This guide looks at how to make a winter hanging basket.
Which plants can be used, how long they will last and any special care needed to look after it once it has been planted.
Hanging baskets are most popular and obvious during spring and summer as beautiful displays are created using brightly coloured flowers and trailing plants.
As these spring baskets naturally come to an end around September winter plants can be made up to continue the display albeit using a different range of plants to create a different effect.
Winter means typically the use of more evergreen plants and flowers that can flower throughout the winter.
Pansies and ivy are very common choices for plants with more unusual plants added in for interest.
All the winter plants tend to have more muted colours in common with the season but certainly will stand out during a cold winters day.
Which plants can be used? * Blue, Yellow, Orange and Purple Pansies (Viola) add colour *Ivy makes an ideal basis for a winter hanging basket such as a variegated ivy (hedera) *Grass, fern and even herbs such as Thyme also can add colour and interest *Small shrubs can be used to but need to be replanted in a larger container afterwards How do you make a winter hanging basket? Apart from selecting different winter plants for the basket the rest can be made up as usual with a regular frame, liner, suitable compost as well as fertiliser and gel if required.
Sometimes plastic reservoirs can be used at the bottom of the compost to preserve water in the summer but these can be avoided for the winter.
How do you care for the plants during the winter? The plants will require very little watering in the winter and should only be watered in very dry conditions.
Care should be also taken to avoid over watering (i.
e.
water streaming through the base) which can freeze in the cold weather damaging the roots of the plants themselves.
It is worth dead heading the flowers to maximise their life throughout the winter and remove any stray stems that are showing.
How long will the winter plants last? If planted in September a cared for winter hanging basket will last well into late spring.