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Making a hanging flower basket is easier than you think, and the results can be spectacular.
What could be lovelier when looking at you house than to see a row of hanging flower baskets displaying a riot of color and trailing greenery. You can achieve the beginning of this in a weekend, and then all you have to do is look after the plants and wait for the miracle of nature to provide you with hanging flower baskets full of color and fragrance.
When choosing plants for hanging flower baskets, the conditions that they are going to be growing in must be considered first. For instance some plants need several hours of sun every day for them to flower well, and others will flower even with no sun, so the plants you choose will depend on the conditions they need and the position they will be hung.
Materials needed when making a hanging flower basket are:
- a hanging basket container with very strong straps, preferably chain.
- coconut fiber or similar for lining a wire basket
- plastic
- scissors
- good quality potting mix
- slow release fertilizer
- plants
The main types of containers for use as hanging baskets are:
- wire or plastic-coated wire baskets lined with coconut fiber or similar material
- Plastic containers
- Self-watering baskets
- Baskets with a drip tray
- Terracotta baskets
- Timber hanging baskets
The plastic, timber and self-watering baskets have the advantage of not drying out as quickly as the wire baskets. Terracotta hanging baskets are very heavy when planted up, with the weight of the pot and the added weight of the moist potting mix and the plants, so you will have to be careful where you hang them. They often don’t have drainage holes so you could put pebbles in the bottom and place a plant in a pot inside so the pot is not visible. This would be ideal for indoors, as you wouldn’t have to worry about water spillage.
Once you have chosen the basket you wish to use for your hanging flower basket, stand it in a large pot or bucket so it will be stable while you’re planting it, and you might also like to take off one or two of the hanging chains to make planting easier.
If using a wire basket line it with some coconut fiber which comes as either loose material or a pre-formed mat. Inside the fiber you may wish to have a layer of plastic to stop the material drying out so quickly, but will need to put some holes in the bottom for drainage.
Select the plants you wish to have in your hanging flower basket and soak them in their pots in water for half an hour before transplanting from the pots to your hanging flower basket.
The next step for a wire basket, and the first step for the plastic and self-watering baskets, is to partly fill the container with good quality potting mix. When you’ve done that and the plastic is firmly in place, cut off any surplus plastic so it is not visible past the fibrous lining material.
Add the plants you want in your hanging flower basket, starting around the edge with trailing plants, or plants that will trail or hang down when they get bigger. As you plant around the edge, add some more potting mix, firming it down, to keep these plants in position. Next plant the upright plants in the middle of the basket, adding more potting mix as necessary.
Leave about 1 - 2 inches between the top of the potting mix and the top of the basket so that when you water the plants the water won’t run off. Lightly spray the plants with water until all the air bubbles are out of the potting mix and the plants are settled in their positions in the hanging flower basket.
Re-attach the hanging chains and hang the basket where you have planned for it to go. It may look sparce when first planted, but before long it will be a riot of color and will gladden your day when you see your beautiful hanging flower basket.
An alternative to using seedlings to plant up your flowering hanging basket is to start at the beginning and use seeds. This is exceptionally rewarding, as you follow the progress of the plants right from when they poke their heads out of the soil until they burst into flower. You can start the hanging basket off in a sheltered position until the plants are looking lush, and then bring them into the area where you want them to be a showpiece along with your other flowering hanging baskets.
