Hanging Baskets

A hanging basket fills the airspace above garden borders with seasonal flowering plants, typically petunias, fuchsias, lobelia and trailing geraniums in summer, or evergreens and winter pansies in cold months. Standard sizes run 30cm, 35cm and 40cm diameter; larger 45-50cm baskets need stronger brackets and dry out slower. Aosom UK, Cheaper-Online.co.uk and Cherry Lane Garden Centres between them cover £0-£439 across baskets and bracket sets. Wire baskets with a coir or moss liner are the traditional pick. Water flows through, but the liner refreshes each season. Self-watering baskets with reservoirs hold 1-2L of water and reduce watering from twice-daily in summer to every 2-3 days; the hidden trade-off is they cost £15-£30 more. Bracket strength matters: a 40cm basket weighs 8-12kg fully watered; cheap brackets bend at the wall fixings within a season. Look for steel brackets with at least 2-screw wall fixings.