Hanging Baskets are easy follow this step by step guide

Hanging Baskets are quite easy to plant and provided that you keep well watered they will bloom with colour for the whole summer.

Hanging baskets are beautiful in the summer but need to be planted before the plants are fully grown.

How to be frugal when planting your hanging baskets.

I re use my baskets year after year although sometimes I have to ask my husband to fix the chains as if we forget to take them in during the winter, they rust.

What type of liner do I buy for my basket?

I have several wire baskets and in order to plant these I buy liners from my local hardware store. There are a vast choice in liners available on the market. In these photos I have used a recycled liner but they are available in moss, plastic, card and I even have a neighbour who uses black plastic waste sacks. The point of the liner is that it fills the basket and lets you keep the soil within the basket, but at the same time providing a way for the plants to reach through outside of the basket. I tend to put a few drainage holes in the liners in case we have a deluge of rain so that it can soak away. That was really useful this year as the whole year seemed to consist of rain, rain and more rain.

Compost- should I add Water Retaining Capsules?

Once the liner is in place I add a quantity of a good quality compost. If you live in an arid area or are expecting water restrictions it would be an idea to put in water retaining capsules which will help with the slow release of water when there is insufficient water going in. As i write this it is pouring with rain, so I didn't do that!

I always use trailing lobelia around the sides of the basket. With the liner there are gaps where you can put the plant in. With cardboard liners all you have to do is cut a hole out of the card. If you are layering the lobelia then you need to ensure that the cut outs are in different positions of the basket. I always have a centre plant- usually fuchsias which grow fairly tall and have heavy flowers- my favourite is swingtime. I then add a couple of other prolific plants like Bizzy Lizzys.

Plants grow! A bare basket will bloom

The basket can look fairly bare at the moment but do not over plant it as the plants soon start to grow and take over the whole basket .

Water the basket well and place on the hook which should be attached to a robust wall leaving enough room for the basket to hang and all the plants to grow. The baskets should be watered on a daily basis and if we actually get some sun, more frequently. Like all container plants you will get the most out of watering if you water either in the early morning or evening when the sun has gone down.