Total gardening novice - help with hanging baskets and bedding plants please?

[ChippyDucks150]

I've decided that this is going to be my year to do the garden. I have dug out all the stones and rocky earth around the outside of the house and want to put in some small plants. It's right next to our path though, so they need to stay small. What's best?

The hanging baskets I've bought are easyfill ones, with the gaps around the sides for plants to trail. What can I put in them that won't die easily, are relatively straightforward to look after and will give lots of colour?
Thanks in advance for any tips.

When I started a couple of years ago I just picked things that were pretty and ended up with a garden full of Nasturtium (great) which then prompted a huge black fly infestation (bleugh). So I'm bumping this because I'd love some tips too!

for the hanging baskets Geranium & Pelargonium.
You can get a mix of upright and trailing so maybe upright in the basket and trailing in the holes. You can get a variety of colours and if you have a Morrison’s nearby their plants are good and cheap.
They are very forgiving if you forget to water them for a few days and if you head head them you will have flowers all summer.
For your pathway what will do best depends on if it is sunny or shaded and your soil. If you don’t know your soil type then have a look at he gardens around you and see what they have.

Thanks for the tips re hanging baskets. For the borders, they are shaded but we had to dig them out quite deep so will need to replace the soil anyway.

When you pot up your hanging baskets. Put some water retaining gel into the soil. It stops them drying out too much, they will need watering twice a day, even on dull days.
Trailing fuchsias are also way to look after. Garden centres will be selling trailing foliage plants which compliment the flowering ones.
In the borders, small hardy geraniums, huchera, astrantia and penstemon are all perennial plants and easily looked after.

If you have a small greenhouse or porch where plants will be protected then you will be ok to buy and plant up ( that means plant them into slightly bigger pots to grow on) so they will be bigger and stronger plants ready to plant out in the garden borders when the weather warms up. Otherwise wait a bit longer , garden centres are selling small annual border plants now, but many of them will be very small and won’t cope well with the cold weather we have at the moment. The garden centres know this, and know that many people buying annual bedding plants now will be back at the end of May to buy replacements.

I think your best bet is to look at more permanent plants like perennials. In your borders you can plant things like cranesbill geraniums that come in a variety of colours and leaf shades. If you deadhead them they flower for a long time and they are perennial so will grow this year, next year and for a few more years. Not too tall but spread out prettily. Are not prone to pests. Penstemons , crocosmia and geums are other perennial plants that come in various colours and are easy to grow and have a long season.

The problem with perennials is that they disappear in winter, you can deal with having bare beds in spring by growing spring bulbs (look out for them in autumn, plant them deeper than you think you need to) , so you will need to think about what will look good in late autumn and winter. Pansies are good for this, but they are quite small and I think you also need to be looking at some taller ,permanent plants, like small shrubs, or taller, woody perennials to give some height and structure.

i loved my begonias last year....lasted a long time, easy to care for and looked stunning

I add a bit of ivy for greenery as well

Fantastic advice, thanks @viques
I've bought the attached plants to pot up in the kitchen for a few weeks once they're delivered at the end of the month, I'm planning on putting them in containers in my SW facing rear garden.
I don't have a greenhouse, so I'll wait a bit and buy plants towards the end of May for hanging baskets.

Photo here. It's 8 of these

I love Tom Thumbs too, but not sure if they're just suitable for containers or hanging baskets too