Make Your Own Hanging Baskets

Ok, I was inspired to write this blog entry a month or so ago when I was making my own adorable hanging baskets, because I do really get a kick out of planning and arranging them. I took pictures, and made plant list suggestions in my head, and even scoped out what was available at the local Home Depot so that I was recommending readily available varieties. But of course, I didn’t do it, and now it’s the middle of June and supplies are likely waning. My one entry per day challenge is still kicking, so I am writing my delayed advice anyway. I know at least Dina is interested!


Let me first state my disclaimer: I am no landscape architect, and have never taken a single design class. I just read a lot of gardening magazines and have tried stuff out over time. I can’t tell you this is the exact right way to do it, but I can tell you easy rules that I use to design my baskets.




Laura’s no-brainer rules for basket design:

1.) Pick your sun exposure

I always have two types of baskets. The backyard ones see blaring hot full sun all day long, and the front porch ones will never see one shred of direct light for as long as they live unless I take them down and move them into the yard for watering. Those are some extremely different and obvious plant choices. This year I also did some planters on the side of the house with part sun exposure, so that's a little trickier, and I’m not sure how those will do.

2.) Pick your container


The type of planter actually determines your watering needs, and therefore the kinds of plants you should choose. The standard white plastic hanging pot obviously retains moisture the best (although you’ll still need to water frequently during those dog days of summer) and is the most popular. For aesthetics, I like coir & wire baskets the best. I’ve been using the same ones for eight years now, so it’s worth the initial investment. If the coir wears out, it’s easily replaceable, and you can pick these up at your average big box store in spring and early summer. Just about any kind of plant will work in these. If you’re trying to plant in clay or terra cotta though, consider that fact that these pots retain water for all of 48 seconds. You have to commit to watering constantly, or buy plants described as “drought friendly”, “succulent”, or “for rock gardens”. I bought one of those adorable terra cotta strawberry pots with all the pockets and very promptly murdered every pocketed strawberry plant. The ones on top somehow survived though, and this year the pockets contain a very pretty hot pink portulaca. Lesson learned!


3.) The rule of 3’s

This is the only real design principle I know, which I learned from a combination of garden magazines, home design books, and Bravo tv in general. Don’t know why, but things go better in 3’s. Better yet, I apply my Rule of 3’s to three aspects of plant design – number, shape and color. Whatever do you mean, Laura? Well, let me tell you!




Number: I always do at least three plants per container, and if the container is larger, then I go up to five. The sub-rule to the Rule of 3’s is, if you don’t use 3, at least use some other odd number. Again, I don’t know why. Maybe 2 of something looks too unfinished, like you meant to elaborate but didn’t get a chance. Maybe the pro-3 lobby is stronger than the pro-2 lobby. If you are a designer, please speak up and explain! Enquiring minds want to know.


Shape: My baskets generally have three different types of plant shapes – spiky, mounding, and cascading. Finding plants that fit this description and meet your sun requirements is not hard at all to do! It may take some label reading at first, but I’ll list my favorites for you below to get you started.

Color: I won’t go too far into color theory here. That would be a huge topic all on it’s own and I’m not qualified to speak on it. Plus in the end, it’s really about preference. You can choose a basket of all big bright colors, mix up only pastels, or even choose all different plants that feature the same exact color. No matter what the overall color theme is, I still use the rule of 3’s. My favorites tend to be combining 3 highly contrasting colors, like burgundy – silver – hot pink, or burgundy – lime – white. The best thing to do is to pick up plants and see what they look like together grouped in pots. Do you like the effect and color combo? Good, you’re done!





Now it’s picture and basket recipe time!

Shade basket, left to right clockwise:
Lamium, "pink chablis"
Coleus, "black dragon"
Dracena spike
Dusty Miller, "silverdust"
Oxalis, "charmed velvet"
Alyssum, "snow crystals"












Shade planters: This is a funny little plant invention that I bought at Lowe's last fall. There's an indented middle section with space for a small pot where you can plant seasonal annuals. The outside larger pot contains ivy, which stays green all season. This way, you can change out the flowers in the center pot when it's time to go from summer to fall plantings. Cute! I have these on my front porch, so the shade plants from above are repeated.













Sun basket, left to right clockwise:

Petunia
Sweet Potato Vine, "blackie"
Dracena spike
Licorice Plant (helichrysum petiolare), "white licorice"
Calibrachoa, "callie rose"









These pictures are from the beginning of May when I built them. Maybe later I'll post an addendum with what they look like now. In the meantime, happy planting!