Hanging Gardens - Beginner Style!


Lining Material
There are many ways to line a hanging basket. Green forest moss is available in many areas, and is generally marketed as sphagnum moss, whether it is the real sphagnum moss or not. Read about Sphagnum, and the allergy that some people have to it, here.

There are other kinds of moss that can be used. Spanish moss is not moss at all. It is a form of tillandsia, or air plant. It's grey, curly mass is a nice compliment to some flower combinations, and lasts a very long time, meaning it can be used for several years running. As a sidenote, Spanish moss can be quite expensive.

Pre-cut fibrous liners are another choice. Coconut fibre liners are excellent and are available in garden centres or from Kinsman Garden Company, River Rd., Point Pleasant, Pa. 18950; 1-800-733-4146, or online in England from Bosmere Gardens. Other fibrous liners are available locally. Ones made out of wood-pulp waste or a tar-paper like compound are good.

Soil
Use a light, peat-rich mixture for hanging baskets. There are many hanging basket mixes on the market. Some contain a water-holding polymer which is available seperately for you to add to any mix. These soak up water and turn into a gelatinous mass, much like clear jell-o, and hold water until the surrounding soil needs it and soaks it up. When using bulk polymer, be sure to mix it in well and use no more than 1 tablespoon per litre of soil mix. Any more and your basket could over-flow, exploding in a jelly-like mass.

Other Stuff
A wire hanger, or chain and "s" hooks
A strong eave or rail to hang the basket from
Fertilizer in the form of an all-purpose, even ratio chemical fertilizer, preferably slow-release granular, or an organic fertilizer for flowering plants.

Plants
Next, you will have to decide what plants to put in your hanging basket. I have written a page with a table of plants for shade and sun, and you can find that here.

I would highly recommend visiting the following sites. They have some great ideas for hanging baskets recipes, all of them colourful, beautiful, and proven to work.

Four-Star Greenhouses Layout Suggestions
Four-Star Greenhouses Layout Suggestions Continued
Son of Four-Star Greenhouses Layout Suggestions
Recipes from Proven Winners
This link does not lead to a recipe, but is provided in order to open your mind to the possibilities. Check out This great basket

The copyright of the article Hanging Gardens - Beginner Style! in Perennials is owned by Jojo Sigurgeirson. Permission to republish Hanging Gardens - Beginner Style! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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