Hi there, friends!
This past week has really started to feel like summer, hasn’t it? The warmer temps, the blooming flowers, the longer days, and the constant desire to be in water. Our lake is still too cold but that doesn’t keep us from dreaming of the beach.
One of our favorite parts of gardening in the summer is having hanging baskets because they always have such stunning colors, produce constant flowers for the pollinators and create height and dimension when decorating with flowers.
There is one downside to hanging baskets and that they can take a lot of work if you don’t know how to take care of them properly. That’s why we came up with this list to help others, so they don’t make the same mistakes as us and need to keep replacing their hanging baskets!
1. Make sure to deadhead
This one is important if you want your flowers to keep blooming throughout the whole season. You must make sure you deadhead before the flower goes to seed so that the plant knows to continuously produce flowers for you to enjoy.
2. Water them even if it rains
You may think that if it rains then you do not have to water the hanging baskets but sadly that is not true. Since there are so many flowers and leaves it makes it harder for the raindrops to penetrate through to the small amount of soil in the plant pot. So, make sure to water it!
3. Dunk them in a bath
If you forget to water them or want to make sure that your plants are very happy then once a week you could give your basket a bath. If you have a spare bucket, then you can fill that up with water and carefully place the plant pot in the water. You can leave it for an hour or so that way the roots can soak up as much liquid as possible.
4. Rotate and trim once a season
Every week when you get the basket down to give it a bath you can make sure you hang it back up, so the other side is facing out. That way you rotate which side is getting more sun, air and exposure. One other tip is if it gets too leggy you can give it a trim and have it start growing again.
5. Feed once a month
This tip we have not done yet but this year we are going to try it – feeding it fertilizer. If you have the liquid fertilizer, you can do that once a month but if it is slow-release fertilizer then you only have to do it once a growing season. The best time to add the liquid fertilizer is when watering the plant and for the slow-release fertilizer is right before you water.
That’s it! If you follow these steps then you will have abundant, beautiful and healthy hanging baskets! Do you think we missed any tips? Leave us a comment – we’d love to hear from you!
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