Avoid these hanging basket mistakes if you want to have beautiful blooms all season long!
Adding a couple of hanging baskets to your outdoor area brings an instant uplift to any space, no matter if you have a sprawling yard or a small balcony. Learning how to properly plant a hanging basket can be inexpensive and straightforward.
But there are a few innocent hanging basket mistakes that have given these beautiful garden ideas a bad rep for being difficult to maintain. From lining the hanging basket to choosing the best compost, selecting long-lasting plants, and getting the feeding and watering right, there’s much to consider, making it difficult even for the pros!
Yet, since nothing looks more cheerful than a hanging basket full of colorful plants, I wanted to get to the bottom of this. First, let’s remember that plants in any container don’t have the nutrients and moisture available to plants in borders, so they require special consideration.
Whether you wish to enrich your front garden ideas with hanging baskets or try growing strawberries or tomatoes in one, here are 5 hanging basket mistakes you should avoid… and I’ll even throw in a few tips to help your outdoor spaces pop!
Hanging basket mistake: You’re not using enough potting soil
First, let me make this clear: You MUST use potting soil that’s specifically created for containers. You shouldn’t use soil from your garden or pure compost. But make sure you use enough soil for the size of the basket. And keep in mind that you may need to top up the soil once or twice during the growing season.
Remember that the soil will be more compact due to gravity playing its part. As the basket swishes in the wind and gets rained on, your soil will condense, even leaving some room at the top. Make a note to check the soil monthly and top it up if needed. Pro Tip: Perlite is a big secret ingredient to any container garden.
To prevent compaction as much as possible when planting the hanging basket, add a handful of perlite to the bottom of the basket before adding any plant. Then, mix it in with a light layer of soil.
Hanging basket mistake: You’re choosing the wrong plants for hanging baskets
Let’s start with the biggest hanging basket mistake I was making. I went shopping with a list of plants that I thought were suitable for hanging baskets. Now, I decided to improvise and slightly ignored the list and my previous knowledge of hanging baskets.
That’s how I bought a potato vine, which is a climber, not a hanging basket plant. My mistake didn’t exactly burn a hole in my wallet since the plant was relatively small, but now I have to buy another big pot and find a suitable area for the Solanum jasminoides. (Side Note: Having to find “one more pot” seems to be a recurring theme in our life as gardeners, right?)
So, before you assemble your hanging baskets, add plants that fit this purpose. A few of the most popular choices for baskets include:
-English ivy (Hedera)
-Petunia
-Million Bells (Calibrachoa)
-Sweet alyssum (Lobularia)
-Trailing Pansy (Viola wittrockiana)
-Impatiens (Impatiens walleriana)
-Moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora
-Burro’s Tail (Sedum morganianum)
-Pelargonium geraniums
Hanging basket mistake: You’re letting the hanging baskets get too dry
This could just be from forgetfulness, at least it is for me sometimes. But it could also be the result of a combination of some other hanging basket mistakes. A small hanging basket without a liner and very little soil in it will dry up much faster.
I’ve discovered that this also happens when the basket is set in a location that isn’t very accessible, either because it’s too out of the way, too high, or too far away from the other plants you’re watering. Hang your baskets in a spot that’s accessible enough for regular watering.
For instance, as someone who’s not very tall, I made sure to place my baskets somewhere I could easily reach to water them. I’m not going to lift a watering can above my head, obviously, but I can easily reach my hanging baskets while holding a bottle of water.
Hanging basket mistake: You’re using the wrong size basket
Now, take this hanging basket mistake with a grain of salt because it’s all subjective at the end of the day. The “wrong” size could mean too small for your climate and plants. The risk with small hanging baskets is that they dry out pretty fast, especially if they’re placed in full sun.
So, if you’re planting thirsty plants or not getting enough rain, you may want to upgrade. When in doubt, start with a mid-sized hanging basket. Another issue with using small baskets is that there’s no room for the proper amount of potting soil. Plants need soil to anchor their roots, and inadequate root development usually stunts plant growth.
But if you only have enough space for a small basket, that’s better than no basket at all, right? On the other hand, big hanging baskets are also a concern due to how heavy they get when soaked with water.
Pro tip: Use an empty pot as your base to keep the hanging basket upright when you plant it. The basket I’ve planted this summer is mid-sized, about 15 inches in diameter at the top. It’s not too big to be an issue or too small to dry out easily.
Hanging basket mistake: You’re not lining your baskets
The good news for me is that I haven’t made this hanging basket mistake in a long time. But I remember making it years ago when I was trying to be more frugal. I had found a super pretty colander for a dollar and turned it into a hanging basket with the help of a little knotwork and some twine.
And no, I didn’t line the colander. As a result, all the water drained out as soon as I watered the plants. By the end of that season, I was so done with watering that it put me off hanging baskets for a while. Bottom line? You live, you learn, and then you line your baskets! Coco coir is a reusable and sturdy basket liner.
Nowadays, I use coco coir mats to line all my hanging baskets. I should mention that it does have an environmental impact since it’s imported from so far away. That’s why I make sure to take care of it, and I make it last. I clean, dry, and store it inside over the colder months. So far, I haven’t had to throw away any of my older mats.
But when the time finally comes, I’ll just compost them. So, here’s what to know: Pre-soak the mat because it’ll make it fit your basket better. Coco husk mats are also very adaptable.
When I went shopping for a hanging basket recently, I couldn’t find the right size to match the wire basket I already have. So I just bought a bigger mat, soaked it well to make it more pliable, and creased it a little to fit the basket better.
I hope you found these hanging basket mistakes useful. If you wish to learn about some more tips and tricks I’ve picked up over the years, check out: 6 Easy Houseplant Care Tips ALL Pros Recommend
