What you will need:A selection of hanging baskets – including some with preformed liners.
Sphagnum moss – pre soaked in water ready to use.
Sphagnum moss pre-formed liner
Coconut fibre – loose.
Coconut fibre pre-formed liners.
Hortico Premium Potting Mix 25l
Crystal Rain – use an ice cream (or similar) container to make some up ready to use.
Yates Shake n Feed
Yates Nitrosol 500ml
Selection of plants suitable for hanging baskets.
Alyssum and Lobelia in punnets.
Potted colour – suitable to the season.
Notes:Types of liners:
Loose sphagnum moss.
Advantages:
Easy to work with and natural looking, particularly as it ages and becomes green. Holds a lot of water. Easy to plant plants in sides of basket.
Disadvantages:
Easily taken away by birds for nesting material. Need to use a lot of moss.
Pre-formed sphagnum moss liner.
Advantages:
Even easier to use than loose moss. Less moss used.
Disadvantages:
Holds less water. Birds still take moss for nesting.
Loose coconut fibre.
Advantages:
Easy to work with. Easy to plant plants in sides of basket.
Disadvantages:
Holds less water than moss. Easily taken by birds for nesting.
Pre-formed coconut liners:
Advantages:
Hard for birds to remove for nesting.
Disadvantages:
Difficult to plant plants in side of basket.
Potting mix:
To make a hanging basket look spectacular we usually put a lot of plants into a small area. Therefore it is important that you use a quality potting mix, with a good balance of fast acting and longer term fertiliser.
Water saving:
If the potting mix does not already contain water storage products it is a good idea to add these – particularly around the root zone – to help keep the soil moist.
Tip: If you are away on holiday drop the hanging basket to the ground. This reduces air movement around the plants and thus reduces water loss.
Feeding:
Once again as we put a lot of plants into a small area the plants draw the fertiliser very quickly. For a quick boost use Yates Nitrosol every 10 to 14 days, and for longer term use Yates Shake n Feed.