hanging baskets.

I have been mulling over hanging baskets and wanted to put some queries to you guys

• Is there a shape of basket better than another? Or are the differing designs purely a matter of taste and what you like to look at?!
• What plants are best for planting in a hanging basket?

Thanks in advance!

 

i love trailing lobelia and fuschia in mine! i have one basket and several rain hoppers that i plant up each summer - it brightens up my view from the sink!

Loopy

 

Ooh fuschias! I do love those

 

I'm planning on growing strawberries and tomatoes (garden pearl variety), in hanging baskets this year. It should keep the slugs out.

 

That is a really great idea Matthew! :thumb:

 

The thing with hanging baskets should anyone be unaware, is not so much what you put in them, but the realisation that in really hot weather, they are like "little cookers."
They might need watering at least three times a day.

 

I'm taking notes. For some reason that never occurred to me either?! :o

 

Here is what I plant in the baskets around town, although these are 18" baskets.
Trailing Begonia
Trailing Petunia (surfina)
Ivy leaf Geranium
Lysimachia Midnight Sun
Dichondra Silver Falls
Impatiens
Trailing Fuchsias
Bacopa Golden Leaves
Mimulus

Lobelia is a bit iffy and will suffer badly if the basket becomes dry at any stage and often gets buried by trailing Petunias.

 

Do you have a personal favourite from that list, strongy?

 

I used to cram mine full of flowers but maybe Im thinking of putting some foliage plants inbetween. Does that mean Im getting more sophisticated in my gardeners outlook?

 

I used to plant up a lot of hanging baskets and found that some had definately been designed by engineers for ease of production rather than by horticulturalists for ease of planting!
Actually it depends a lot on what liner you are using and whether you want to plant the sides as well as the top.
Whatever sort you get I would get the biggest possible, due to the maths, small ones have a higher surface area relative to the volume and dry out more quickly, apart from simply holding less water in the first place.
Because watering needs to be done so frequently, many local councils have gone off the traditional wire baskets and are using glass fibre baskets with built in water resevoir only need topping up twice a week. You could consider automated irrigation, many kits are available.
Compost is also a crucial factor, I would mix in a slow release fertilizer to last all season and consider using a water retaining polymer.
Plants used depends very much on position but you need to consider which ones die gracefully to avoid dead heading. Also consider a colour theme -can be very effective
However you do it, can be a lot of fun

 

We did't want to go down the traditional hanging basket route last year, so we grew two baskets of tumblinv tons. They were incredible! They looked amazing, and got everyone complimenting. They tasted great too!

 

There will be nine main baskets for flowers this year which includes 2 for the front of the house and at least 5 for food crops here. In flowers we will have Petunia Purple wave, trailing lobelia, Bacopa, mexican daisies and probably some nemesia too. Edible baskets will have a couple of varieties of tumbling tomatos and some wild strawberries.

Along with what Lovage said about fertiliser and water retaining gel..I also scrabble the top of the basket with my fingertips once a week, because it gets so hot its liable to crust and when you water it will just run off rather than soak in.

Another thing to note is getting the liner size right, you can buy a liner for a 12 inch basket but when its in the basket it will fall short of the top my about an inch, which is an inch of soil less to hold water, we always get liners that are oversize then trim to the very top. This year we are trying something else as a bit of a test.

Steve...

 

I only grow 2 hanging baskets, because they need watering a lot

This is what i grow in mine...