Mistake 5: You’re letting the hanging baskets get too dry.
This could be a result of forgetfulness (it sometimes is, for me). But it could also be the result of a combination of mistakes 2, 3 and 4. A small unlined hanging basket with little soil in it will dry up faster.
I’ve found that this also happens when the basket is placed in a location that isn’t very accessible, either because it’s too high, too out of the way or too far away from the other plants that you’re watering.
As someone who’s not very height-endowed (aka, I’m short), I made sure to place my hanging baskets somewhere I could easily reach to water them. I won’t lift a watering can above my head, of course; but I can comfortably reach the baskets while holding a bottle of water.
Mistake 6: You’re hanging your plant baskets in the wrong place.
We’ve already touched upon this, so let’s talk about a few more scenarios that we should try to avoid when hanging containers full of plants.
Avoid placing baskets right below a gutter that’s prone to overflowing in a summer storm. Avoid spots where the container will sway in the wind too much. Finally, keep baskets away from high-traffic areas where you might just bump your head on them.
Mistake 7: You’re cramming the plants too much.
There are two ways to make this mistake. I almost made it by literally adding too many plants to the arrangement before I realized that the potato vine wouldn’t be suitable for a hanging basket.
Another reason we’re cramming too many plants is because we’re not taking into consideration the size of the mature plants. This is a common pitfall when we’re creating hanging baskets with starter plants early in the season.
Keep in mind that most plants will grow and expand a bit more when they reach maturity. Luckily, there’s enough room in hanging baskets for the plants to spill sideways by design. But the better you plan to optimize your space, the longer your container will look fresh and full.
Mistake 8: You’re not maximizing the space.
The reverse of the mistake I mentioned above is not maximizing the space available. When I was planting my basket, I first thought that I wouldn’t have enough room for the pink baby’s breath (Gypsophila). However, the plant was so full of buds just waiting to open that I knew I had to fit it in.
First, I watered the basket to settle the soil. Then I carefully chipped away at some of the soil around the roots of the baby’s breath. After placing it into the gaps in the basket, I watered again. Finally, success! The gypsophila fit perfectly.
Mistake 9: You’re not pruning, trimming or deadheading.
Just like regular flower pots, hanging baskets also need a bit of a tidy up every now and then. We’ve all seen baskets that look a little bit worse for wear at the end of the season. But don’t wait until the season is over to do some light maintenance. Take down the container every month, rotate it around and do some pruning and deadheading.
In my basket, the verbena that came in the same pot as the bright lemon petunias needed a haircut soon after planting. I deadheaded all the spent flower heads, but left most of the verbena plant in the basket to bloom again. I also pick million bells flowers that have dried out to encourage the plant to bloom even more.
Mistake 10: Putting too much weight on your hook.
This often happens when you upgrade the basket but don’t upgrade the hanging mechanism. So while a small planting basket might hang safely enough on a smaller hook, the larger and heavier the basket, the sturdier the hook needs to be.
I was planning on placing this basket in our small gazebo, but hanging the container on a cross beam would leave it either too far in the shade or directly in a walkway path. So in order to hang it at a corner post, we needed to make a wall-mounted arm hanger.
There are many of these for sale, some made of iron or aluminum; but with plenty of scrap wood and hardware lying around, it seemed like a waste of time and money to go out looking for the perfect hanger.
With just a few short pieces of wood, a few finishing nails and a screw hook, we fashioned a sturdy wooden arm. The triangle shape gives it plenty of strength to handle the basket while reaching out just enough to give it some space to swing.
I talked a lot about mistakes in this article, so it may sound like you might as well not bother with hanging baskets. I think making mistakes is one of the best ways to learn about plants and gardening. So go ahead and plant that hanging basket. You have all summer long to enjoy the fruits of your creativity.
