The Magic of Gardening

Why Do My Hanging Baskets Look So Bad?

One of the late summertime questions I hear from gardeners is why they can’t have beautiful full hanging baskets like they see in public gardens and even many downtown streets they visit? My response is, you can, but you have to plan. The hanging baskets found at most retail stores are designed for a couple things. They must be inexpensive, and they must be small enough to transport well and look full at the garden center. If the plant looks beautiful and full when you purchase it, then it most likely will not last the summer in that container. I will get back to this point later.

The first step to success is to choose the right plants for our summer heat and for the light level they will be exposed. For example, Boston ferns are beautiful, but can’t tolerate too much sun and the wind wreaks havoc on their delicate foliage. Some good choices for those sunny, hot porches include hybrid trailing type petunias, million bells, portulaca, lantana, bougainvillea, dragon wing begonia, Sunpatiens and scaevola (my favorite).

Now back to the main reason for failure of even these tough heat-loving flowers – the pot size. I suggest you invest in well-made reusable containers of at least 12 inches in diameter and larger is even better. Most of the garden center plants (especially from the big box stores) will be 10 inches or even smaller containers. It is fine and much more economical to purchase smaller plants, and they need not even be in a hanging basket. However, as soon as you get them home, repot them in the larger containers. Use a good-quality potting medium and not the cheap potting soil to fill the new container. Make sure to moisten the soil before planting and then again afterward.

These smaller plants will quickly fill the larger containers if you water and fertilize them properly. One advantage of the larger pots is they hold more water, but they still need daily attention. So at least check to see if they need water because peat moss is hard to rewet when it dries out and it is better to keep it constantly moist but not sopping wet. In addition, you

either need a slow release fertilizer mixed into the soil or placed on the surface or alternatively you can water with a liquid fertilizer on a weekly basis according to the package directions.

Some other tips to keep the baskets looking their best are to rotate the basket on a regular basis to allow for more even light distribution. In addition, many types of plants would benefit from regularly pruning or at least deadheading the old blooms off. When you remove old blooms, just pinch the branch back a few inches on every third or fourth bloom. This will encourage branching and increased flower formation.

You may be thinking, “What can I do with the sickly plants hanging on my porch right now?” You have a couple options. Option one is to cut the plant back very hard – within a few inches of the soil. Give it a boost of liquid fertilizer and regrow the plant for a nice fall show. Option two is to trim less severely, step up to a larger pot and fertilize it with liquid fertilizer on a weekly basis. It may not have time to completely fill the pot but you could place a couple smaller plants into these larger pots and have a good show within a month of repotting. Next year you will know to start out with the larger pots so you can go the entire summer without repotting and only minimal pruning. You will be rewarded with plants that don’t fizzle out in July or August, but look beautiful well into the fall.

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QUICK TIPS

TO KEEP HANGING PLANTS LOOKING THEIR BEST:

1. Repot store-bought pots to 12” pots or larger 2. Include a slow-release fertilizer into the soil 3. Rotate the basket on an ongoing regular basis 4. Prune regularly 5. Deadhead old blooms