Hanging Around - How To Maintain Those Hanging Plants And Keep Them Healthy

When space is limited, or when to give your garden a different dimension, hanging baskets are a great idea! Hanging from anything, a deck, pergola or verandahs your baskets can look fabulous. You can even attach a half basket to a wall or fence. They are also a great idea if your garden has tree roots that make it difficult to grow other plants.

Regular watering is essential to growing plants in a hanging basket. Because they are hanging, they are prone to drying out, especially when the wind blows. Most are without steady access to natural water and are in shaded spots, as they are being hung under pergolas or rafters. A quality potting mix that can retain water is a good choice when planting; you can even enhance your soil with water storing crystals. Soil wetting agents such as Saturaid is a great idea, too. However, be careful, some mixes already come with a soil wetter; you will have to add more every year though.

Plants that trail look fantastic in hanging baskets, those that tend to grow straight up look out of place most of the time. Lobelia, impatiens and fuchsias look wonderful, but diligent watering is a necessity. If your basket does get completely dried out, take it down and submerge it a tub of water until it's become completely re-hydrated.

With the gardening season upon us, and people out selecting hanging baskets for decks and porches, it is important to remember that they will need a lot of special attention to show their best presentation!

Garden centers usually plant in a soil-less planting mix. These are used to provide fantastic drainage, as well as keeping the plant weed, disease and insect free! Usually the mixes have an organic mix of peat moss, pine or hardwood bark and/or redwood sawdust. The minerals usually found are vcermiculite, perlite, and sand, or a combination of those. These mixes are lightweight making it easier to move the basket. If you're starting your own hanging basket, look for a mix similar to this, it's both highly recommended AND widely available.

Keep an eye on your plants and the weather! On warm sunny days you may need to water them 2-3 times, where cooler and cloudy, maybe only once every 2-3 days. Most plants do not come back from water stress well; so do not allow your plants to wilt! Thoroughly water your plants, keep watering till you see water draining out of the bottom of the basket. If it's dried out too much, set the basket in a bucket of water for about an hour, allowing for the plant to rehydrate. The baskets really confine the root systems of the plants, so as well as water, fertilization is VERY important.

Just like they do not have access to natural water flow, (most of the time) the basket will not have a lot of room for plant roots to go in search of nutrition. A good fertilizer, applied regularly is key to keeping your plants healthy. Water-soluble as well as timed-released fertilizers, are available and really do work well. Choose the fertilizer that works best for you and follow the directions on the container for your application process and rate. To keep your plants growing well, a fertilizer with a 1:2:1 ratio will do wonders.

Deadheading is essential in keeping your baskets looking their best. Deadheading is the removal of the flowers as soon as they start to whither. If deadheading is not done on time, the plant will go to seed and that seasons flowering is complete. By deadheading you prolong the flowering season of your plant. Pruning or otherwise will also help encourage more flowers as well as keep the plant branching out and looking full on the vegetation side.

Choosing your flowers really depends on the area that your plant will be hanging. If your basket is in the sun, Black-eyed Susans, Geraniums, Petunas, Nasturtiums, Portulaca, Verbena, Dahlberg Daisies or Annual Vinca work really well. If you're hanging the basket in the shade, or even partially in the shade, Begonias (both the wax and tuberous varieties work) as well as Sweet Alyssum, Lobelia, New Guinea Impatiens, Fuchsias, Pansies, Swan River Daisies, Nierembergia and Bougainvillea will give you excellent results.

Even if you have a favorite flower for your baskets, here are a few more suggestions. Experiment and you may find something that will surprise you in its beauty.