DURING a quick tidy-up, I hooked a decorative hanging basket onto the support bars of my greenhouse. Empty of flowers and filled only with a lining of lawn moss, it still managed to transform the space. This is what baskets do – they fill the middle ground with colour and interest at eye level.
For softening hard walls and fences in barren places, baskets are invaluable. Mixtures of colourful bedding-style plants are obvious basket candidates and whoever invented the cliché ‘thriller, filler, spiller’ was right. Placing a dominant specimen in the centre, with spreading flowering and foliage plants filling gaps and trailing types tumbling over the edge, works.
For those with little garden space, baskets can be microcosms of carpet bedding, kitchen or herb gardens, herbaceous prairie-style borders and even shrubberies. If you are prepared to water, feed, prune and shuffle plants around, be as inventive as you like. Some of the most effective displays consist of just one plant, including tender types hung from the lower branches of trees for a tropical look. Try the fern Phlebodium aureum, asparagus fern Asparagus densiflorus ’Sprengeri’ or a spider plant with its waterfall of plantlets. Orange-flowered Begonia sutherlandii and New Zealand Viola hederacea are unusual choices but remember to put them under cover for winter.
Early June is a great time
Spring 2021 presented us with the lowest average minimum temperatures for April since 1922 and the highest number of air frosts in 60 years. This meant a delay for many gardeners, but early June is a great time for container planting, as roots will quickly spread into fresh compost. While lining and filling our baskets, we might wonder where the idea came from.
Denne historien er fra June 12, 2021-utgaven av Amateur Gardening.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra June 12, 2021-utgaven av Amateur Gardening.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
To dig or not to dig?
Should we be carrying out a full dig on plots now? Bob considers the pros and cons of the 'autumn dig' debate
The box ball blues
As if his beleaguered box hadn't already taken a beating, Toby now has to deal with some hungry box caterpillars
Save your own seeds
Masterclass on: seed saving
Strange sightings
Three unusual insects turn up in Val's garden in one day
A bolt from the blue!
Cornflowers are perfect for garden and vase
Winter moth prevention
Ruth shows you how to avoid maggoty tree fruits
Create a winter container
There are as many options as in summer
Lightweight gardening tools
AS well as being good for our mental health, gardening is also great exercise.
Autumn price round-up
AG finds better bargains in lesser-known brands
Rudbeckias
Rudbeckias are ideal for sunny summer patios and borders, with some able to survive our coldest winters