Larry Smith and the Riverside Gardens team talk all things pots, plants and pruning in their weekly gardening column.
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Hanging baskets have long been considered to belong in Nanna’s garden, or as old fashioned and hard to look after, with only the greenest thumbed gardeners able to grow plants in them successfully.
Over the past five or six years, however, they have been becoming increasingly popular, surprising a lot of us with how many we move through and just who is purchasing them.
They have become a quick way of brightening up an alfresco area or patio, adding a splash of colour or softening the feel of the area.
If done correctly and by selecting the right plants for the spot, they become relatively easy to maintain.
Although given the nature of the beast, there are a few things that you will need to keep in mind.
Hanging baskets hold a limited amount of soil for the plants to draw their moisture and nutrients from so they require a bit more care when monitoring their needs.
Keep in mind also that each time we water them a small amount of the available nutrients will be leached away with the water that drains from the basket.
Regular feeding with a slow-release fertiliser will help alleviate this problem and you may find that the occasional watering with an additional liquid fertilizer will give you great results.
By using only a good-quality potting mix you will find that the soil moisture levels will be a lot easier to maintain. You could also consider adding a small amount of water storage crystals to the mix to help hold additional moisture for the plants to draw on.
The choice of basket will also influence the amount of watering the plants are going to need.
Plastic hanging baskets, while not as decorative, will not dry out as quickly as wire baskets lined with coconut fibre, sphagnum moss or paper bark.
Some plants are ideally suited to grow in baskets because of their form, habit of growth and hardiness.
Nephrolepis exaltata, the Boston fern, is a great example of this, with its long, graceful arching fronds, low water requirements and hardiness making it a great plant to try in a basket.
The Macho fern variety of this, hanging from the ceiling in the Garden Centre, has fronds that cascade down 2m long and are only cleaned up a couple of times a year when we bring in a scissor lift.
Some varieties of fuchsias such as Ballerina’s Ballon, Bella Soila, Nora and Ballerina’s Brise make great basket plants, as the setting displays their delicate-looking flowers up at eye level.
Coming into flower in spring they will continue to flower right through the warmer months and are covered in flower now, just in time for Christmas.
Calibrachoa have become an extremely popular choice of basket plant, especially for sunny spots.
Their super bright and colourful flowers cascade from the basket in an eye-catching show right through summer.
You can try blending a few different colours together to make an impressive display.
Tuberous begonia makes a beautiful hanging basket with its large double flowers tucked in among the lush foliage before growing out to cascade down to form a full rounded shaped basket.
They will continue to flower for months and hold their compact form throughout the growing season.
Once they have finished, they will need a light trim over and a feed before they start flowering again.
Streptocarpus or Nodding Violet, is an easy-care plant with soft fleshy leaves and purple-blue trumpet-shaped flowers that hang down, making it ideal for hanging baskets.
They require a bright indirect sunlight frost-free position.
They also make great indoor plants if given the right conditions.
Kalanchoe Freedom Bells is an almost fail-safe choice of hanging basket plant.
It is able to withstand prolonged periods of forgotten waterings to bounce back once remembered.
They have small glossy oval leaves and hundreds of small hanging bell-shaped flowers a couple of times a year.
Dichondra Silver Falls in a basket really shows off its striking silver foliage and can cascade down to about one metre before needing a trim to thicken it up. Being a native ground cover, it can withstand periods of dryness but looks best with regular watering.
Blue Star ferns make another forgiving hanging plant that can handle a fair amount of neglect.
The dusty silvery blue foliage sits quite upright when first planted but as the basket fills up, it will start to hang down over the edge.
Blue ferns can handle some morning sun but will need afternoon shade.
Plectranthus Nico or Plectranthus Mona Lavender are popular choices of basket plants for shady areas.
Their heavily textured leaves have a purple underside making a great background for their lilac-tinged white flowers.
They respond well to a prune after flowering and have a natural bushy habit.
If you are thinking of trying your hand at a hanging garden there are plenty of options about — these are just a few of the easier ones to try.
Call in and have a chat, and we will help get you sorted for success.
All of us at Riverside Gardens would like to thank all our customers for their support over the past year.
It has been a pleasure helping you with your garden needs and challenges.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy, safe new year.
Happy gardening in 2026.