Planting a Fall Hanging Basket

If you love to garden, but only have a small amount of space you may want to consider a hanging basket. One of the great things about a hanging basket is that you can easily change it out as the seasons change. Here are a few guidelines you can follow when planting a fall hanging basket.

• Choose the proper container. When planting a fall hanging basket, you need to make sure that you have the best possible container. While terra cotta pots are popular they do have a tendency to suck moisture out of the soil. This means that you could potentially need to water the plant more often than you would like. Additionally, you will want to have something attached to the container, or directly underneath it, that can catch any water or dirt that falls out of the container.
• Research your plants. As with any gardening endeavor you need to do some research into the plants you are thinking of having in the basket. Ideally you will want to have no more than five plants, all different colors that will be able to live in close proximity to each other. In addition you will want to make sure that you know what the general care requirements of the plants are as well so that you can take care of the plants like they need to be.
• Don't overload your planter. Be careful that you don't overload the planter with either soil or plants. If you are using a 12 inch planter you really only want to have, at most, four plants in it. Otherwise you are looking to crowd the plants and their roots. This will make the plants less likely to thrive. Furthermore, you will want to fill the planter about two-thirds of the way full with your soil mix and then compact it down. This will help the planter retain water.
• Create a good soil mix. Before you begin putting the plants or even the soil into the planter you need to actually create a good soil mix. You can always purchase some premade potting mix from your local nursery, but it never hurts to make your own. A fairly decent mix can be obtained by mixing together one part peat moss, with one part slow acting fertilizer or compost, and two parts top soil.

Unless you are planning on planting a fern or other perennial type of plant, hanging baskets are only good for a single season. In the event that you are planning on having your hanging basket around for longer than a single season make sure you are adding nutrients to the soil as needed. Otherwise you will end up needing to buy a new plant and go through the whole planting process again.