Gardening novice - help with hanging baskets please

[reddaisy]

I am off to the garden centre later and need some advice about what to put in my hanging baskets.

My friend did them last year for me and I think we have got a bag of soil/compost in the shed that was opened last year, can I use that again or do I need to get more? And what and how many plants should I buy for the baskets please?

Thanks very much in advance!

I did mine at the weekend and cheated a bit. At the garden centre they do packs of assorted plants especially for hanging baskets. Ie a dozen or so in certain colour schemes.

You will be able to use the compost you have already got. Just make sure you've got something to line your baskets with. I had intended to use the moss liners I'd had in mine from last year, but when I went to empty out the soil and remains from last year's efforts, the liners disintegrated
I ended up having to return to local garden centre for new liners.

Good luck and don't forget to water well!!

Thanks Pesto. My fingers are definitely not green but I do enjoy looking at pretty flowers. My baskets already seem to have a plasticky type liner in it, is that ok?

Do you have a greenhouse or anywhere sheltered to hang them? I'm in the SE and won't do baskets for another 3 weeks - we do get the odd late frost and I hate seeing plants getting killed off early in the year.

Is the compost you have the compost that was used for the baskets last year? Does it have any water retaining gel in it? Or slow release food? I normally chuck some of each in to try and keep them flourishing through the season, and use a light compost (for posts I like soil based ones, but that's a bit heavy for baskets). If the plasticky liners are broadly intact then they should be OK to use again - as long as you're happy with them.

How many plants is a tricky one. Partly it depends on what kind of plants you're putting in. I think my baskets are 14" ones, cone shaped with no holes around the sides. IIRC last year I had a geranium in the middle, and then 3 trainling plants round the side with trailing lobelia in between. The more plants you put in the quicker the basket will look full - but the more food, water and care it will need to keep looking good throughout the summer. It also depends how you buy them - plants in polystyrene trays tend to have smaller root balls than those in plastic pots. If you get too carried away it can be a struggle to physically get them in... Not that I've ever done that...

What plants is a very personal decision. Lots of people love petunias - I think they look lovely but I hate the way they're sticky and the way the flowers disintegrate in the rain, so I refuse to plant them. Probably worth looking at the pre-planted baskets and seeing what you like the look of, then finding the plants. I quite like to try and keep things simple - this year I think I'm going to stick to a couple of plants and get trays of those, probably trailing geraniums and trailing lobelia, with something slightly taller to go in the middle. Should also keep the cost down (IIRC trays tend to be about £4 for 6 or 8 plants - or £1 min for individual pots...)

Good luck and have fun :)