How to Create Large Hanging Flower Baskets
By learning how to create a large hanging flower basket, you can make your own décor for your patio or hanging garden. These baskets are not only a simple way to show off your favorite flower species, they also save space in small gardens and add vertical interest. Choose a strong, lightweight basket with good drainage, flowers that are suited to container growing and the right potting mix and you'll have a hanging flower basket that blooms all season. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Plants
- Wire basket
- Natural fiber liner
- Potting mix
- Slow-release fertilizer
- Water-absorbing crystals
Instructions
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Decide whether you want to plant a single species or a variety of species. If you want a variety, choose species that have similar light and water requirements. Then select tall, middle height and trailing forms and well as different bloom sizes and colors for visual balance. A large basket is also well suited to edible plants like cherry tomatoes, rosemary and lemon thyme.
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Choose a basket. The ideal choice is a wire mesh basket that's at least 12 inches across and 12 inches deep. Wire offers good drainage, is light, strong and allows you to plant flowers on the sides and bottom of the basket. Plastic, paper fiberboard, terra cotta and ceramic baskets provide poor drainage and are either too weak or too heavy to be practical for a large hanging flower basket.
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Line the wire basket with a natural fiber liner like sphagnum moss or coconut fiber (coir). Burlap is another option. The liner will hold the soil in, provide proper drainage and protect the plants' roots from summer heat. Before planting, dampen the liner and shake or press out any excess water. If you're using a fitted coconut fiber or burlap liner, just set it in the basket and press it into place. If you're using moss, add handfuls of moss to the bottom of the basket and then up the sides.
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Prepare a potting mix that can support many plants in a confined space. Use a lightweight "soil-free" potting mix that contains slow-release fertilizer and water-absorbing crystals. You can make your own mix with vermiculite, peat moss and medium grain perlite, in equal parts, by volume. Then, add fertilizer and water-absorbing crystals.
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Plant the bottom and sides of the basket. Add a few inches of potting mix to the basket. Use a sharp knife to cut a slit in the liner near the bottom of the basket. Gently push one plant's roots through, then pull the roots from the inside. Keep adding plants to this first row, 2 inches apart, all the way around the basket. Cover the roots with another few inches of soil and add a second row of plants, 2 inches above the first. Continue adding rows and stop about 5 inches from the rim of the basket.
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Plant the top of the basket. Add potting mix to within 2 inches of the basket's rim. Plant the tallest flowers in the center of the basket. Plant middle height flowers around those and trailing plants around the rim.
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Water in the plants. To help the flowers' roots settle, water the potting mix thoroughly and use your hands to gently tamp down the soil. The mix should be settled, but not packed solid. You may need to add a little more potting mix to fully cover the plants' roots.
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Tips & Warnings
Mediterranean plants like vinca, jasmine, fuchsia and impatiens are ideal for a large hanging flower basket because they thrive in dry soil.
A recently watered hanging flower basket can become quite heavy. Make sure your larger baskets are secured well enough to hold twice their weight.
