Why do my hanging baskets or pots always look so shit?

[tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz]

I need an intervention

In my head my hanging baskets will look like a picture from Gardners World

In reality they look like someone ran over them. Either I ram too many plants in or not enough. How high do you put compost in before adding plants? Then when I add compost to fill gaps I end up crushing what I've just planted.

Please please give me an idiots guide to making a pretty but simple basket or pot

I don't have the knack either - mine look better if I keep them simple. I've planted mine with a 6 pack of mixed purple and white petunias this year and it's looking ok.

Ahh petunias are very pretty. I did Lobelia I think they are called? God knows why as they looked scraggy before I decimated them but I always panic when looking at the bedding plant selection and grab any old thing

Creeping Jenny and variegated ivy and white million bells and white and blue lobelia.

Simple and lovely.

Mine look good!

I do 5 diff things and I like triangle baskets the circular ines are too big.

1x something that grows up in the middle that’s a bit bushy
1-2 x something that’s dangly (if 2 planted on either side )
2 -3 x colourful things (not the same type) One is always the plant with little pink ball berries on.

I'm wondering if you're crushing the roots when you plant them. I fill the basket almost to the top, firm it, make rough holes for the plants with my hand and firm them in quickly and not too hard. Make sure you preserve the whole root ball from the tray. Water them in well.
Plants in containers or baskets are usually densely planted and need a lot of water and fertiliser. I use a mix of garden soil, home made compost and bought compost, and mix in some slow release fertiliser. I also put a circle of plastic in the bottom of the basket liner before filling it, which helps retain water.
I hope you have success this year!

Plenty water and plenty fertiliser. Dead head regularly.
I water every night or morning (sometimes both if it’s really hot)

I buy mine ready made at the garden centre and water it twice daily, job done.

I am by no means green fingered at all, but I do pride myself in always making up my own HB.
Mine is round about 1 foot diameter. It's wicker with a polythene lining that I've stabbed some holes in. I used to have a wire one which needed a basket liner but it always looked a bit shabby.
I planted mine up yesterday. 2 trailing lobelia and 4 'tumbelina' trailing petunia (these have double flowers and ruffled petals). Pinks, white and purples. I filled the basket about 1/3 then placed the plants in a circle. The filling in with compost is difficult especially if you bought the plants a couple of weeks ago and they've been merrily growing on the patio.
I'll feed it weekly and water it daily unless it rains.
I'm better about dead heading and removing run away trails (lobelia can be a bugger for that) so that it's bushier. Let me show you my one from last year. It did really well and I've bought similar plants this year in the hope I get a repeat.

You need a bit of variety - there’s a method called thriller/filler/spiller that I use. The thriller is a tall plant - maybe an upright fuschia. The filler is smaller - bacopa, non trailing lobelia etc. The spiller is trailing - lobelia, petunia, creeping Jenny, or even ivy for winter baskets and pots.

You can also look at a colour wheel on Google for matching colours - I do green, white and purple for the suffragette colours.

@PauliesWalnuts Oh I'm going to steal your suffragette colours for next year.

Something tall in the centre, maybe fuschia. Then trailing plants at the edge, lobelia, verbena maybe begonia. Pack in more plants than you think and feed regularly. Use a large basket for more impact and water, daily in hot weather.

Liquid feed makes the difference between ok and glorious for mine.

I fill pretty much to the top with compost, then dig holes, fill them with water, let it sink in, then put in the plants and gently pat the compost down around them.

I like doing different colours and sizes the way people have said above, but last year I didn't have much time so just did one colour of cascading begonia and left them to it and they looked really good!

As large of a basket as you can lift

line the basket with plastic (I use an empty compost bag cut up black side out)

add water gel and slow release fertiliser

don't fill the soil up to the top or when you water it tends to run off rather than soak in

never let the baskets dry out

I like surfinia, bidens, trailing lobelia and a geranium

It also helps if you soak the plug plants in water for 24 hours before you plant them. I put three larger upright plants in the middle of my baskets then add about 6 trailing plants around the rim, laying the root ball horizontal on the compost so the plant falls over the rim. I add water retention gel to the compost and also put a saucer in the bottom, or sponges, to keep the compost moist for a few hours after watering. I use liquid tomato feed every week or so.

Just give up on hanging baskets, unless you plant sedums, anything else is too swayed by the weather to survive. It's not a very sustainable way to garden. With pots make sure you have stuff covering the soil like small stones to prevent it from losing moisture it gains. And when you water, it's best to water until it comes out of the bottom. You can do this less regularly than the daily sprinkle regime.

Perhaps they are drying out in hot sun and not recovering. I lived in the south and had south-west facing front door - the baskets either side lasted until about June -it seemed impossible to water them engough.
You could put liquid fed in the watering water so they are fed each time you water - doing that has helped my tubs.

Plastic lining needs a few small holes so the plant roots don't sit in water.

Mix up the compost with a small scoop of water-retaining granules and add into the basket.

Don't overfill with compost to allow for the fact that the rootball of each plant will occupy some space and increase the soil level. Also, when you go to water the basket, you don't want the compost spilling over the sides.

I use Tomorite as it contains seaweed which gives the foliage and flowers a boost.

Deadhead daily and snip off any dead stems (especially petunia that tends to be quite brittle) asap to keep the main plant compact and vigorous.

I do green, white and purple for the suffragette colours.

Ah, I'd not thought of that but my petunias fit the bill then!

Thinking about the lovely bought baskets... I'm pretty sure they make them when the plants are small so they're easier to work with and then grow them on hanging in greenhouses. They're all too big, we're a bit limited in the weight we can hang from our front door lamp.

and water it twice daily, job done. I knew there was a good reason I don’t do hanging baskets

It depends where it's hanging, surely.
Mine is fine with a water once a day.

Charlotte** they are beautiful. I'm so jealous

And I ❤️ the idea of suffragette colours! Some quiet but pretty rebellion

Ok so I'm doing lots of these things and in past years have done some lovely ones not a patch on Charlottes

I think where I may be going wrong is how high up to put compost in and when I've put my plant in, filling in around them without squashing them ... wondering if it's my big stupid gloves? I should ditch them at this stage and just gives nails a good scrub later

Thanks for everyone's advice.

If you have somewhere to store them, I find that they do better potted very early with tiny plugs and grow on without being disturbed. I needed new baskets this year so bought ready filled for £15 each, some with trailing begonias and some fuchsias, they are glorious. I really like having just one type of flowers, bonus is that neither need dead heading much