key rules to creating a tasteful display. Avoid putting too many different plants with lots of contrasting colours together or your basket will end up looking like an over elaborate wedding cake. Instead keep your choice of plants simple, using colours that work together well, such as soft yellows, pinks and white, or for something with a bit more zing, try different tones of red. When creating a hanging basket you will need several different types of plant. To give height in the centre of the basket choose pelargoniums, marguerites or fuchsia. Lobelia, pansies and cineraria are great for filling in gaps, while dichondra, petunia and trailing begonias can be planted at the edges to cascade over the sides of the basket. Dramatic effect comes from a single plant choice – this time lobelias
CHOOSING YOUR CONTAINER What kind of hanging baskets should you choose? Well, it comes down to taste, but 16inch wire baskets are great as you can plant up the sides, while natural rattan and Victorian style cast-iron baskets look more classy – these are fairly heavy, so make sure you screw the bracket to hold it securely to the wall.
PLANTING UP YOUR HANGING BASKET To make planting up easy stand your basket on top of a large pot to prevent it moving and remove one of the chains so they don’t get in the way.
What to plant and why LOBELIAS: Trailing lobelia have been used in baskets since they first became popular, but the old seed-raised types tend to fade towards the end of summer, or suffer badly if allowed to dry out. Fountain Mixture Trailing’ is ideal -red, pink, white and mauve flowers. FUCHSIAS: These will flower all summer if kept watered and fed; double-flowered types have more impact but make more mess than singles do when the dead flowers fall on to paving below. SWEET PEAS: Try ‘Pink Cupid’ -
Cover the inside of the basket with a liner and add an inch layer of hanging basket compost to the base. Select plants for the sides and from the inside of the basket, thread each through a slit until the rootball is snug against the liner. Firm soil around the rootballs.
A basic guide for good hanging baskets • Use as many plants as you can stuff in them, and then a few more! Ensure you do get good trailing plants with a good central unpright one. You can use around 20 plants for a 16-inch basket. Buy them small and let them fight over the root space; they will manage, they’re only going to be there for a season. • Plant them up and keep them indoors until they are growing well - a small cool greenhouse is ideal and then hang the baskets from the roof for about six weeks before they go out. • Feed and water far more than you imagine is needed. Use some loam compost and vermiculite in the mixture to give the basket weight and the ability to hold on to the water. • Deadhead, daily, twice a day in high summer • If it rains, take them down and put them out in the rain, they will do better for that than any watering you can do. If it is very windy, take them down anyway or they will end up rather tattered. • Finally - enjoy them, they can be stunning if well done.
fragrant pink and long lasting flowers . PETUNIAS: These are probably the most important hanging basket plants of all.. Try Petunia ‘Purple Velvet’ - rich purple flowers appear on long stems. BEGONIAS: The familiar Illumination Series bego have long combined good colours with good habit but, now that many more of the 900 begonia species are being used in their development, with some superb new types, including the gorgeous ‘Glowing Embers’. or Begonia ‘Chanson Pink’ - long stems with blousy pink blooms. GERANIUMS: Long lasting and low maintenance geraniums make excellent plants for placing in the centre of a hanging basket to add some vibrant colour. The flowers are available in www.countrygardener.co.uk
Forty Begonia ‘Santa Cruz Sunset’ plants went into this Devon hanging basket
many colours and appear on tall stems which rise up from the centre of the plant and can reach 40cm tall, just enough to be seen above the other plants. 33