Hanging basket magic - Cover Story

Sunset, April, 1999 by Lauren Bonar Swezey

No room for a garden? Grow your flowers and foliage in baskets, designed to hang

Magic is in the air this spring. Enchanting combinations of flowers and foliage are pairing with offbeat containers to put a fresh spin on the art of hanging baskets. Imagine an exotic rattan basket, filled with tropical plants, suspended from a beam over your patio. Or a shower of petunia blossoms tumbling from a wire basket outside an arbor. Both are delightful surprises at eye level. And, like the other unique hanging baskets pictured on the following pages, they can transform a patio or entryway from ordinary to magical. With the right plants and a few simple tips (see page 137), you can create these one-of-a-kind hanging baskets to dress up your garden.

Six steps to a great hanging basket

* CHOOSE A CONTAINER

Almost anything that will hold soil can become a hanging planters - wire or rattan baskets, metal pitchers, terra-cotta urns, and wood containers all work well. Hang them with chains, sisal, or wire, and keep in mind that heavier pots need stronger hangers. Use swivel hooks (available at nurseries) atop the hangers; that way, you can rotate the pot occasionally so the plants receive light on all sides.

* SELECT PLANTS

Choose a style or a theme - all perennials, annuals, succulents, or tropicals, for instance. Next, select your color scheme; use contrasting or complementary colors together, or shades of a single color. Avoid mixing too many colors, which can give a container planting a confetti look. Choose both upright and trailing plants. Make sure the ultimate height of the upright plants will be in scale with the pot. Use six-pack-size plants for tucking into the sides of wire baskets.

* LINE WIRE BASKETS

Use a preformed, moss-covered sponge liner (MossCraft by Mapco, 800/598-9084 or 562/598-9084) or a coco fiber liner (from Kinsman Company, 800/733-4146). You can also use sphagnum moss, but it's much more time-consuming to install.

* PREPARE THE POTTING MIX

Use a high-quality potting mix that contains peat moss, forest products, and perlite. Mix in a controlled-release or well-balanced organic fertilizer. To help retain moisture, you can also mix in soil polymers such as Broadleaf P4. A Rain-Mat (a polymer-containing fabric mat from Kinsman Company) is particularly good for preventing water from rushing out the bottom of wire baskets. Before filling the container with potting mix, place the Rain-Mat inside the basket on top of the liner.

* PLANT THE BASKET

Depending on the container you use, follow one of these methods.

For top-planted containers: Fill two-thirds to three-fourths of the container with potting mix. Knock plants out of nursery pots and arrange them on top of the soil. Set upright plants in the center of the pot, drapers around the edges. Fill in with soil and water well.

For layered baskets: After lining the basket, fill a third of it with potting mix. Poke holes through the liner (coco fiber can be difficult to cut) or sphagnum moss every 2 to 3 inches around the circumference of the pot, just above the soil (MossCraft liners have premade slits). Push a rootball through each hole so the rootball sits on top of the soil. Add another third of soil, covering the first level of rootballs, and another circle of plants. Finish by filling the rest of the pot with soil and planting the basket top.

* WATER REGULARLY

Keep the soil moist but not soggy. Check containers (particularly baskets) often, since they can dry out quickly in hot weather. In hot inland climates, hang baskets in a spot that gets afternoon shade.

Watering tip: If your hanging basket is drying out too quickly or water seems to run down its sides leaving the rootball unsoaked, dunk the entire basket - soil and all - in a large tub of water for several minutes (or until water stops bubbling). Lift the basket out and let the water drain.