Hanging baskets liven up Southern home landscaping

June 15, 6:21 PMHome and Living ExaminerAndrea Campbell

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Downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas, has the greatest hanging flower baskets all along Central Avenue, across from Bath House Row. The full baskets hang on special hooks and alternate with hanging banners featuring the logo of the state. The “Natural State” reminds visitors that the plant life, as well as the hospitality, is always in full bloom for summer.

Want to add baskets to your own home landscape? They are not as difficult to put together despite looking as if they take a ton of work. If you choose the right plants for your region, you’ll have a guaranteed stunner pot of flowers, all summer long.

Some materials you may need are:

Wire hanging basket, 14-inch or 16-inch suggested, I like wire baskets with plastic coating; basket liner—use long-fibered sphagnum moss, coca fiber (coir), or pressed paperboard; slow-release fertilizer (also called “time released”); potting soil with water retention beads, a trowel; small tray or plastic lid from a wide-mouthed jar, variety of annuals, ivy and mosses, liquid fertilizer or seaweed fertilizer, a large-mouthed flowerpot, several extra buckets, water or watering wand; an electric drill and hooks for hanging; (choose a hook that rotates if possible).

• Pull all your supplies together in one area. While you’re working, it helps to place the wire basket you want to fill inside a large a flowerpot to help support it while you work, especially if it has a round bottom. This ensures that you can work from all sides.

• Combine your potting soil and fertilizer together and add any additions such as bone meal if you wish, mixing it all together in a big bucket with a trowel or big spoon. Take the moss you’ve purchased to line the basket and put it into another bucket of water to soak.

• Take some time to lay out your plant arrangement until you get the design you like best. You might want to put taller plants in the center and have the trailing plants all around the sides. Mix colors boldly and remember that a pure green plant like ivy or even a green herb such as mint, parsley, basil or sage is needed for contrast. As companion plants they will also repel certain insects.

• Take the moss liner from the water soak and gently squeeze the water out. You want to press the liner material into the bottom of your container and then cover the sides. If you take fingers and press from both the inside and outside with your hands, the moss will shape up nicely. You are going for about a 1-inch thickness liner. I suggest you overlap the different layers to keep the soil from oozing or falling out.

Tip: Buy annuals that are typically acclimated to Zone 7 & 8 for climate change. And if you purchase plants in a flat where a 4 or 6-pack is featured, you might save money. Besides you do want duplicate plants to insure a nice color palette.

• When you plant, think about doing it in layers because hanging pots are usually enjoyed from the bottom and sides mostly. Begin with a staggered row of plants in the bottom. Take a minute to create some slits in the liner and pull some plant strands through to the outside of the basket to trail down (ivys will do great here). Layer some potting soil over the plants making sure to press out any air pockets.

Tip:
A clever trick since the summers can get so extremely hot here, place that small jar lid or shallow dish into the middle of the pot on top of the soil. It will catch water and hold the plants above for a longer period of time. Put in another layer of soil.

• Plant another row of hanging plants or plants that trail. Again, a few slits in the sides and some plant material gently pulled through will equal a full, 360-degree color viewing for a mature pot down the road. If plants are well-established you can pinch them back some to encourage fullness.

• Now the top layer, your last, goes into the pot. Save plants that need straight up growth to go in now. Some plants will give height and those fill in the top well. If you space them about 3 to 4-inches apart, when they mature they will not crowd each out. Make sure the soil doesn’t come all the way to the top or when you water, you will have soil and fertilizer raining down. Potting soil 3/4-inch or so below the rim is best.

• Water now and hang the pot soon after so the hanging materials don’t break off. When a day passes, you can do the finger test—stick finger into the soil one knuckle deep—to determine if soil needs water. Mostly you will need to water once a day, a water wand is the best tool and after the basket is established you can drench it pretty well. For fullness, add liquid fertilizer once a week and again, pinch back stems to encourage full growth. Remove any dead flowers.

• Once a week, use your liquid fertilizer. Deadhead or prune at the same time, pruning will encourage growth and foster evenness.

Tip:
Keep in mind that baskets can get heavy when filled, so make sure your hook will support them. Also, since we often have quick thunderstorms come up without notice, you might think about wiring the basket to the hook for safety. A rotating hanger is a nice feature because you can turn it around fully to let all sides capture the sun.

Plant suggestions: variegated ivy, trailing fuchsias, creeping jenny, fairy fan flower, butterfly flower, silver licorice, trailing lobelia, sweet alyssum, verbena, trailing petunias, hanging begonias, dwarf heliotrope, and coleus.