Your Dutch Growers hanging basket has been growing since almost the beginning of the year; while you were still figuring out how to shovel the snow out of your driveway, we were busy planting your hanging baskets! It takes a lot of time and expertise to get your baskets looking fabulous by the time the weather wants to cooperate. This early start also means that your hanging basket is already what we might call a “heavy feeder”: it needs fertilizer that is made for blooms! It also needs consistent watering to keep it looking lush and full.

Fertilizing

• For fertilizer, we recommend any fertilizer with a higher Phosphorous content.
  • Fertilizers have an N-P-K number on their label, which stands for Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium. These are the primary nutrients that plants need for growing, and they all serve a different purpose.
  • There is a lot of science that goes into figuring out what plants need and when, but suffice it to say that a water-soluble fertilizer for blooms should have a higher “P” or Phosphorous number than the other two. This helps to support roots and new blooms.
  • Nitrogen is necessary for the proper growth of stems and leaves, while Potassium is great for immunity and all-around health.
  • However, organic and slow-release fertilizers will have relatively smaller numbers, and that’s ok, too: organic fertilizers tend to be higher in other micronutrients like manganese, magnesium, calcium, and iron, which serve other purposes in the plant’s health. Slow-release fertilizers are a great option for hanging baskets because you can feed it and forget it!

Watering

• For watering, we find that hanging baskets require consistent watering to keep them from drying out.
  • Some plants, like petunias, are particularly robust, and will usually bounce back from going a little dry.
  • On the other hand, many plants will not: bacopa and bidens will lose their flowers, and lobelia will simply crisp up and fall off. Calibrachoa (sometimes colloquially called “Superbells”) usually will not survive, and verbena tend to look a little limp.
  • Therefore, it’s a good idea to get into a routine with your hanging baskets and look at the daily temperatures.
    • On cool, wet days – especially with a few rainy days in a row – weigh the basket before watering. It should feel comparatively heavy if it is adequately watered. Doublecheck the soil by placing your fingers into the soil up to the second knuckle: sometimes the surface of the soil will appear dry, but there might be moisture underneath. This is especially important on those days where there is a lot of rain, as it takes longer for them to dry out!
    • On sunny, hot days, be sure to water! In July and August, I find that I am watering my hanging baskets daily when there is consistently hot and dry weather.
  • Water your hanging baskets by lifting the plant material on one side, placing your watering can or hose nozzle directly above the soil. This prevents the “crater” effect where watering on top of the plant material eventually forces the plants to stop growing in that spot, which affects the overall shape of the plant material: it will no longer appear round and full, but rather flattened or misshapen.

Lighting

• For lighting, our hanging baskets have a colour-coded tag that indicates what kind of lighting the plants in the hanging basket require. We create a large selection of baskets both for Shade and Sun that allow you to find an option that is customized for your location!
  • If you have East or North facing lighting (for example, it will be at the back of your house which faces North), then you should choose a Shade basket. Similarly, if you have a covered patio, or a space that is sheltered by many large, established trees or multiple buildings, you may also want to choose a Shade basket.
  • If you have West or South facing lighting, then you should choose a Sun basket. Our Sun baskets are designed to withstand the high intensity light that occurs in South-facing locations. The plant type is, of course, only half of the battle: even drought-resistant plants need consistent watering!

Your hanging basket requires some mid-season maintenance!

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Trimming

• Trimming your hanging basket partway through the season – sometimes more than once! – will help ensure that it is still beautiful as long as the temperatures are warm.
  • The plant material in your hanging basket eventually gets so heavy that it stops producing flowers on the top part. It ends up looking a little bald!
  • Luckily, we can prevent that from happening by giving the entire basket a trim. In late May and early June, you can effectively pinch back the ends of your petunias, verbena, calibrachoa, and osteospermum to force them to get bushier.
  • In late June, you should consider doing a heavier trim on the entire basket.
    • I like to measure four to five inches out from the edge of the basket, and roughly chop in an even circle all the way around. Once I have the general shape, I go back and make the cuts a little cleaner: on verbena, petunias, osteospermum, (and a few others), I’ll trim back to the next set of leaves to clean up the “sticks” that result from a larger chop. Potato vine, calibrachoa, and lobelia have more grace: they generally hide the cuts that you make, so you can be pretty aggressive with these. I try to avoid cutting trailing begonias and creeping jenny. Not that it hurts them! On the contrary: they’ll keep growing. The trouble is that trailing begonias are usually fine the way they are, and creeping jenny will split and look really funny. Imagine a single line of leaves that suddenly splits into five lines, hanging halfway down the pot. It’s not the most elegant! I tend to avoid cutting them, since they don’t need it, either.
• If you are hosting a big event in your backyard – like a reunion, wedding, or anniversary – you can safely trim your hanging baskets about four weeks before the event. This will ensure that your baskets are full of blooms and in great shape for the big day!

With the right light, watering, fertilizer, and trimming, your hanging basket will inspire you all summer long!