Planting Hanging Baskets

Fill your patio with colour this spring by following our simple guide to planting a hanging basket.

You Will Need:

1. Wire Hanging Basket
2. Bucket
3. Moss liner
4. Potting soil  
5. Selection of bedding and container plants

Guide:

1. It is a good idea to place your wire basket into a bucket for planting. Most wire baskets (including the one shown above) are round at the bottom so placing them in a bucket ensures that they will be in an upright position for planting.
2. Line your basket with moss liner.
3. Part fill with a lightweight potting soil.
4. Place plants around the sides of your basket.
5. Add more potting soil and place a large plant in the centre of your basket.
6. Fill in the gaps around the top of your basket with smaller plants, tilting them in such a way that they will grow out over the sides of your basket.
7. Add more potting soil accordingly firm it in, and water.
8. Hang your basket in a conservatory or greenhouse for a couple of weeks before hanging it outside. This will allow the plants to become established and to become hardier.

Maintaining your hanging basket

Hanging baskets will only look as good as you maintain it, and require a fair amount of attention after planting:

• Allow time for plants to establish their roots in the soil, to begin growing again and to get more hardy before hanging the basket

• Add slow-release fertiliser pellets to the potting soil
• Use regular pest control on your hanging basket
• Deadhead your flowers where necessary
• When watering your hanging basket, use an empty plastic pot to create a reservoir in your basket. When watering simply fill the pot with water and the water will seep out slowly into your compost

We’re here to help

If you have any questions about the planting or maintenance of your hanging basket talk to any of our horticulturists in store. If you have a specific problem like pest damage on a plant, it’s really helpful to bring us a photo of it. We’d love to help.