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Hanging Baskets
Types of basket
Providing support for hanging and wall baskets
Composts for hanging baskets
Feeding
Watering
Positioning
Maintenance
Planting techniques
Plants

Types of basket

Traditional wire baskets
Plastic-coated with chain attached, these need lining, but will last for years.

Linings

• Moss - is lovely if available fresh, and if kept damp, retains its freshness. It also looks pleasingly natural, and allows easy planting through the base and sides of the basket.
• Black polythene liner - inside moss liner with holes pierced through: helps hold vital moisture ' while retaining a 'natural' effect.
• Polythene - alone with holes pierced: effective, but only looks good if plants grow over to camouflage.
• Papier mache - home-made, using a suitable mould, made from newspaper and flour and water or wallpaper paste (without fungicide).
• Biodegradeable liners - made from compressed fibres, and will last for 2 years or more. Holes need to be made in sides and base for trailing plants.
• Coconut-fibre matting liners - woolly-textured, natural-looking coconut fibre, reinforced with latex to prevent the basket drying out, and tough enough to last several seasons.

Macrame hangers
You could make your own knotted string twine hangers fairly easily, or they can be bought ready-made to hold any kind of pot or container. Macrame hangers can be used to present a wire hanging basket more decoratively for indoor or conservatory use. They are often combined with clay pots, allowing planting from the top only.

Ivy balls
Hanging ivy balls are a form of indoor (or small-scale outdoor) 'topiary' display. Use plastic-coated wire to make a suitably shaped base: a ball, cylinder, bird shape or initial. Completely fill the wire shape with sphagnum moss; then insert rooted ivy cuttings (both Hedera spp. and Rhoicissus spp., or Ficus pumila), fixing them into place with 'u' shaped pieces of plastic-coated wire. As the ivy grows, either weave the shoots through the netting, or tie them in with plastic-coated wire. Some pruning may be needed to encourage shoots to develop in the right directions. Spray the arrangement daily and give the moss a regular soaking - it should never be allowed to dry out. Add liquid fertilizer, during watering or as foliar feed, at fortnightly intervals while the ivy is actively growing.

Wall baskets
These also offer scope for presentation of trailing and pendulous plants - ideal in small spaces such as a backyard. Types range from the simplest plant pot which can be fitted into a pot 'gripper' and fastened to a wall or drain pipe, through to wrought iron basket styles, terracotta and stone pots of all kinds, plastic 'window box' types to rest on brackets, wire half-baskets and home-made planters.

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Firm fixing is vital to avoid disaster. When attaching wall baskets and brackets to solid walls, masonry nails or screws with the correct rawlplugs are essential. To suspend a basket from the ceiling, large screw-hooks are suitable, but only when the necessary support is provided by a joist or batten.

An accessible height will determine positioning. Eye-level or slightly above may be best. Another way to display a hanging basket for easy maintenance is to rest it on top of an old chimney pot or other strong support, rather than suspending it. These 'gardens' need copious watering, feeding, and often dead-heading, so if you choose a position that is higher than eye-level (sitting or standing) a stepladder or even better, a pulley system of some sort may be necessary for access.

An old-fashioned washing-line pulley, firmly fixed to the wall, works well but there are several other gadgets on the market: the 'Hi-lo' attaches to a wall bracket and has a line which can be raised or lowered and locks into positions as required.

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The right choice of compost can be crucial to success, and has a direct effect on watering and feeding requirements. Compost with the ability to hold water without becoming waterlogged, and which allows free drainage, while having the ability to retain nutrients, is the ideal.

A heavy soil-based compost such as John Innes No. 2 or No. 3 is superb for plant growth, providing excellent nutrition and waterholding properties for plants that will be competing for food and moisture in a very confined space. Plants need less frequent feeding in this type of compost than in soil-less types, and this planting medium also dries out more slowly. It provides free drainage for plants such as geraniums, which prefer this.

Soil-based composts are not as clean to handle as soil-less ones; they are also heavier - which can be very awkward if the basket has to be regularly lowered and raised for watering. The most readily available (and cheapest) compost is soil-less. This type is perfectly adequate for most needs and relatively light, but does dry out rapidly. Baskets using this type of compost may need watering twice daily in very hot weather, and will certainly require feeding. Gels are available which can be mixed with growing mediums to improve moisture retaining qualities.

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A slow-release, granular, resin-coated fertiliser is ideal for hanging baskets e.g. Osmocote. This can provide nutrients for at least one season and up to 18 months depending on the formulation chosen. The product continually releases small quantities of nutrient in response to soil temperature and moisture content, in line with plant growth requirements. 'Plantpins' also offer a slow-release feeding option.

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Bright sun and strong wind can be a lethal combination for all plants, but for a hanging garden the threat to well-being is serious. It therefore makes sense to avoid exposed windy sites when choosing a spot for your basket.
The following tips may solve some watering problems:

• Upright watering cans with short spouts can be heavy and awkward to lift and tilt when watering hanging baskets. A hose with an adjustable spray nozzle attached is much easier to use - especially when you have several baskets to water. Another idea is to use a lance on a pressure sprayer - which minimises lifting - but requires vigorous pumping.
• If your basket is fixed to a pulley system, it can simply be lowered and immersed in a bowl of water for a good soak. Drain the basket well before raising, and allow to drip onto newspaper.
• If dripping baskets are a problem choose a style with a built-in saucer; or, rather than applying water direct, use ice cubes, which soak the compost slowly without making it drip; otherwise, use the immersion method and allow to drain fully before raising.

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• Good circulation of air is needed, but not 'wind tunnel' conditions - this will cause battering. Draughts are a hazard.
• Proximity to fumes from heaters and boilers can cause problems.
• Light - choice of plants is important here - sun lovers will become leggy and miserable if relegated to a dark corner.

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• Dead-heading: A simple but effective way to encourage and prolong flowering.
• Pests and diseases: As with all gardens, good cultural techniques promote good health - even more so in a confined space where plants compete fiercely for available resources. If plants are kept healthy and vigorous, pests and diseases will be less likely. Powdery mildew can be most prevalent in dry weather following a wet spell - even more so in periods of erratic watering. The prevention for this is easier than cure, so always maintain a regular watering regime.
• Aphids: Hot drying winds can favour aphid infestation for similar reasons to the above. Any fungicides and insecticides can be applied using hand-held sprayers. For those who prefer not to mix their own solution, there are a number of ready-mixed proprietary products in easily-held spray containers. When choosing a sprayer, try out different models to see which suits you best.

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• Have all necessary materials close to hand to begin with.
• Rest the basket firmly - on a bucket, or large pot - and at an appropriate height.
• Tools that may help with planting: (i) a wooden or plastic spoon, perhaps with handle covered with pipe lagging for softer, easier grip; (ii) a lightweight narrow trowel.
• Consider the use of young pot-grown subjects with easy-to-handle, separate rootballs rather than those grown in a seed tray. This also minimises the risk of root damage during planting up.
• Choose robust plant material that will tolerate rough handling.
• To simplify plant choice and decision making - decide on only one or two plant varieties.
• Choose plants that will tolerate a degree of neglect if this is anticipated... alternatively, as a way of fostering a sense of responsibility in whoever will manage the baskets, choose plants that will reveal their needs quite obviously - by wilting, becoming leggy, flowering poorly, or not at all.
• Line with handfuls of moss, then black plastic - make slits in this to allow for side and base planting. Crocks may be placed in the base at this stage if you want to encourage free drainage.
• Firm compost into the basket: either fill almost completely, or plant and fill as you go, whatever seems easiest.
• Small trailing plants can be inserted through the base and sides of the basket so that their roots are firmly embedded, but the foliage is hanging outside.
• Place plants of upright habit in the centre of the basket with trailing plants around the outside.
• Either use young plants and leave space for them to attain maturity, or for an instantaneous effect, plant mature specimens more closely. In the case of seasonal baskets, overplanting will not be hazardous as the intended life span is relatively short.
• Give a really good soaking and leave somewhere cool for a few days to settle.
• Hang in final position.

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Outdoors
Winter/spring: pansies, ivies, miniature buIbs (snowdrops, narcissi, crocus, tulips, scilla), Polyanthus, Myosotis, Arabis, Aubretia and other spring-flowering trailing alpines.

Summer, sunny sites: 'Cascade' or other trailing geraniums. 'Cascade' Petunias like 'Resisto' strain (good in damp weather). Alyssum, Lobelia, L. tenvior is dark blue with white eye and trailing habit. Mignonette (scented), trailing Nasturtiums, e.g. N. 'Alaska', Tropaeolum canaries. Nepeta, Saxifraga spp., Dianthus deltoides, Verbena x hybrida (almost hardy), Calceolaria 'Sunshine', Chrysanthemum - the 'Charm' varieties, Matricaria, Thunbergia alata (black-eyed Susan), Ipomoea (morning glory), Lathyrus (sweet pea) try dwarf varieties such as 'Knee Hi', 'Snoopea' or 'Bijou', Helichrysum petiolatum - a furry-leaved trailer, Nemesia strumosa, Oxalis, Mesembryanthemum and Portulaca - love dry, sunny positions.

Summer, shady sites: Impatiens (F1 bedding varieties), trailing Viola spp, tuberous Begonias, Euphorbia myrsinites (perennial), Campanula isophylla, Fuchsia. Some types of dwarf Nicotiana, Coleus, Mimulus, Begonia semperflorens. Fern-like plants, Corydalis cheilanthifolia, Begonia sutherlandii (pendulous).

Edible plantings: Parsley, the more compact mint species, Thymes, Strawberries (alpine varieties are best), small round-rooted carrots, dwarf cherry tomatoes, dwarf climbing beans, 'Saladisi' mixtures, 'Saladbowl' lettuce.

Perennials/outdoors:
Alyssum saxatile, Vinca minor 'Variegata', Cerastium tomentosum (all fast growing & evergreen), Hedera spp; Euonymus fortunei.

Indoors
Winter: Zygocactus truncatus - Christmas cactus; Chlorophytum comosum (spider plant); Tradescantia/Hedera/Cissus/Rhoicissus; Tolmiea menziesii (piggyback plant Scindapsus aureus/S. pictus (dragon¹s ivy), Philodendron scandans (sweetheart ivy), any other trailing indoor foliage plants.

Summer: *Succulents, e.g. Rhipsalidopsis rosea 'Electra', Schlumbergera gaertneri, Echeveria, Sempervivum and Sedum spp; tuberous(trailing) *Begonia; ferns - Nephrolepis & Davallia spp, Asparagus plumosus, *Asparagus sprengeri, *Saxifraga stolonifera (mother of thousands). Columnea, Browallia, Episcia, Achimenes, *Jasminum polyanthum, Duchesnea, *Helxine, *Tolmiea, Plectranthus, Maranta, Hoya, *Setcreasea purpurea.

*Outdoors also, in sunny summer sites.

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