Hanging Baskets 2

We looked in the last post at the mechanics of hanging baskets but his week we can look at the plants that go inside.

It's important to note that I am discussing hanging baskets used in Europe. If you live elsewhere in the world then you will need to use different plants more suited to your environment.

What sort of plants to use
It is possible to use any bedding plants you wish provided that they are small and grow well. However, you also have the chance to use trailing plants as well which cannot normally be used in a container.

Take some time and choose well, matching the colours of the flowers with the contrast of the leaves. I like to see hanging baskets that are full of both flowers and unusual greenery. However, having said that, it is also possible to produce a hanging basket that has just one colour as a theme but, perhaps, a variety of shades of that colour.

It is impossible to list all the plants available but a search on the internet for 'plants hanging baskets' will produce a list that you can then take to garden centre or nursery.

Edible
As well as flowers, it is also possible (and fun) to plant a basket (or part of a basket) that is edible.

Both strawberries and tomatoes can be used, mixed in with the flowers and can look very nice.

If you decide to try this, go for the smaller varieties of fruit, and to find out more search on the internet for these words 'fruit hanging baskets'. I was, quite frankly, amazed at the results that I was given. I had not realised that so much choice was available.

Remember that my choice is for Europe, if you live somewhere where the climate is warmer then you have much more of a selection of edible plants to grow.

Edible or non-edible, hanging baskets are, perhaps, the queen of containers and can instantly transform the look of a house. Once you have used a hanging basket then you will always have one.

Hanging Baskets 1

Hanging baskets are amongst the easiest and prettiest containers that you can create in your garden (or on your wall).

Today we will more at the mechanics of planting and using hanging baskets while in the next post we will look at the plants that you can use.

Types of basket
There are two sorts of baskets: those with open sides and those without.

Open-sided baskets are the traditional ones that are made of metal mesh or, alternatively, now made of plastic but with open sides that require some sort of liner.

Traditionally, sphagnum moss was used as a liner but this is quite difficult to use and a modern, fibre liner is recommended. These are available quite readily and simply need placing inside the basket before it is filled with compost.

Solid baskets just need filling with compost as you would with any container but you are unable to plant into the sides and so they do not, in my opinion, look as good.

Finally, make sure that the support that you use is firm and in good repair if it is an old one.

How to plant
First of all, make sure you consider the water requirements. Open-sided baskets dry out quickly and, as the Summers get warmer, they will definitely need watering twice a day at least on hot days - sometimes three times.

There are various products available that will help retain water by soaking it up as you fill the container and then releasing it slowly during the day and they seem to work well.

As for the planting, handing baskets need no special care and can be planted in just the same way as any other container.

However, do watch the weight of the container which, when full of compost and water, can be considerable, and make sure that the support is ample.

Hanging baskets attached to the house can make all the difference to the look of the house and, once you have one, you will definitely want to renew and use it each year!

Shrubs In Containers 2

In the last post we looked at ways of creating containers of shrubs that would go some way towards hiding an unsightly fence or wall.

This post will look at some of the plants that you could use, but will look at them in a slightly different way to most gardening articles.

Shape
It helps to think of a garden just as shapes and then as shapes and colours before you begin to assign plants to the various areas.

A fence or wall is a long solid shape that extends, usually, most of the way along one side of a garden. To help hide that shape you need, not more rectangles, but curves.

Plants generally grow from a central stem and so this can help give them a conical shape but some plants achieve this better than others.

If you can, then, choose or prune plants into curves or shapes that have a curved side.

Colour
You want the plants to appear bold against the background so choose strong colours. You can choose contrasting colours but this might have the effect of creating little blobs of colour along a straight background where you really want to soften the line of the background.

Try colours that are closer to the each other and closer to the background, too. This will break up the background straight lines and so soften them.

Plants
Now we can look at what plants to choose. Obviously, the larger plants can be shrubs and more or less any shrub will suffice.

Have a look at the escallonias, they are well coloured with dense leaves, although they are not very conical in shape.

Berberis, of course, has a good selection of varieties as well as euonymus, both the silver and gold varieties.

For the smaller plants, you can use any that you have already or choose flowering plants that have the colours that you want.

Using containers in this way is an excellent use for them and has the advantage that you can move the containers around (or perhaps just the small ones) to create a different perspective from time to time.

Shrubs In Containers

A friend recently showed me something that I had never fully realised - that containers can be used to soften and partially remove the line of a fence.

This is so obvious yet it is something that I had never fully grasped so I thought it was worth exploring.

The problem
My friend's garden has a wooden fence that runs along one side and which is visible from the windows of the house. The fence is a good, stout one made of wood with a concrete base. The only problem is that the fence looks very stark and new against the beauty of the garden.

The solution was to create four large pots in which were planted some prolific and big-leaved shrubs. These are positioned along the fence at regular intervals and, by themselves, would have the effect of drawing the eye away from the hardness of the wood and concrete.

But at each pot position a further collection of small pots containing flowers had been positioned as well.

Now for some themes
Having got to this stage, it would be possible to make each of the four areas into a different theme. Perhaps a colour theme or a theme that depended on the type of plant.

If you were starting from scratch, it would be possible also to choose a theme that depended on the colour or texture of the pots.

The effect would be to create four eye-catching areas of colour and shape and make the background behind it almost disappear!

Fences, walls and even hedges
This was designed to disguise a fence but the same idea could be used to hide, or at least soften, a solid area of wall. The same considerations that apply to fences would apply here since both walls and fences usually have solid colours.

However, if you have, perhaps, a privet hedge along the whole side of your garden, you could use the same technique but, of course, there is a problem. Hedges are usually green and the plants will appear lost against them so you need to take some time to think about the best type of plant to use and pay particular attention to the colours.

However, this is an excellent use for containers and allows you, of course, to keep all the other advantages of a container garden open.

The illustration shows a fixed planting against a wall - how much better this would be if the plants were in containers!

Water Container Plants

In the post before this one we looked at the possibility of producing what is, in effect, a miniature water garden in a container.

Once you have decided on the type of container you want then you need to decide what sort of plants you want to plant. For most people, however, there is only one plant they want!

Water lilies - Nymphaea
The water lily is a truly lovely plant that will grow well in a garden pond or container and help keep oxygen in the water as well as keeping algae down.

Size is obviously a major consideration, especially as you will want to position them with other plants but water lilies can be found from the largest to some that are small enough for most containers.

After size, the next consideration will be colour but be aware that some of the lilies will change colour as they age. This is a good feature and can be used to advantage.

Choose young plants that are mostly leaves and give them time to enlarge and flower.

Water Iris
This is a lovely plant that must have been created to help make a water garden display. Available in a wide variety of colours, they are tall, good-looking plants with intricate and beautiful flowers.

Plant them as you would normally but arrange them around the edge of the container at the back.

Monkey flower - Mimulus lucteus
There are many plants in this variety and they are good, fast-growing plants with lovely trumpet-shaped flowers.

Not as tall as the iris, they can be grown, again, at the edge of the container.

Acorus - Sweet Flag
This is a grass that will grow quite happily in water (or in bog gardens) and looks good providing structure in the container.

Aponogeton distachyos
This plant can be called the Water Hawthorne, the Cape Pondweed, Waterblommetjie or similar variations!

They are vigorous growing plants that float on the surface with flowers that rise up. Interestingly, they are grown extensively in South Africa where they can be used as a culinary delicacy!

Scratching the surface
This is little more than scratching the surface for there are a wide variety of pond plants that are suitable for containers. Probably the best way to make a start is visit your local aquatic supplier who may well have a selection of plants from which to choose.

Water Plants In Containers

Mention container gardening and people immediately think of hanging baskets and small pots of plants but it is possible to container garden with any type of plant: even water plants.

Obviously, you need a special container since water is designed to leak out of normal containers and baskets full of water can be quite heavy but pond gardens are well worth a look.

Water plant containers
You can use anything that holds water - basically. Having said that, however, some types of plastic storage container that look ideal are not designed for outdoor use and will become brittle on exposure to the sun.

One easy solution is to use a normal plant container and fit it with a plastic liner but it is probably better to buy a container made specifically for the job.

A look on the Internet found some very good looking containers for aquatic plants and the best search appeared to be for 'pond plant containers'.

How it works
Aquatic plants are planted in earth or special clay soil just like normal plants but it is a good idea to make sure that the pot is quite heavy and to cover the soil with half an inch, at least, of pea gravel. This both improves the look of the plant and helps prevent soil from leaking out into the water.

The main problem is getting the height right. You can prop plants up on bricks or other supports but if you do, make sure that the pot is stable.

Finally, ensure that the plants you put in can withstand the cold temperatures of Winter or accept that they will last for just the summer. Alternatively, plants can be brought in for the Winter and stored in a shed or basement.

In use
A pond plant garden is a small and fairly simple container filled with water. As such it needs topping up each week (maybe more in hot weather) and normal plant maintenance to keep the plants looking good.

One difference is that containers full of water are quite heavy and so including them in a garden rearrangement is often too hard.

However, they look good, require little maintenance and are easy to start. This sounds like a recipe for some good gardening so the next post will look at what you can plant in them.

Container Gardening Table Decoration

I'm all for eating and relaxing outside and not just in Summer, either. In Spring and early Autumn there are many days when the weather, even in the UK, is fit for venturing outside.

On such days, eating outside is far more satisfactory. There are less insects, the sun is not so hot and there is often a breeze to freshen up the garden. But one thing that is a must at such times is to decorate the table.

Gather up some pots...
Prepare a table as you would normally with a nice, bright table cloth and then find some pots to decorate it.

It's best to put down some mats to hold the pots and capture any compost or stray flowers that may fall. Either cork squares or any form of rubber matting or, as an alternative, use carpet offcuts, especially if they brighten the table with bold colours.

Add to this some greenery, either loose and packed around the pots or at the back and in pots. This will add a background of green and create some structure and height for the table.

Finally, add some fruit. This can be either loose or in bowls positioned at the front. This is not for decoration and can be eaten but make sure you have a bowl of fresh water and some paper towels to wash the fruit first. Lastly, make sure you have left enough room at the front or side to put the food!

Don't forget the light
If you are dining into the evening then the fun need not stop when the sun goes down! Why not add some battery or mains electric lighting or, as a pleasant alternative, some scented candles. Candles can also be obtained that will help remove insects from the area around them.

All you need now is find a few guests, buy some bottles of wine, bring out some chairs and, of course, pray for a fine evening!

Once the meal is finished, you can easily clear the table, taking plates and glasses into the house while you put back the pots either in place or on a patio to put back later.

Alternatively, if you use a waterproof table cloth or are able to cover the table with a waterproof cover then the plants can be left outside at least so long as really bad weather is not forecast. Doing this, of course, does allow you to easily and quite quickly arrange another meal - particularly if the weather suddenly turns warm.

Eating outside is fun and is enjoyed more and more but here is a way to brighten up an evening meal by creating an interesting and varied place to eat it off.

Container Garden Planting In Colour

We have finished the overview of the container garden and now we will look at various projects to take planting to the next level.

What is important is to realise that container gardening is not about individuals, it's about groups and getting harmony in your groups. Remember, 'there's no 'me' in container gardening - it's all a team effort!'

Containers should relate one to another so don't prepare one pot and then, a few days later, do another. Think about how the pots in your garden will fit in with and exist, one with another. To this end we start with a project that looks at colour themes.

Colour Themes
Colour themes are what you think they are: collections of objects that are similar colours. Again this is a 'team' effort so the collection can be plants, pots, 'pot furniture', backgrounds and, if it applies to you, sun and shade.

Consider all these things together because they all exist together in your garden and tie them in with each other in a colour theme.

Complement or contrast
This is a matter of personal taste and both themes that provide harmony and themes that provide contrast are good. It is best to avoid strong contrasts, however, unless you are really sure you know what you are doing.

A good trick is to take a colour from a small part of the background - say a brown, wooden colour- and echo this as part of the container design, either in the flowers or in the colour of the pots.

As changeable as the seasons
Once the season changes, for example from Summer into Autumn, then change the pots or their contents to reflect that change and make your garden speak with a new voice.

Again, if you have a garden where Winter snow is the custom rather than the exception, then prepare some containers in late Summer or early Autumn to reflect this ready to put out when Winter arrives.

An example
Pansies come in a variety of colours and a variety of flowering times so they are ideal to use for experimentation.

Take a few plants in pots along with some other plants of similar colour also in pots. Now put the pots into a large container and have ready some gravel, sand or compost, depending on the colour scheme, ready for filling.

You can then:

1. Position the plants one with another to create different colour positions
2. Paint the main pot either completely in a new colour to match or with coloured designs taken from the flower colour
3. Take one plant out and put in another of a contrasting colour
4. Take a different plant out and put in another of a different size and shape
5. Experiment with greenery to produce the best design

All right, before you all write and tell me, this is flower arranging with living flowers! However, it's fun to do and fun to produce something you have designed which will blend in one plant with another and also blend in with the background in your garden.

Container Garden Overview

Plenty of people have a hanging basket or two outside their front window in summer or a pot of herbs near the backdoor but I hope this quick overview of container gardening has shown that it can be much more.

Containers in a garden need not be the chore than many envisage and it need not be expensive either. How far you go, of course, depends very much on you but, once the containers are purchased, then they are reused from year to year so it is perfectly possible to make a start in a small way and progress.

The joy of containers
Gardening small scale tends to make us much more inventive and enterprising in our choice of plants. You need to think more about the plants you will use and most people find that they get more satisfaction out of a container than they do from their regular garden.

It is also far easier to try a new plant, or combination of plants, as much as it is to possible to try new positions for the containers and new groupings. Part of the reason for this, and for the success of container gardening, is that it is all done on a small scale which makes it both easier and cheaper.

Mistakes
This brings us nicely to the subject of mistakes. Not everything I do in a garden is a success, but mistakes in container gardens are usually, again, on a small scale that allows us to easily recover.

It is also, I believe, easier to adapt and hide small mistakes in the smaller garden!

Shuffle those pots!
I hope also I have advocated the case for the movable garden.

Sitting in a garden is a pleasure but being able to change the look of the garden to suit our mood or just for the sake of change itself can present a whole new experience each time you go outside.

If there is one thing that container gardening can mean, then the ability to make changes so easily must be high on the list.

This post completes the overview of the container garden and the next post will begin the task of looking at specific container projects to complete.