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18-04-2019, 01:01 PM
1

Hanging baskets and raised beds advice please.

Need some advice please. We have arranged to have a large section of the garden paved in the middle of May, as well as new fencing with wooden posts. There are five posts in this section so have pre-ordered 5 x hanging baskets already filled, I have also bought 2 x 5ft troughs and 4 x smaller barrel planters in which to plant shrubs and bedding plants.

The advice I need (as a complete novice with gardening) is:

I guess the hanging baskets will have already had a feed when they arrive in the middle of May, so is it okay to just deadhead as needed,water them early morning every day, clear any fallen leaves from the soil and give them a tomato feed every 10 days upto about July and then once a week?

Where do I start with the troughs and planters? I have spent hours on websites such as Thompson-Morgan looking at beautiful flowers and shrubs, but I am completely stuck with which flowers and shrubs to get to show them off to their best advantage. i.e. height growth, etc.

If there are any seasoned gardeners on here, I really would be extremely grateful for any advice. I'm not even sure how much soil to buy to fill them all, and what is the best soil to buy?

I've also ordered 3 planters with v shaped trellis to plant honeysuckle, jasmine and rambling rose, what is the best soil for these climbers please?

Due to ill-health, I'm no longer as mobile as I used to be, so
thought I would try my hand at gardening. Everything cost so much money, I'm feeling rather daunted at the fact that I am at risk of wasting the same if I don't do it correctly at the start. I am looking forward to it, I just wish I had someone here that knew what I was getting up to says STOP! when and if I do something wrong.

HWMO is even denser than I at gardening, so I won't even go there! Then I realised, I have you to seek advice.

Thank you in advance for any tips or advice.
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18-04-2019, 01:16 PM
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Re: Hanging baskets and raised beds advice please.

The best thing to do is to go to a garden centre and ask what plants you need for your troughs and barrel planters, bearing in mind their location, whether shady or sunny.

The thing to remember is that hanging baskets need watering daily, as they can dry out very quickly in warm weather. The same goes for any pot plant during the growing season.

Don't forget Clematis for your climbing plants.
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18-04-2019, 03:32 PM
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Re: Hanging baskets and raised beds advice please.

Thank you Fogey.

We already have one wall full of Clemetis (I think it is called Montana? a lovely lilac bloom. It is a really lovely climber that my son planted years ago. The show of flowers is beautiful every year, but I wanted some different climbers on the paved area for a change,(and hopefully, blooms with a lovely scent in the early evenings) but a bit nervous as they will be growing from planters instead of the garden border which is being paved.

I will get some advice from wherever I can, but my plants and shrubs are coming from Thomson & Morgan and I can't get information such as which shrubs to place at the back, which flowers to place so they hang nicely (lobelia etc) where to place shrubs such as hostas so they don't drown other plants.

There's a lot to learn with gardening. I just want to be agle to do it as best I can, with as much help as I can get.

xx


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18-04-2019, 03:59 PM
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Re: Hanging baskets and raised beds advice please.

I would feed the baskets twice a week , but water every day
Use John innes no 3 soil for the baskets and troughs
If you are planting with seasonal plants, ie summer bedding use compost, as because it is short term soil, as the plants will use up all the nutrients in a season, then you would start again next year, for more permanent plants use the no3, same with the climbers, as to what plants to buy, well I would go for wildlife friendly flowers your local garden centre will help, as already suggested,don’t forget to plant out after the frosts are done, if you have tender plants, and if buying summer bedding now, you will need to keep them indoors until you can plant out
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18-04-2019, 05:17 PM
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Re: Hanging baskets and raised beds advice please.

Originally Posted by Primus1 ->
I would feed the baskets twice a week , but water every day
Use John innes no 3 soil for the baskets and troughs
If you are planting with seasonal plants, ie summer bedding use compost, as because it is short term soil, as the plants will use up all the nutrients in a season, then you would start again next year, for more permanent plants use the no3, same with the climbers, as to what plants to buy, well I would go for wildlife friendly flowers your local garden centre will help, as already suggested,don’t forget to plant out after the frosts are done, if you have tender plants, and if buying summer bedding now, you will need to keep them indoors until you can plant out
Thank you very much Primus. I have made a note of John Innes no. 3 for the soil, plus compost for the troughs and planters.

I think I will be okay for the soil for the hanging baskets as they are being delivered next month ready to hang on the brackets with the flower arrangements already done.

I bought a cheap mini greenhouse with shelves from Ebay. Do you think the bedding plants will be okay in there until ready for planting. I seem to recall reading somewhere that I can put the soil into the troughs and cover them with black plastic covering until ready to plant so the soil stays warm.
Have you heard of this?

I will have to keep all the bedding plants for at least 3 weeks before planting, so if you think the mini greenhouse in a sunny area is not suitable for keeping them, do I keep them at room temperature or somewhere really warm like the airing cupboard floor? its the only place I can think of, unless I can bag some room in HWMO's shed perhaps?
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18-04-2019, 05:36 PM
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Re: Hanging baskets and raised beds advice please.

Best of luck SG.

I set up three raised bed for the veg patch this year along with some grow bags for potatoes and beans/peas. But I didn't realise how much soil they would need. Bag and bags of compost. Such a lot of work to fill them. But they are great because the snails and slugs just can't get in and I've put netting on top too which helps. I've found two snails so far get stuck in the netting trying to get in but their shells are too big!
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18-04-2019, 05:46 PM
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Re: Hanging baskets and raised beds advice please.

The mini greenhouse will be ok in a sunny spot, although cover them at night with horticultural fleece, just to give them extra protection, any ideas on the plants for the troughs?.
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18-04-2019, 06:17 PM
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Re: Hanging baskets and raised beds advice please.

Geraniums are always nice in troughs you can get upright and trailing and variegated (shades green leaf as well.) I always find a block of colour looks nice in there and if they are by each other location wise a nice block of long lasting colour. Think Mediterranean countries and geraniums flowering there.
Mixed with either trailing ivy or silver leaf (both commonly available ion every garden centre.)Or use them on there own, trailing and upright geraniums.

They go till the first frosts and are somewhat drought resistant, if the leaves start to go yellow increase the watering they don't like soggy soil .
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18-04-2019, 06:34 PM
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Re: Hanging baskets and raised beds advice please.

I've sent Marge a link to this. She's the expert. I'll let you know what she says.
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18-04-2019, 06:50 PM
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Re: Hanging baskets and raised beds advice please.

why not measure the garden and draw the plot on paper or even on the internet. I am sure there must be free downloads to try out
 
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