Hanging baskets are an extremely popular way to decorate homes and businesses with over 20M being grown each year in the UK alone. Large numbers are sold at garden centres and produced by specialist garden nurseries. Many gardeners also like to make up their own hanging baskets with their favourite plants to create beautiful displays. There are a number of accessories on the market to make this job a bit easier and to help care for your plants.
This article looks at 5 of the best accessories for growing and caring for hanging baskets.
1) Pre-mixed plant food and water crystals
Using slow release fertiliser is essential with hanging basket because the regular watering washes out the nutrients. Water retaining gel is also a handy addition as this helps to stop baskets drying out which can happen very easily during a single hot day potentially damaging the plants permanently. Manufacturers are now producing pre-mixed sachets of plant food and water retaining gel. To use, simply add the mix to the compost when the hanging basket is being made up. The fertiliser and water retaining gel is then evenly distributed and starts to work from the first watering. The fact that this is pre-mixed makes balancing the amount to use of the fertiliser and the gel much easier which will benefit the growth of the plants over the season.
2) Hanging basket locks
Unfortunately, the loss of hanging baskets due to the theft or wind is not uncommon. The normal way to deal with this has been to use cable ties although these can still be pulled off and do not always look the best wrapped round the bracket. To address this problem a number of companies have developed special locks to secure the hanging basket to the bracket. The locks are typically small and made of metal so they blend in with the bracket and chain. They are also very strong and cannot be removed with a normal normal knife or blown away in the wind. When you consider the cost of the flowers, frames and materials used to make up a single basket you can appreciate the benefits to homeowners and businesses of protecting their 4 to 6 hanging baskets with one of these special locks.
3) Swivel hooks
Swivel hooks are a very simple idea but are extremely useful for gardeners with hanging baskets. A swivel hook is simply a two piece hook which can hold the bracket above and the hanging back chain below and spin in the centre. The benefit of using a swivel hook is that it makes it very easy to turn heavy hanging baskets while they are still hanging on the bracket. Given that a 14″ hanging basket weighs around 5Kgs when watered this is very useful. Many hanging baskets have a “best side” or benefit from being turned to ensure plants get even coverage from the sun.
4) Pull downs
As we have learned, hanging baskets can be very heavy and different to move once planted. If the hanging basket is high up and needs to be dead headed or attended to then this can be a real problem – particularly for the more senior gardeners amongst us. A number of manufacturers make pull down pulleys which are connected to the bracket and hanging basket chain. They have a ratchet mechanism in them which means they can be hoisted up and down more easily and safely than if the basket was simply lifted off the bracket. When finished the hanging basket can be lifted up and the pull down will lock in place and hold the hanging basket. These pull downs are typically suitable for weights up to 10Kgs which means they will easily hold a 14″ or 16″ hanging basket.
5) Solar rotators
Hanging baskets benefit from being turned to ensure the sun catches all sides ensuring the plants flourish evenly. To rotate the basket automatically devices called solar rotators have been developed. These hang between the bracket and hanging basket chain and use the power of the sun to slowly turn the basket over the course of the day. These devices work so slowly that it’s not possible to see them moving but by the end of the day basket will have been turned. This is a very handy gadget if the basket is hung in a hard to reach and you want to get sun evenly onto the flowers.
In summary, you can still grow hanging baskets without using any of these accessories and many people do of course. However, there are clear benefits of using these accessories to gardeners who love hanging baskets and who want to ensure the best chance of creating a beautiful display each season, to make the maintenance of hanging baskets much easier or to ensure that they are protected both from potential thieves or strong winds. These hanging basket accessories are commonly found at large garden centres or online so try out some of them to see which ones work best for your hanging baskets.