Planting a Hanging Basket

Updated: Dec 12, 2022

Hello and thanks for visiting our blog. This week I've put together some basic tips, a guide for complete beginners on how to plant up a hanging basket. A handy design tip is to plant in odd numbers, I have chosen to plant five trailing plants in order for this basket to be over flowing with pretty flowers.

I have chosen a pelargonium in pink, to go in the centre as this will give some height; petunias in purple, cerise and white; and a surfinia in pale pink. Be sure to choose varieties of plants that complement each other in colour.

In this hanging basket, I have used a coconut fibre lining to give a lovely natural look. Some baskets are pre-lined with plastic, this is fine if you can't see it, you may have to make a few small holes in it for drainage.

Next add some compost, you can use John Innes No. 2 or a general compost is fine. Adding slow release plant food and water retaining crystals is recommended for a hanging basket, to help keep the compost moist and nutritious.

Here I've put the tallest plant in the middle, this is fine or you could place it at the back of your arrangement. In this case the pelargonium is a trailing plant too, but still provides the bit of height required for this display.

The remaining four plants were placed around the centre. The pale colours were paired up with the more vibrant colours so that the display will look eye catching all round once everything is in flower. Be sure to loosen the roots slightly before planting. Add more compost around all the plants and pat down.

Give the basket a generous watering and hang it up! It's as simple as that. As far as caring for it goes, make sure you water it daily to avoid drying out. If you forget, and the compost does dry out just take the basket down and soak it in a bucket of water for a little while.

This basket will look great in a few weeks time, I'll be sure to post an updated picture for you to see the result.

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Thanks very much for reading, I hope to see you soon.