Hanging baskets are a fantastic way to add a splash of colour to your garden, patio or balcony. But sometimes, less is more. Today I am taking you through how to plant a single plant hanging basket. It is all too easy to be bogged down in colour combinations, what matches, what contrasts and what looks good. Very often you will get a better, more impactful result from planting a single plant hanging basket. Think of it as a living work of art that is beautiful for its pure simplicity.
Choosing the perfect plant for a one plant basket.
Not all plants are created equal and some do not make a perfect specimen plant in a hanging basket. You are looking for a plant that will easily fill the space, flower for a long period of time and add some stunning drama to your baskets. These are my favourites:
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Trailing geraniums (pelargoniums): These plants are very popular in UK gardens. They are available in a dazzling array of colours and will flower their socks off from the beginning of summer until the first frosts.
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Petunias: The petunia world is full of flamboyant flowering plants, available in a vast amount of colours there is almost certain to be a petunia to meet your tastes. These plants will flower all summer long and are nice and easy to care for.
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Bacopa: This one has more of a delicate look compared to the previous two. Bacopa is often overlooked as a specimen plant but really shouldn't be. With the new breeding in Bacopa, we now only grow the newer varieties which are easier to look after as well as having larger flowers.
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Thunbergia (black-eyed Susan): This may seem like an unusual choice. Mainly grown as a climbing plant, this will trail also. Thunbergias will add a splash of exotic colour to your basket, most people know the orange flowered variety but you can now get an array of colours making these plants even more attractive.
What you need
Before you start to plant your hanging basket you will need a few supplies:
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Hanging Basket: Choose your hanging basket. In the video, I am using a plastic basket, these are easy to get hold of and if you look after them will last for years. A basket around 20cm in diameter is ideal.
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Compost: Some of this will depend on the plants you choose, for all of the suggestions above a good quality multi-purpose compost is ideal.
Planting your hanging basket
Now for the bit you have been looking forward to, planting your basket!
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Fill your pot with compost: Fill the basket with your compost, do not fill it all the way to the top but leave the compost around 1cm from the top. This really does help with watering your basket. If you fill it all the way to the top the water tends to wash over the sides which is not what we want.
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Make a hole in the compost: Depending on if you are planting plugs or potted plants will make a difference to the holes you make. For plug plants (like in the video) I am planting 3 plants in a triangle. If I was planting potted plants one plant will work really well in the centre. When making the hole for the plant make it a little bit larger than the plant's root ball.
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Place your plant in and tuck in: Now place the plant(s) in the hole you created. Do not push the plant in, rather place it in. Now “tuck in” the plant, this is done by making sure there are no holes around the edge of the root ball.
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Water well: Give your new basket a good water, the best technique is to water gently, wait for that to settle in and then repeat the process until water is coming out of the bottom of the basket.
After care
Your hanging basket will need regular watering, this is particularly the case in warm weather. During the growing season feed your plants every 2 weeks, this will encourage strong growth and help the plant flower more. Throughout the summer period deadhead any faded flowers, this encourages the plant to flower further as well as making the whole plant look neater.
With a little bit of regular work your single plant hanging basket will fill your garden with colour for the whole of the summer. Try it out you will not regret it!
