Keep your hanging baskets looking specacular

As we all know beautiful overflowing hanging baskets are one of the colourful stars of summer and are fabulous for brightening up patios and around doors but to keep spectacular results all summer then there are some basic steps you must follow.

 (If you used moisture controlling compost with slow release plant food or put continuous release plant food tablets in then you won’t need to use a liquid feed over the summer just water)

So to keep your baskets looking great all summer just:

• Water often and thoroughly. Plants in containers need to be watered more often than if they were growing in the ground and this is especially true for hanging baskets as they have a lot of plants packed into a small space. They usually need watering at least once, if not twice, a day as both heat and wind make them dry out. A good tip is to reach up and lift the pot from below; if it feels light, it probably needs water, another way to check is put your finger an inch into the soil and if it is dry at that depth then you need to water.
• Feeding - with constant watering you are washing away the nutrients so feed the basket with a liquid fertiliser like Tomorite or Miracle Gro or a dry slow release fertiliser (not both). Follow instructions but always feed when soil is moist and not if plants are wilting.
• Deadheading is such an important part of keeping your plants looking good. As flowers fade and die, remove them by pinching them off where they meet the stem. This promotes the formation of new flowers. Otherwise, the plant may put its energy into creating seed.
• Top up your Plants with new ones if needed; if one has come to the end of its life and just isn’t blooming replace it by carefully easing it out and placing a new one in the gap, or if the surrounding plants  are really thriving you could just put a handful of compost in and allow them to fill the space.
• In extreme heat or if you have taken your eye off the basket and its wilting submerge it into a large bucket or container of water for an hour to revive it.
• Cut back straggly plants such as verbena, petunias, trailing geraniums, lobelia if they look leggy and they will produce denser new growth.

Follow these tips and if we have no early frosts your baskets will last into early autumn