How to Grow Large Hanging Flower Baskets

Hanging baskets add instant color and class to your outdoor living environment, and are effective nearly anywhere, including a deck, patio or balcony. Large hanging baskets are especially eye-catching and pleasurable to plant because they can be filled with a variety of colorful plants, unlike small containers, which can often hold only one plant. Wire planters are best for large hanging baskets, as regular containers will be heavy and difficult to hang.

Wire basket

Sphagnum moss

Commercial potting soil

Slow-release granular fertilizer

Variety of large, medium, small and trailing bedding plants

Anchor bolt

S hook

Sturdy chain

Line a large wire basket with sphagnum moss. Dampen the moss, then squeeze out the excess water. Pack 2 to 4 inches of moss snugly inside the wire basket. Overlap when needed to avoid leaving holes where water and soil can leak through the wire.

Fill the basket up to an inch from the top with commercial potting soil. Mix a slow-release granular fertilizer into the soil, according to the directions on the package. Dampen the potting soil.

Create a plan for your large hanging basket that incorporates plants in a variety of textures and colors. Choose plants with similar water and sunlight requirements. Avoid planting shade-loving plants like fuchsia in the same basket with geraniums or marigolds, which require bright sunlight.

Place an upright plant in the center of the basket. Large hanging baskets can accommodate a large, bold plant such as a Martha Washington geranium or variegated ginger.

Surround the upright center plant with smaller blooming plants such as petunias, begonias, dusty millers or lantanas. The plants will cover the base of the center plant and fill the space with bright color. Allow 3 to 4 inches between each plant.

Plant trailing plants around the outer edge of the container. Select blooming plants, such as ivy geranium, trailing petunia, calabrachoa or nasturtium, or green plants, such as ivy or sweet potato vine.

Complete your large hanging basket by planting small plants around the outside and bottom of the container. Plants growing from the outside of the basket will cover the moss and give the hanging basket a lush, cascading effect. Use a sharp object to create holes in the sphagnum moss, then insert the roots of the plants into the holes and into the soil inside the basket. Select small plants such as lobelia, pansies, sweet alyssum or verbena.

Hang your basket in sun or shade, depending on the requirements of the plants in the basket. Attach an anchor bolt to a beam or other solid support. Attach an S hook to the anchor bolt, then hang the large basket from the S hook. Use a sturdy chain that will support the weight of the hanging basket.

Check the soil in your large hanging basket every day. Hanging baskets dry out quickly. Your hanging basket may need to be watered twice daily during hot, dry weather.