Nurseries are full of hanging baskets at this time of year, seemingly in every color and plant combination - except the one you want, right? How often have you found the perfect basket, wrestled it onto your cart then gone trundling around the nursery yet again trying to find a perfect match? Even if you find it you then have nothing short of army maneuvers trying to get two 3′ wide, super-trailing baskets into the back of your Prius….. Sound familiar?
The solution? Plant your own! You’ll save money and get exactly the colors and plants you want. You can coordinate your plant choices with anything from the trim on your house to the cushions on the patio chairs. Choose wild, zesty colors, an elegant green and white scheme or design with just foliage. It takes a little bit of time but the results are well worth it. Here’s how I do it.
Stuff fun plants into the basket sides. This red and purple annual is called ‘Tiny Mice’. Can you see why?
The squish factor!
Decide how many tiers of plants you are going to add to the sides. This will depend upon how high the basket is; one or two tiers is typical. Add enough soil to come just underneath where you want the lowest tier of plants to be. Gently make an opening in the lining either by pushing the moss to one side or cutting a hole in the liner. Using 2” sized plants (often called basket stuffers), remove them from their pots and wrap the roots in a little cling film or plastic to make sliding them easier. Gently push the plant roots through the hole, rest them on the soil surface and remove the cling film. Repeat as desired adding more soil to reach the next level, staggering the 2” plants on each tier to vary color and texture and allow for even coverage.
‘Lemon Slice’ million bells and ‘Berry Luscious’ lantana make stunning partners
Great combo for shade; ‘Bonfire’ begonia and ‘Midnight Blue’ Torenia
