Prepping for Hanging Baskets

Saturday, March 08, 2008 03:45 AM

March is a busy time for us at the greenhouse, as this is the time of year we start planting.

Over the next couple of weeks we will be planting hundreds of hanging baskets and containers. To plant a beautiful, healthy hanging basket that will last throughout the spring/summer, you must first start with a container that will be large enough to hold enough soil to be able to sustain the plants roots and hold moisture.

A container should be a minimum 10 inches large and deep. Larger containers are able to hold more plants and later in the season when the plants roots have developed will not need to be watered as often as a smaller container that dries out more quickly. Containers should also have good drainage so they should have drainage holes allowing the excess water to drain out, which will prevent root decay if the plants roots are sitting in water for long periods of time. Wood and moss baskets are ideal as they allow the extra moisture to drain out. If you are planting a container that will sit on a patio or deck that you do not want to get wet you should purchase a large tray that fits under the container to catch the excess water. After you have chosen the container you need to fill the container with a high quality potting soil. This is the foundation for your plants roots so do not skimp on the quality of the soil; you get what you pay for. We like to add some slow release fertilizer to the soil as this will continuously feed the plants roots throughout the growing months.

Now, that you have the container and the soil you are ready to pick out the plants.

When choosing plants you first need to decide the location of the container/hanging basket. Things to consider is how much sun the location gets and what time of the day does the sun get to that location. If it only receives early morning sun and late afternoon sun it would be considered a shade area, whereas if it gets the hot afternoon sun from noon till four it would be full sun and anything in between could be sun to partial shade. After you have decided what type of location you are placing the container you can begin choosing plants for the container. Decide on a color theme and whether you want the plants to hang down, or grow upright, or both. Carefully read labels that accompany the plants or go through a gardening book and read about the plants growing habits.

You can make a container/hanging basket that contains just one variety of plants or you can make a container/hanging basket that is mixed with different types, varieties, and colors of plants. Generally when creating a mixed container you will want to start from the middle of the container and work yourself to the outside edges. The center plant is an upright plant and the outside edge plants are hanging plants and between the center and the edge you could place some semi-upright plants. Keep the container balanced so that it does not look lopsided in plant type or color. The amount of plants you place in a container depends on the size of the container and the growth habit of the plant.

When we plant our hanging baskets/containers we use plugs which are small plants that 2-5 cm large. These will also be available in the garden center in the next couple of weeks for our customers to purchase. If you are planning to start your own containers now you will need an area in the house where you can place the container so that it will receive enough light to grow properly, by either using grow lights, a heated greenhouse or a south facing window, otherwise you should wait till May when you can purchase larger plants and place your container directly outdoors. If you plan on starting containers now by using the plugs pinch out the tops of the plants after they have started growing in the container to create a bushier plant and fertilize your container weekly with an all purpose 20-20-20

-Jos

Jos Van Hage owns and operates two Art Knapp Garden Centres in Prince George