How to grow Mixed Hanging Baskets

Growing Mixed Hanging Baskets

Instant colour that lifts the garden

Mixed hanging baskets are one of the easiest ways to add colour, texture and life to your space. By combining flowering and foliage plants in a single container, they create full, layered displays that spill beautifully over the edges. Hung at eye level, they bring colour closer, making even small spaces feel lush and welcoming.

With the right care, mixed hanging baskets deliver months of vibrant impact.

Get the 'Grow How'

Successful hanging baskets rely on a few simple principles: the right light, a moisture-retentive growing mix and consistent watering and feeding. Because baskets dry out faster than garden beds, regular attention is key, but the rewards are well worth it
Planting Procedure
Fertilising and Care
Pests and Diseases
Garden Uses

THE BASICS:

Good preparation sets your basket up for success. The right planting technique ensures plants establish quickly and grow evenly.

Quick Tips:

  • Choose a basket with good drainage and sturdy hanging chains
  • Use a quality potting mix designed for containers
  • Position taller plants in the centre and trailing plants around the edges
  • Hang baskets where they’re easy to reach for regular care
  • Hanging baskets are best planted hanging or suspended so that they are easily accessed from all round.
  • Position the coir or alternative lining in the wire or metal basket, ensuring that it fits snuggly into place.
  • Place a plastic lining inside the outer liner (bin bags work well). This is to prevent drying out and reduce watering.
  • Puncture drainage holes in the base of the plastic for drainage purposes.
  • Prepare a mixture of potting medium (soil) using palm peat, peat moss and regular potting soil.
  • Add bone meal, 5:1:5 fertiliser and a super absorbent polymer like Stockasorb to the mixture at the recommended rates.
  • A good growing medium is vital for successful mixed baskets.
  • Fill the “soil” into the basket and start planting from the centre or middle outwards towards the edge.
  • Do not bury the young plants too deeply.
  • Fill the basket with an assortment of suitable plants making sure that each plant is firmed down into position.
  • Be aware of tall, medium and low growing plants and place them according to their growth habits.
  • Once planting is completed, check for any visible plastic and cut away any excesses.
  • Suspend the finished basket in the final growing position and water well to allow plants and soil to settle.
  • Eye level is the ideal height for hanging baskets to be displayed, they look good and are easy to maintain at this level.

 

KEEP THEM HAPPY:

Hanging baskets need regular feeding and watering. With limited soil volume, nutrients are quickly used up and moisture is lost faster.

Quick Tips:

  • Water regularly (often daily in warm or windy conditions)
  • Feed with a water-soluble fertiliser every 1–2 weeks
  • Remove spent flowers to keep the basket looking fresh
  • Rotate baskets occasionally for even light exposure
  • Regular watering is essential; drying out causes stressed plants and poor results.
  • Check daily for drying out and water as and when necessary.
  • Apply water soluble fertiliser (a 3:1:6 formulation is ideal) every 7 to 10 days. Ensure that it is dissolved in water at the correct rate.
  • Dead head plants by removing all spent flowers to prolong blooming.
  • Prune back any aggressive plants to prevent them from taking over the entire basket.
  • Rotate the basket every few days to ensure that plants grow and develop evenly.

 

GOOD TO KNOW:

Most problems are caused by stress or overcrowding. Keeping plants healthy and well-spaced goes a long way toward prevention.

Quick Tips:

  • Ensure good airflow around the basket
  • Avoid letting baskets dry out completely
  • Aphids – found on soft new growth. Spray with suitable insecticide.
  • Chewing insects – usually mobile and are not always visible. Treat withsystemic insecticide.
  • Mildew – fungal disease often associated with moisture and humidity. Spray with fungicide and ensure that the basket is in a position with free air movement.
  • Mites – tiny 8-legged pests found on the leaves, both undersides and sometimes on the upper surface.  They cause discolouration and poor growth. Treat with a suitable miticide.
  • Overcrowding – occurs when one plant grows more vigorously than the others. Prune back the offending plant to keep it in check.
  • Whitefly – tiny moth-like insects that breed on the undersideof leaves. Spray with suitable insecticide at regular intervals to break the breeding cycle.

 

GREAT FOR:

Hanging baskets bring colour where it’s least expected. They add height, movement and softness to hard surfaces.

Quick Tips:

Use aloes as:

  • Ideal for patios, balconies and entranceways
  • Perfect for adding colour to small spaces
  • Use multiples to create impact and rhythm
  • Combine colours and textures for visual interest
  • Great for seasonal and themed displays
  • Hanging baskets are used to fill up spaces where plants can’t be grown in the ground.
  • Suspended against or on buildings they help to soften expansive wall spaces.
  • Form focal points when suspended in garden trees.
  • Useful in formal pergola and patio settings adding height and depth.
  • Integral part of the colourful winter and spring garden.

 

Shopping List

  1. Wire or metal hanging baskets
  2. Coir liner
  3. Plastic sheeting for inner lining
  4. Potting soil
  5. Water absorbent polymer
  6. Pre-enriching fertiliser
  7. Stout wooden stick approx 30cm long
  8. Planting trowel
  9. Empty plastic pot (12cm) to use as a soil scoop
  10. Bracket and chain for hanging
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DISCLAIMER:  The information presented on this website is intended solely as a general guide. We neither endorse specific plant varieties over others nor claim expertise in stock performance. All information is believed to be accurate, based on private inquiries and experiences, and is provided in good faith. Blackwood’s, including its employees, disclaims any responsibility for harm, loss, cost, or damage arising from the use or reliance upon any information on this website, especially if any part of the information proves to be inaccurate or incomplete. Please note that the displayed photos are not representative of current stock but are used for illustrative purposes only.