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Publication #ENH119

Plants and Youth: Designing and Building a Hanging Basket1

Kathleen C. Ruppert, Robert J. Black and Sydney Park Brown2

A hanging basket is any container that holds plants and is hung from a support. Plastic hanging baskets filled with plants are commonly sold at most garden centers, but it is easy to construct a unique and attractive basket of your own. The container may be a wooden box, a moss-lined wire basket, a plastic pot, or even a decorative piece of wood. Since a container filled with soil can be quite heavy, use strong wire, chain, rope, or leather to hang the basket.

Pre-mixed potting soils can be purchased or you can prepare a soil mix using 2 parts peat, 1 part builders sand, and 1 part perlite. Almost any type of vining, trailing or cascading plant can be used in a hanging basket. Consider combining 2 or 3 different types of plants together, but make sure they have similar light and moisture requirements. Also, look for plants that won't outgrow the container too quickly, or that can be easily trimmed to keep them in bounds.

Wire or plastic mesh baskets must be lined to hold the soil in the container. Preformed coco-fiber liners are available at retail outlets and are sized to fit a variety of basket sizes. Sphagnum moss (not sphagnum peat, which is used in potting mixes) can also be used. Soak the sphagnum moss in water for an hour, then line the basket with a 2-inch layer. (Figure 1). (Wear plastic gloves when handling sphagnum moss and avoid breathing the dry dust).

Figure 1. 

Line a wire or plastic mesh basket with a 2-inch layer of sphagnum moss.

Place a layer of plastic or foil next to the moss before you fill the basket with soil (Figure 2). Punch small holes in the lining so that water can drain out. Next, fill the basket with a potting mix within 1/2 inch of the rim (Figure 3) and plant the desired plant(s) (Figure 4). Water thoroughly after planting and hang the basket in a location that meets the light requirement for the plant(s) used.

Figure 2. 

Place a layer of plastic or foil next to the moss before filling the basket with soil.

Figure 3. 

Fill the basket with a potting mix within 1/2-inch of the rim.

Figure 4. 

Plant the desired plant.

Water, fertilize and groom the plant(s) as needed to keep them healthy and growing. Hanging baskets may need to be watered every day during warm, dry weather. If flowering plants are used, remove dead blooms and seeds to promote more flowers. Protect cold-tender plants from freezing, winter temperatures by moving them indoors. Most plants eventually outgrow a hanging basket and will need to be repotted into a larger container.

Table 1. 

Definition of Terms

Peat - Partly decayed plant material that accumulates wherever water and acidity slows down the process of decay.

Perlite - Very light-weight, porous material that is white in color. It is used in soil mixes to increase drainage and aeration.

Repot - Move a plant from the pot in which it is growing to another pot. This is usually done when a plant has become too large for the original pot.

Sphagnum moss - Partly decayed remains of the sphagnum moss plant. This material has properties similar to a sponge in that it holds water and is spongy to the touch.

Footnotes

1.

This document is ENH119, one of a series of the Environmental Horticulture Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date June, 1996. Revised October, 2003 and August 2007. Reviewed November 2010. Visit the EDIS Web Site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Kathleen C. Ruppert, former assistant professor; Robert J. Black, retired professor emeritus, Sydney Park Brown, associate professor and Extension Specialist – Consumer Horticulture; Environmental Horticulture Department, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Millie Ferrer-Chancy, Interim Dean.