Install Hanging Baskets

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    [description] => How does your garden grow? We show you how to make the most of your space whether it's a big backyard or a compact courtyard. Learn tips and techniques for planting, pruning, propagating and more. Follow our easy step-by-step projects and be inspired by great design ideas you can try at home. 
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Garden ⁄ Gardening Tips & Ideas

A hanging basket is an easy way to add instant appeal and seasonal colour to an exterior wall, enlivening the area. Many nurseries sell pre-planted hanging baskets but it’s easy to make one using flowers you like.

Buy a pot with a metal chain or plastic hanger, or recycle woven baskets and old metal buckets.

Attach a bracket to the wall that’s strong enough to hold the weight of a basket filled with potting mix, using fasteners appropriate for the surface.

Prepare the pot

To customise a container for planting, make drainage holes in the base and line it with coir to let water escape while keeping the soil contained.

Add a layer of plastic over the coir to keep more moisture in, poking holes in it to stop the roots rotting.

Hanging baskets dry out quickly so, to reduce the need for watering, use a mix with water-saving crystals.

These crystals can hold hundreds of times their weight in water and release it to the roots as needed.

Design a display

Create a basket to showcase flowers, combining a few different types.

For an exciting display include a variety of growth habits.

The general rule is to choose plants that fit these three categories for maximum texture and interest.

A THRILLER has an upright habit and unusual foliage to attract attention.

A SPILLER cascades over the sides.

A FILLER adds colour and substance.

Hanging baskets lose nutrients fast so give them a liquid feed fortnightly to encourage flowering and growth.

TIP Deadhead flowers as they die and replace annuals as they finish to keep hanging baskets looking fresh.

hanging basket with pansies and lobelia plants, handyman magazine,

Pansies work as a thriller and filler in this basket teaming up with lobelia as a spiller

Choosing the plants

Popular inclusions for hanging baskets are brightly coloured annual bloomers and flowering perennials, or plants with variegated or coloured foliage that grow well in pots.

TIP Choose plants that suit your local climate.

Pelargonium plants are classic hanging basket additions

Fuschia plants make for a beautiful hanging basket display

Rhoeo plants are a great option for those who prefer hanging baskets that contain foliage rather than flowers

Lobelia plants are a great choice if you would like pops of purple and blue in your garden

Agave plants form a natural rosette shape making them an ideal candidate for a hanging basket

Scaevola plants are native to Australian and hardy despite their delicate appearance

How to install a hanging basket

Plant annuals in a basket then drill holes in a weatherboard wall to hang them from metal brackets.

Step 1. Add the plants

Add the plants to a basket two-thirds full of potting mix. Work from the outside, position the plants closely and firm down with extra mix.

Step 2. Attach the bracket

Attach the bracket by marking the positions on the wall to drill pilot holes, securing the base and top with galvanised screws.

Step 3. Hang the baskets

Hang the baskets from the brackets and water thoroughly then apply a slow-release fertiliser. TIP Apply liquid feed every 10 days.

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