By mid-July, many hanging baskets look weary, with more foliage than blooms on long straggly stems.

This is most often the result of underwatering and a lack of nutrients. Because all sides of a hanging basket are exposed to the elements, they generally need more attention than other types of containers.

Keeping Soil Moist in Hanging Baskets

Container type plays an important role in how a hanging basket performs. Hanging baskets dry out faster than other types of containers and require daily water checks.

Baskets with cocoa fiber liners (or similar material) tend to dry out faster than plastic baskets, but I prefer the appearance of cocoa liners, so I look for cocoa liners with a thin sheet of plastic built in to help keep soil moist. Or I simply add a thin sheet of plastic, cut from a grocery bag, to the cocoa lined basket.

My cocoa fiber lined basket pictured above is in full sun. It is planted with flowers that can tolerate somewhat dry soil, but it still needs daily water in the heat of summer.

As in all container plantings, drainage is important for healthy plants, so make sure that your hanging basket has at least one drainage hole. Self-watering containers often keep the soil too moist, so be sure to feel the soil before watering, and don’t water if it feels damp.

Fertilize Hanging Baskets

Fertilizing hanging baskets is crucial for long-lasting performance. Add a small handful of Osmocote Slow Release Plant Food to potting soil before planting, then follow up with a weekly dose of water-soluble fertilizer. This is helpful for all container plantings, since plant roots are growing in a closed environment and can’t seek out nutrients normally found in the ground.

Best Plants

Last but not least, choose plants that are well-suited to hanging baskets.

I am very pleased with my low-maintenance, full sun combination of Dragonwing Begonia, Vining Geranium, and Verbena, pictured above.

Other great hanging basket flowers:

• Euphorbia
• Trailing Vinca
• Million Bells
• Bacopa
• Lobelia

Great trailing foliage plants:

• Sweet Potato Vine
• Trailing Coleus
• Creeping Jenny
• Asparagus Fern
• Ivy
• Licorice Vine.

Flowers for shade baskets:

• Impatiens
• Fuschia
• Tuberous Begonias
• Dragonwing Begonias

(You might notice I didn’t include Petunias. This is because I never, ever have successfully grown a Petunia that still looked good past mid-July. They always get leggy and bare, so I have given up. I know it’s possible to grow a beautiful basket of Petunias by fertilizing and regularly pruning back stems, but I haven’t quite figured it out.)