Colour Schemes

Creating Colour Schemes for Window Planters, and Garden Pots and Planters

When walking along a short residential street, a square or a close, or even when looking up at a block of flats, it would be nice to see some overall colour scheme for their window planters, hanging flower baskets or other plantings. For individualists, however, there are plenty of ideas to be found. I recently admired a large cartwheel painted in a colour to match the house and hung around with potted plants.
Another idea I liked, outside a gipsy’ caravan, was an arrangement of three gaily-painted barge water cans planted up with coleus plants which complemented the strong colours and patterns on the cans. Both these novel ideas fitted the homes which they adorned.
What about making a leafy jungle around the front door with wall-hung flower planters and individual pots? These might be placed on wooden shelving painted to match the door. Another way would be to place wall baskets and tubs around a piece of sculpture — wood, stone, or ceramic. This can look great arranged against a plain white wall, and here sculptural foliage will really come into its own. There are inexpensive yet good-looking lion masks and cherub heads on sale, meant actually as water spouts for garden pools, and they make excellent wall pieces to give emphasis to a grouping of plant containers.
Colour and texture can be exploited in all kinds of interesting ways. For instance, a stone bird-bath might make a very unusual container for ‘grow anywhere’ plants, like bright yellow stonecrop or mixed houseleeks with their subtle colouration, even if the bird-bath has no drainage hole. I make a mound of compost rather than leaving it level below the rim of the bath. Climb pastel-coloured sweet peas and yellow canary creeper or variegated ivies up a metal or wickerwork bedhead fastened to a wall, to make a dramatic feature for, say, the balcony of a flat. These bedheads with their swirling designs make remarkably impressive and original supports for climbing plants. 
In some situations a large, deep, home-made wooden box lacquered a brilliant Chinese red or orange can look expensively effective with, for example, flamboyantly-coloured nasturtiums growing out of it, or try yellow and orange Charm or Cascade chrysanthemum plants. This scheme might not look so good in the depths of the country against old timbers (where the box might be better stained to link with its surroundings) but could be stunning outside a smart town dwelling. Novel ideas soon come with a little imagination. How about hanging an old birdcage, painted black, in the entrance to a town garden? Plant it with variegated ivies, ferns, or fuchsias. It can hang from its own stand, or from a simple archway of white, blue, or green trellis.
Near the sea I have seen old small boats used to great effect as planters, hung — not too high —from a handy beam by chains fore and aft. One I saw painted blue and white and planted with scarlet zinnias looked patriotic as well as eye-catching, but a totally different visual effect could be managed by planting with mixed jewel-coloured dwarf zinnias.
Ideas which might look funny in one situation are perfectly at home in another. Old oil drums may not immediately catch the imagination as containers, but I once saw them used to great effect as the entire container garden on the deck of a houseboat moored on the Thames in London. The boat itself was painted black and white, and the oil drums were black to match; they had been cut down to a variety of sizes and vigorously planted with flowers in a motley collection of colours.
Do your own thing and be inventive, as much with colour as with the things you can press into service as plant containers. There is no special virtue in the British love of mixing lots of different plants (and colours) in one container.
More memorable results may come for you by displaying a greater quantity of just one kind of plant in one container. You might experiment with mixed pink and white trailing geraniums (pelargoniums) or the hardy garden anthemis cupaniana with its grey foliage which is sprigged from early summer onwards with white daisies. After anthemis seem to have finished flowering you can cut back all the shoots which have bloomed and new shoots will continue to flower for many weeks.
Instead of one kind of plant in one container, what about that idea of just one colour? Variation and visual interest can still be achieved with variety of shape and texture, for one colour need not necessarily mean only one kind of flower. You could have a refreshing scheme of frilly white azaleas under-planted with crisp white pansies in your window planters, white trails of lobelia set off by more white pansies, or white begonias, in the hanging baskets, and white pelargoniums massed in boxes by the front porch. The flowers’ own green foliage does, of course, make a cool setting for immaculate white.
Or you could go to the other extreme and select a more vivid colour, say joyous orange. There might be African marigolds of a good, strong, look-at-me orange, with pendulous tangerine begonias for the hanging flower baskets and paler orange tagetes in window planters, and terracotta garden pots and planters might have gazanias with orange marigolds. Such colour schemes look magnificent if planted fearlessly, full and fairly close.
Another idea would be to take one colour, perhaps yellow, and ring changes on the theme with tints and shades ranging from pale creamy yellow to bright butter yellow, and even on towards copper or old gold. The flowers could be polyanthus, wallflowers, alyssum, and doronicum, with trailers of Hedera Goldheart or Hedera Buttercup for the spring.
Softly-coloured blue hydrangeas in garden pots and planters in summer could be colour-matched with hanging baskets of the ever-useful lobelia in pale to deep blues, both dwarf sorts and trailers, plus that remarkable nautical blue convolvulus tricolor ‘Royal Ensign’ to make the whole thing shipshape. The colours we use must depend on the plants we can get. Excellent sources are well-stocked nurseries and garden centres, Women’s Institute market stalls, or florists’ shops with good suppliers. Some of these, if we inquire early enough, will try to get the particular plants and colours we need. Other plants can be lifted from the garden as they come into flower, or can be specially grown in the garden in pots and transferred to the containers as they bud up. It is a matter of planning ahead, and it is best to try to resist the ‘one of this and two of that’ philosophy, the job lot of bulbs, and so forth, when you are hoping for a good display.

Caring for Your Hanging Flower Basket

Container Gardening Ideas

Hanging Flower Basket Care

As only a few pounds of compost, at most, can be accommodated in the average hanging flower basket, window planter, or other gardening container, and this will be the only support the plants will have, it is obviously sound practice to use good compost so that they grow well right from the start. Too many people simply dig up a spadeful of any old earth from the garden, thinking that as so little is required it is hardly worth the bother and expense of buying a bag of special compost. This is a great mistake, and problems can result. Soil lifted from the garden is often impoverished or otherwise unsuitable. I recommend you buy a bag of John Innes Compost No. 2, to which I always add a few handfuls of peat to lighten it.
A hanging flower basket must be lined before being filled with compost. Green sphagnum moss, which has always traditionally been used for this purpose, can be gathered in woods in moist areas if you know where to look and can get permission from the landowner. Fortunately, most florists sell it along with wire hanging baskets. Reindeer moss, a curly kind of moss, comes in big dried-out packs which have to be soaked before use. This moss has the advantage that it looks good even when it is not very moist. I have successfully used moss scraped up with a rake from a friend’s lawn in springtime – and it is very satisfactory to put such a tiresome thing to such a good use.
Many people use black or green plastic film as a liner, but personally I think this is ugly when viewed from underneath. This is certainly true until the plants become established and hang down to cover the sides, or unless some of the planting is done through holes made in the sides. It really is far prettier to do the basket in the old way. I knew someone who lined a hanging basket with moss and then interlined it with plastic, but this proved not very successful as the plastic prevents the moss receiving any moisture and it soon turned brown. Even so, I thought the dark man brown moss looked far better than the shiny plastic.
I have heard of hanging flower baskets being lined with hessian, sacking, and artificial ‘grass’ sold for patios. I prefer a suitable growing plant as a lining, and I have used many things, including low-growing mat-like alpines such as stonecrop. I have even used the moss which grows in ‘pads’ on a low garage roof at the back of my house. Really. I have found you can use any moss you can come by, though it should be reasonably thick, and the short velvety kinds must be in large pieces. If you can get only small pieces, line your basket first with fine mesh chickenwire. Truly the only moss I have found useless, was some short stuff brought to me by a friend from sandy woodland; it was impossible to handle without it breaking up. Most mosses stay nicely green if the basket is properly and regularly watered.
Best of all linings, to my mind, is Arenaria balearica, a charming little lime-green evergreen foliage plant studded in summer with tiny white stars. Normally a plant seen growing in crevices or walls and paving, it is beautiful all the year round and is like a specially lush green moss. If kept regularly watered it will never go brown. If you do not already have it in the garden you will need to buy a number of plants to line a basket. However, if you do have it handily growing, as I do, you can simply lift a ‘mat’ of it. Place it in the basket ‘growing side out’, of course. Used in an indoor hanging basket, for example in a sunroom, it grows quite fluffy and luxuriant and quite changes its character.
Among alpines I have used as basket liners, in addition to stonecrop, are asperula suberosa (like a pink-flowered stonecrop), dwarf campanulas, aubretia, dwarf alpine helichrysum (with grey or silver foliage). Also successful are violets, helxine mind your own business), and for indoors nertera depressa (bead plant), a tiny creeping herb which covers itself with many little orange berries.
First cover the bottom of the basket thickly with moss or your chosen plant material (I sometimes mix several different ones for unusual effects) and bring the lining about two inches up the sides of the basket. At this stage many people place a plate or saucer in the bottom of the basket to help hold water. I don’t do this myself, for it seems almost certain that any plants or moss under the plate will brown and die. However, if you wish to try it, a deep plastic saucer of the kind sold to go under plant pots serves well as a small reservoir of water in dry conditions.
Other people recommend an extra lining of turf, grass side out, or bulb fibre on top of the moss. I would not personally introduce grass to my baskets in this way, as in my experience it simply grows out through the moss towards the light, and I think most of us have enough trouble grass cutting on the lawn without having to clip grass round a hanging basket.
Continue lining the basket with moss, bringing it up the sides and filling in with compost as you go. If you want trailing plants to grow out from the sides, plant these as you proceed, laying the plant on its side, covering the roots with compost, and firming it in so that you leave no pockets of air. Do not take the compost right up to the top, though the moss lining should reach the rim. After planting up to the top leave a small depression towards the centre of the surface of the compost, to hold water.
Some hanging flower containers, such as the white plastic-covered wire ones, are so attractive in their own right that I sometimes leave a couple of inches clear of lining and compost. This seems specially appealing when a basket is planted at the top with decorative foliage plants, or when the basket is hanging in a sun room or conservatory which has white furniture.
It is sometimes recommended that, before planting, a hanging flower basket should be well watered and allowed to drain. I do not find this very practical, for the wet compost makes the job of planting messy and dirty. I plant first and then water the contents after, and if the compost then compacts, I just top up with a little more. John Innes Compost used straight out of the bag is, I find, usually moist enough to handle, but if it is very dry I add a little water from a can with a rose, spraying it straight into the bag and mixing it until the compost just holds together when squeezed lightly in the hand.
Planting at the top can consist of one vigorous trailing plant, placed in the centre, or four or five plants placed round the edges with one in the centre. I was talking to a member of a municipal parks department and was admiring a trailing variegated plectranthus in a hanging basket. I was told that they place one plant in each hanging flower basket and in a season that cascading growth can reach as much as ten feet and has to be trimmed back. The idea is lovely for an indoor decoration, especially in a conservatory, covered walk, or on a balcony or verandah.
To get a really trim and rounded effect with any gardening container which contains a trailing plant, hairpins or short U-shaped pieces of wire can be used to hold the outward-growing stems close in to the sides of the basket. For more free or unrestricted growth, just let the plants go their own sweet way. The tailored-looking basket is easy to achieve if only neat-growing plants of one kind are chosen, instead of a mixture of plants of different habits, which result in baskets of haphazard shape (though these have their own definite charm).
With such plants as fuchsia, geranium, lobelia, ivy, etc., four or five plants are required to fill the top of the average sized container to provide a really good show. Obviously the earlier the planting is done, the better and longer-lasting display you shall have. Anyone who has a light, airy, frost-free place, such as a sunroom or conservatory, can plant up a basket in April and get a head start on those who have to wait for the end of the frosts, which can mean as late as the end of May in most parts of Britain. Using hardy plants, however, we can make up our hanging flower baskets at any time of year, except in snow or hard frost, and either put it outside or enjoy it indoors.
Potted plants should have been watered an hour or so before they are ready for final planting in the garden container basket, so that they will knock out easily from their pots or boxes with a few sharp taps on the side. This also prevents the soil coming away from the roots. Make a hole in the compost to receive each plant, and press the compost firmly round the roots.
A round covering of black or green plastic film at the top of an exposed basket, or one which hangs high under a clear glass or plastic roof, can be an advantage. Suitably sized holes are made where necessary for the plants to grow through. The idea is that the plastic conserves moisture. A covering of damp moss can serve the same purpose. The same idea can be adapted for troughs, window boxes, etc., especially where the top surface is above eye level. The edges may need to be held down with small stones, hair pins or can even be stapled down to a wooden container. Suitable plastic is sold in rolls but these are far too big for the average person with just one or two gardening containers, window planters or baskets. In this case the answer is to cut up an ordinary black plastic dustbin liner.   http://www.gardeninginfozone.com/caring-for-your-hanging-flower-basket

Gardening Tips for Watering Hanging Flower Baskets

Importance of Watering Hanging Flower Baskets

I have found that when making up a hanging flower basket of permanent plants, such as ivy, it is a good plan to leave the basket standing on the ground in a shady place for a week or two after planting. This encourages good rooting to take place if the basket is watered carefully and saves the plants being rocked about in the wind while they are getting established.
On the subject of watering, I always try to make things as easy as possible for myself by positioning baskets at eye-level or at least within arm’s reach, to avoid having to climb up on a stool or stepladder. Although now you can buy baskets on mechanisms which can be lowered very easily for watering. Don’t water in ‘dribs and drabs’ — do it thoroughly and regularly. A sad sight in winter is the basket which has been left hanging forlornly with its summer plants long dead. It is probably too high to have encouraged regular watering and attention. Once a basket has really dried out the plants will take ages to recover, if they ever do.
Undoubtedly baskets need a deep drink every week, perhaps twice or three times a week, or even every day or twice a day in windy, dry, or sunny weather, or when hanging in exposed places. Thirsty baskets result, too, when they are sited in sheltered courtyards surrounded by walls which store up heat during summer days and continue to giving off heat for hours after the sun has gone.
The best way to give a basket a deep drink is to use an old washing-up bowl filled with water (a liquid plant feed can be added occasionally). The bowl should be large enough for the basket to be immersed with room to spare for the side growths so that they do not get bruised or damaged. The water should reach almost to the top of the basket. The drinking process can be speeded up by watering the top of the hanging basket with a can. Flowering side growths and trailing growths can be placed over the edge of the bowl so that they are never submerged. Contact with the water can spoil delicate ‘thin’ petals, and a soaking under water will make double flowers ‘ball’ – their petals stick together and they look a sorry sight. The roots, of course, revel in their bath. I give a soaking of about half an hour and then stand each flower basket gently on a bucket to drain well before re-hanging. This method does not work with a hanging container which has no drainage holes. In this case the soil should be tested for dryness with the fingers; the moment it feels dry just below the surface is the moment to water. You will soon develop a ‘feel’ for this. A plant which is actually growing in the container can be watered with a can, but one which is in its own pot inside the container can be simply lifted out, pot and all, and immersed in a bowl of water.
A tier of wall baskets, one above another, reduces the daily watering chore – water the top one with your can and the surplus will run down on to the one below, and so on. However, all the baskets should be taken down regularly for a really good soak in a bucket or bowl. At all times keep a can of water handy to nudge your memory about watering. Rainwater is generally preferable to tap water if you can collect enough in a butt or buckets and bowls.
Some plants, such as button daisies, pansies. and fuchsias, have little built-in resistance to drought. If they are allowed to dry out and flag they can rarely be completely brought back to full health. A first-aid treatment for flagging plants is to completely immerse them in water for a couple of hours. When the basket is returned to its hook, you will need to pull a large plastic bag right over it, plants and all. Make as good a closure as you can and leave this mini-greenhouse overnight. More often than not, every plant will be crisp and well by morning – and you will no doubt resolve never to let them dry out again!
With constant regular watering, the top surface of compost in a hanging basket exposed to sun or wind may soon form a crust through which water may then find difficulty in penetrating. The remedy is to gently stir up the surface compost; weeding also helps. In the growing season, all plants in hanging baskets should be fed one of the proprietary liquid feeds once a week (although I know of friends who swear by cold tea!) Do not feed sick plants, one which is resting after flowering, or newly planted ones. A feed just before flowering is most helpful though. Liquinure, Maxicrop, Kerigrow and Baby Bio are among the many currently available. Outdoor hanging flower baskets usually need feeding every week from around mid-June until the first frosts.  http://www.gardeninginfozone.com/gardening-tips-for-watering-hanging-flower-baskets

Discover the Beauty of Hanging Flower Baskets – Container Gardening

Container Gardening – Beautiful Hanging Flower Baskets

Think of a hanging flower basket, and I expect you think at once, as indeed most of us do, of an open mesh wire basket of blue lobelia, red or pink geranium, and fuchsia, high in the air. These wire baskets are bought in their thousands every spring by gardeners keen to start container gardening early, and are seen everywhere, with their displays of … blue lobelia, red or pink geranium, and fuchsia.
In both town and country, local authorities hang them to swing lightheartedly outside the town hall, the swimming baths, the public library, and from the Victorian bandstand in the park, trailing lobelia, geranium, fuchsia. From all the lamp standards in the main streets and along the pedestrian precincts enlightened councils arrange for frivolous riots of … blue lobelia, geranium and fuchsia, to decorate the summer days. Recognising a good thing when we see it, we tend to copy the lavish, beautifully grown local authority baskets and plant up similar schemes to hang outside our homes.
And so in our sun rooms and outside the little cafe in the High Street and on the old hook above the solicitors’ office, as well as outside the brand new office block, there are our familiar and well-loved lobelia, geranium, and fuchsia cascading from the baskets. All so pretty, so very reliable, so showy, but perhaps – dare I say it? – a tiny bit boring.
Couldn’t we try a new scheme for our container gardening and hanging flower baskets – plan a fresh planting, maybe a different mixture, or even be very brave and work out a basket effect, or get a crazy idea for spring?
As you are reading this website, I expect you are all the way with me in my longing to see more hanging flower baskets around the place, but to see more that are created to be airy delights each with its own particular individuality.
To begin with, you will obviously need something reliable to hold your flowers aloft nicely, and the sturdy galvanised wire baskets so readily available, sometimes with the wire covered in plastic, really do take some beating and last for years. These won’t rust. They can be spray painted, if you like, green, pale blue, or any colour to match your proposed planting scheme or the colour of the house. I use spray-on car body paints (from motor accessory shops) as they are quick to use and cover the wire mesh speedily and easily. A wide range of quick-drying colours is available. However, the basket’s growing content should quickly cover all the visible mesh so you may feel it is unnecessary to pay extra for plastic-covered ones or to the trouble of painting.
These hanging flower baskets normally come in three sizes, from 6 inches to big 18-inch ones. If you fancy a really enormous affair you could use one of those big galvanised mesh ‘umbrellas’ over which are grown standard weeping roses, turning it upside down and hanging it from three strong chains. I have even seen old wire litter baskets, and basked sold for blanching vegetables, used in this way.
Before deciding on the maxim ‘biggest is best’, consideration should be given to the weight of the basket when filled with a potting medium plus plants and – something easily forgotten – weight of water. The added weight in a large quantity of freshly-watered compost can be considerable. Then, too, as plants grow away strongly they weigh a great deal more than they did as youngsters.
Certainly anything off-beat and unusual is attention-seeking and interesting in its own right. The occasional Victorian or Edwardian hanging flower basket can possibly be found, recognisable by the very attractive decorative shape. Country people have always adapted whatever happened to be handy; I have seen an old log basket, and a wine bottle decanter basket, used to hold a potted plant, also a plastic garden sieve and even half a coconut shell hung up with plants growing directly in them.  http://www.gardeninginfozone.com/discover-the-beauty-of-hanging-flower-baskets-container-gardening

How to Grow Hanging Flower Baskets and Window Flower Boxes

Container Gardening Ideas

Window flower boxes, tubs, and similar gardening containers for planting should, if possible have a number of drainage holes in the bottom. Each hole is carefully covered with a piece of broken flower pot (crock) and then the whole of the base is covered with about an inch deep of small stones or crocks. Over this place a layer of turf, coarse moss, peat, or dead leaves. Then fill up with John Innes Compost No. 2.

Hanging Flower Baskets and Window Flower Boxes

Take the compost to about an inch below the rim — many people make the mistake of filling right to the top, which makes watering difficult. A suitable tray containing a layer of pebbles, placed under the box, is a help to drainage. Some experts suggest leaving the container for a week 5 for the compost to settle before planting. I think that is unrealistic; the majority of people — including me — can’t wait to put the plants in at once!
When planting, remember that an informal effect is better than a regimented one which results from placing plants in rows. Obviously tall plants need to be at the back or sides, and shorter or trailing ones at the front and sometimes the sides. I find it useful to arrange the plants experimentally before removing them from their individual pots. By standing back and walking around I can achieve an appearance which is balanced and effective both from indoors and out. After planting I like to give the container a top covering of peat, pebbles, Forest Bark, or small stones to act as a mulch and prevent too much evaporation; this treatment gives a smart, neat finish to the container at the same time. Now give the planting a really good watering with a can which has a fine rose. Take the water right over the foliage to freshen it and wash away any soil which may be adhering. Do this in shade, for the sun’s rays on wet leaves may damage them.
I like to have a number of garden containers coming along as seasonal replacements to bring into prominent positions when others finish flowering. An alternative is to fill permanent garden containers with compost, Forest Bark and use this simply as a means of supporting plants in pots, which can be replaced as and when necessary. If the whole thing is kept watered and the plants given an occasional feed you will find they romp away in the idyllic conditions of constant humidity coming up around them from the compost. Indeed, more often than not when the pots are removed, the plants will be found to have rooted out through the hole in the bottom of the pot and into the compost.

Care of the Plants

Regular removal of dead flowerheads before a plant can set its seed is important for a long flowering season in all containers, and I always do this job at the same time as watering. Dead, dying, or insect-nibbled foliage should also be removed, as should any any dead wood. Window flower boxes containing bulbs which have finished flowering are best moved out of vision until the foliage dies down; it is important to leave the foliage on, as it feeds up the bulb for the following year.
Perennials should be cut back, and divided if necessary, in the autumn. Geraniums and fuchsias should be either moved in their containers to a light, airy, and frost-free place before the frosts come, or else lifted and replanted in suitable pots. But if you do not have room indoors for a number of large plants, you can gently prune back the roots and cut back the plants. In late winter or early spring new growth will quickly get under way. By feeding all winter, a geranium will probably flower all winter indoors.
I put most of my indoor hanging flower baskets, window flower boxes, etc. out of doors when there is any light, warm rain in spring, summer, or autumn. This is a marvellous wash and pick-me-up. I even put out collections which are growing together, and single plants which have no drainage holes in their containers. It generally takes rain some time to penetrate any depth, and by then I will have brought them in again. If it rains so hard that a plant is standing in a puddle of water, which really is too much, I simply lay the container on its side to drain for an hour or two. The only disadvantage of this whole system (or perhaps I should say advantage) is that it usually stops raining as soon as I have taken everything outside!

Watering Your Plants in Containers

Many gardeners are concerned about the danger of over-watering plants growing in containers. This frightens many inexperienced people into erring so far in the other direction that their plants die of dehydration, or take so long to recover from the enforced thirst that they never make more than puny specimens with a half-starved look. With experience you get the feel of the thing, learning the signs a plant gives to let you know when it is dying for a drink, such as lightly flagging foliage and drooping flowers. The soil or compost feels dry to the touch; when you tap a pot it ‘rings’ rather than gives off a dull thudding sound. Dig your finger into the compost just under the surface to test how dry or damp it is – this is my favourite method. When a little water is poured on, very dry earth or compost will make a soft crackling sound which you can hear if you listen carefully, and this is a very good indication that watering is required.
Plants need a great deal of water when they are growing well, and in warm conditions. Watering everything perhaps once a week is not a good system, for the requirements of each plant differ according to the time of the year, its state of growth, and so on. Watering large garden containers can be a problem in spells when the earth has really dried out and water poured on the surface tends to run straight off. One solution is to sink one or more pieces of pipe or tubing vertically into the soil, or use a slim plastic bottle, with the bottom cut away, in the same manner. Water is poured down the tubes or into the bottle, and so penetrates to where it is needed, at root level. The device can usually be disguised with bits of moss, pebbles, or something similar, if the plants are not sufficiently big to cover it from view. There are also many useful automatic watering systems available, ideal when plants under cover of balconies etc. have to be left during holidays and other absences from home.
When the weather is warm and dry, an overhead spraying is appreciated by most plants, particularly on their foliage, for it creates humidity as well as removing dust, freshening the colours, and generally livening everything up. It is amazing how dirty plants can get outdoors, in particular if they are near a drive or the road. I sometimes use an ordinary watering can with the rose in place, as this provides both a spray and an ordinary watering at the same time, but more effective is a small mist spray which can be held in one hand. The spray is fine enough to be directed exactly where you want it. Spraying also discourages that scourge of plants in dry sheltered places, the red spider.
If you find that flowers have flagged very badly, perhaps on a very warm day, first water them well (even if the sun is beating down) then cover the whole container, flowers and all with a double sheet of damp newspaper. Cover the newspaper with a sheet of lightweight polythene, which prevents the damp paper drying out. This treatment provides the plants with a moist atmosphere to revive them, and also keeps off the worst of the sun. Remove the polythene and newspaper in the cool of the evening or the following morning.

Putting Your Indoor Containers Outside

Lots of indoor container plants find it a bit of a treat to be put outside for a ‘summer holiday’, after the risk of late frosts is past. Round about early June I put many of my indoor plants out into window flower boxes, tubs, hanging flower baskets, or other garden containers. Indoor plants can be planted directly into the containers or else plunged into large containers still in their own pots, the space between being filled with gravel. I find they usually thrive and make a good show. Colours and leaf patterns become brighter and livelier, and the plants will often burst into bloom for the first time. In fact, they seem to generally enjoy themselves. This can certainly be a tonic for a slightly ailing plant. If possible, select a sheltered, warm, slightly shady position for it. Make a daily check on plants in outdoor containers for watering and signs of greenfly and other pests.
Indoor plants, which I have found greatly benefit from a refreshing spell outside during the summer months, are all kinds of geraniums (pelargoniums), bilbergia, ferns (placed in a very shady border), ivies, the kangaroo vine (cissus), aspidistra, pittosporum, grape ivy (Rhoicissus rhomboidea), mother-of-thousands (Saxifraga stolonifera, or S. sarmentosa), streptocarpus – a broken leaf will root in a shady border, campanula isophylla, plectranthus, pilea, fatshedera, aphelandra, aechmea, and Dracaena marginata tricolor. Keep an eye on them, and if they show the slightest sign of discomfort bring them indoors again.  http://www.gardeninginfozone.com/how-to-grow-hanging-flower-baskets-and-window-flower-boxes