Hanging baskets

maureenl · Hanging baskets

Ideas please for the best type of flowers to use for a hanging basket as my son and i have a competition every year and i need to win this year.

Maureen

Guest1

Are we talking summer baskets? If so, you can go down two routes. One is cram them with all sorts - but this takes some thinking about.
The other, is use just the one type of plant eg, bizzie lizzies or pansys/violas. These single-plant baskets look stunning if done right! Avoid plants that will get straggly or leggy such as petunias etc.
Just make sure you have a good compost, some kind of moisture retention, and DONT overfeed with chemicals! Just make sure the basket doesnt get too dry, or you will struggle to get the centre wet again.

maureenl

sorry but i should have said yes its summer baskets.

Maureen

hbrac

Before my winter pots were nicked :evil: I had a central red cordeline surrounded with winter pansies, ivy and heathers. For the summer ones I usually have mixed busy lizzies ( the double variety are fab) around the outside as well as ontop. Eventually they make a great big ball of colour and are always admired by passers by!!!

I have these padlocked to the brackets so they are safe. Any tips for securing free standing pots? I could drill a plate with a ring to the ground but I would need to make a hole in the pot.

wudja.cudja · Basket case

Hi Maureen .. ..

I personally think trailing Fuschias are lovely in baskets and they come in some fantastic colours. And i can't think of the name for the plant but it's the steel grey trailing plant in the BBC hanging basket on this page (see link below). The leaves have a soft grey colour and they're kind of covered in soft hairs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/ba...hniques/plant_hangingbasket.shtml

Fuschias are very easy to propagate so if you can buy them early or grow from seed you can soon fill a few baskets with the more expensive double and giant varieties. Some varieties below in so many colours..

http://www.shiraz.me.uk/site/directory/f/fuchsia.htm

paul..

Guest1

chocaholicsanon

Hilary, can you not cement them to the floor or cement them to a paving slab. leave a gap for drainage out the base.

once in place put an extra piece of polystyrene for drainage.

hbrac

The only problem with cementing them in one position is that you have to fill and empty them in that place..i.e by the front door step. I usually give them to a garden centre to refill the pots and they deliver them back to me. Funny enough my pots were plastic replicas of stone/terracota pots so they were lightweight and not as expensive as they looked from the road

. If I drilled a hole in the side near the top and threaded some plastic chain through and secured it around a ring plate drilled into the ground I could turn the pot round so the chain was behind and not showing. Trouble is I haven't seen any of these urn type pots for over a year now.

wudja.cudja · Plastic planters / urns

Hi Hbrac.. ..

B&Q stocked them last summer and in different colours terracota / stone with quite a few different styles. urns, bells and traditional pots.

Looked on the diy.com site but, not available on-line to view. The stores should be getting garden stock back in now after the christmas specials and sales have finnished.. ..

paul.. ..

hbrac

Paul...2 of the pots that were stolen were terracota coloured Ali Baba pots (plastic but looked like real stone).I think I got them originally from B&Q but looking around this summer they had a very poor, boring selection of fake pots . I'll keep a look out for some this summer.

blueheather

I planed a couple up last year with nothing but trailing begonias, they were absolutly stunning. Much better than the previous year with a Bizzy Ball and trailing fuscia ones. Some of the flowers were so big they looked like Gardinias. Gt lots of comments from passers by, like you Hillary I had to go to measures to secure baskets to the brackets after losing a few a couple of years back. Don't know the answer for your tubs though - tricky
Heather

hbrac

You just can't believe the bare faced cheek of some people Heather!

Hanging baskets

Basket case

Plastic planters / urns