How to Design and Plant a Hanging Plant Basket

Create your own hanging baskets for your patio or porch.

Hanging baskets bring the garden to the patio during the summer months. The bright blooms add color and attract butterflies and hummingbirds to the baskets, adding even more interest to the creation. Even a small basket of marigolds changes the appearance of an otherwise drab setting. You can design and plant a hanging plant basket with almost any of the flowers normally used in your flower beds. A combination of vegetation and flowering plants blends well for a pleasing look.

Things You'll Need

• Hanging basket
• Basket liner
• Pea gravel
• Potting soil
• Slow-release fertilizer
• Pruning shears
• Small spade
• Distilled water

Instructions

1. 

   Even a small basket can serve as a planter.

   Choose the basket you intend to use for the hanging basket arrangement. Consider the weight of the finished basket when choosing between wood, wire or plastic containers.

2. Select a variety of blooming flowers that complement each other and also require the same type of growing conditions. Drought-tolerant plants, such as marigolds, may not do well with high-maintenance plants, such as petunias. You can also mix variegated foliage with flowering plants that require the same maintenance.

3. Line wire baskets with moist sphagnum moss or buy a pre-formed liner. For other types of baskets, create drainage by adding a 2-inch layer of pea gravel to the bottom of the basket.

4. Mix the potting soil with a slow-release fertilizer, according to the fertilizer package directions. The addition of the fertilizer keeps the plants fed during the growing season. Potted plants cannot gather nutrients like garden plants.

5. Fill the basket with the potting soil mixture. Arrange the plants and flowers with tall plants in the middle and trailing plants along the edge. Keep in mind that the plants will fill out the basket as they grow, so avoid over-crowding the plants.

6. Water the plants thoroughly. Container plants need more water than garden-grown plants because the pots dry out quickly. Throughout the growing season, deadhead the spent blooms to keep the hanging basket looking neat and full of blooms.

References

• University of Illinois Extension: Making Hanging Baskets
• Fine Gardening; Create An Elegant Hanging Basket; Heather McCain