We’re always so eager to roll out our hanging baskets for spring and summer””they’re the perfect way to fill your yard or patio with vibrant plants and flowers, even if you don’t have a ton of free space. Suspending baskets overhead creates a stunning visual spectacle that draws the eye up, adding layers of beauty to your garden design.
The thing is, caring for plants in hanging baskets is a lot different than caring for them in garden beds. After all, they’re confined to a space with much less soil, and therefore, less of a nutrient supply. However, that doesn’t mean your hanging basket plants will be sentenced to starvation””rather, you’ll just need to give them a little extra attention to ensure their food and water supply is topped up regularly. If you’re new to growing plants in baskets, or if you’ve experienced some mishaps in previous attempts, here’s a rundown of how to grow the perfect hanging baskets.
Watering Hanging Baskets
Naturally, there’s a lot less soil in a hanging basket than there is in the ground. That makes conditions a little different for your suspended plants. For starters, the soil won’t hold on to moisture for quite as long as it might in a bed or border. This is partly because the sun heats up container-bound soil faster than soil in the ground, causing water to evaporate much more quickly.
To prevent your plants from getting dehydrated, you’ll want to water your hanging baskets a lot more frequently than your garden plants. During especially dry, hot periods, you’ll have to water them daily.
Fertilizing Hanging Baskets
You’ll also need to use fertilizer a little more frequently with hanging baskets than in regular gardens. The type of fertilizer you use is dependent on the kinds of plants you’re growing in your baskets. If you’re planting fast-growing annuals, it’s easy to find a specially-formulated blend for petunias and similar flowers””these formulas are commonly used in hanging baskets. Look for a water-soluble or slow-release granular formula that promotes flowering.
If you’re growing edible plants in hanging baskets, it’s best to use a fertilizer that’s developed for edible plants, since other fertilizers might not be healthy to ingest in trace amounts. Plus, fertilizers for vegetables will help your plant devote more of its energy to growing higher volumes of produce. Again, you’ll want to look for either a water-soluble or granular slow-release formula.
Choosing Soil for Hanging Baskets
When it comes to picking out soil to pot your plants in, you won’t want to end up settling for a sub-par potting mix, since your plants won’t be using much soil to begin with! That would just be cruel. Do your plants a solid favour and grab a nutrient-rich soil with fantastic drainage””something with plenty of perlite, peat moss, and organic material. You can even find some that have slow-release fertilizer in the mix, so you can hold off on adding any additional fertilizer for several weeks.
Suitable Plants For Hanging Baskets
There are so many different plants that can be grown in hanging baskets, and you can get really creative with mixed arrangements in all different colours and textures. However, if you plant a mixed arrangement, you’ll want to use plants that all have similar preferences for moisture and sunlight. They’re sharing such close quarters, it will be kind of impossible to give your plants completely different treatment when they’re only spaced a few inches apart.
When choosing plants to include in your basket, the container design “rule” most gardeners follow is to include a thriller (statement plant), filler (mounding plant), and spiller (trailing plant). If you’re planting a mixed arrangement, place the trailing plants around the edge of the container, and the taller “statement” plants closer to the middle.
Here are some of our recommendations for suitable plants for hanging baskets:
Flowers for Hanging Baskets
- Petunias
- Million Bells
- Fuschias
- Black-Eyed Susan Vine
- Geraniums
- Portulaca
- Begonias
Succulents and Foliage Plants for Hanging Baskets
- Burro’s Tail
- String of Pearls
- Creeping Jenny
- Coleus
- Sweet Potato Vine
Fruits and Vegetables for Hanging Baskets
- Strawberries
- Chilli Peppers
- Cucumbers
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Lettuce Greens
- Assorted Herbs
We’re kicking off our hanging basket preorder soon, so visit our GrowStore to reserve your baskets for delivery or curbside pickup before they sell out! We have so many spectacular arrangements coming in this year; you won’t want to miss out on these beauties.
