Create a hanging basket for summer

Few special touches bring your summer garden to life than hanging baskets. If you want to add extra color and highlights to your garden, invest in a nice little hanging basket. Start your project in May or June so the flowers will look their best from July all the way to possibly September. You don't need too many items for a great-looking hanging basket. You need a metal ware basket, some grass clippings, peat-free alternative gel that is water-retaining or regular multi-purpose compost, a 9cm pot made out of plastic, and some slow release plant food. For plants, pick out Diascia “Red Ace”, Tresco Purple, Calibrachoa, and Sweet Caroline aka Ipomoea.

This mix of plants gives you a nice color contrast between the wine-colored Red Ace flowers and the lime-green color of the Ipomoea leaves. Quite an eye-catching contrast. Put the basket up on a basket and line its bottom with grass clippings that are moist. Layer the bottom with a plastic sheet to retain moisture better. Cut some drainage holes into the plastic and load up the basket with compost until you have filled up two-thirds with compost. Place the green leaf plants slightly off center. Put the pot in the middle of the basket with its rim buried near the top of the compost. Water the basket by filling the pot. Plant the red plants around the basket's edge. Feed the plants with some slow-release fertilizer.