Granny's Swinging Baskets Beat Babylon

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon may have kept King Nebuchadnezzar’s wife happy but couldn’t hold a candle to my grandmother’s home-made “swinging baskets.” Suspended containers, whether hung with wire, set along a porch rail, or even in an old barbeque cooker, bring flowers and foliage up close and draw the eye upwards, which punches up garden interest. Rather than stick with ready-made ones found in garden centers, which tend to be small and often dry out quickly in the warm breezes, I make my own, larger to accommodate more plants with less frequent watering. And I hang mine at different heights in groups which looks more lush and also makes watering more convenient. Plus, it’s less obvious when a plant or two inevitably starts to look bad. It’s not hard to create a larger, wide container and support it with sturdy wires or chains. I use lightweight potting soil that holds water without staying wet, fertilize once in the spring with Osmocote or other slow-release fertilizer, water twice a few minutes apart to really soak them, and replace what plants don’t make it.

There is a really neat trick to ease the chore of watering, which I learned from the best in the world: English pubs, all of which sport extravagant mixed baskets of flowers. They use a simple, inexpensive, nearly hidden trick to keep plants lush and photographable: drip irrigation. Discreetly snaking along walls are thin water hoses from which small tubes run to each hanging basket or pot, each capped off with a small “emitter” that lowers pressure and drips water slowly but steadily to keep plants moist without wasting water or employee time or splashing customers.

In addition to the same old, same old potbound Boston ferns and droopy petunias people struggle to keep going year after year, there are all sorts of easy plant possibilities, including small outdoor-hardy shrubs, perennials, and seasonal annuals. The most dramatic containers usually include trailing vines including widely used golden pennywort, Silver Falls dichondra, ornamental sweet potatoes, and purple or green striped Tradescantia.

I especially appreciate durable feather-like cascading asparagus fern, airplane or spider plants, and hardy ivy, all of which needs less watering.

By the way, as Granny got older and less enthusiastic about her garden, she gradually replaced some of the live plants in her hanging baskets with synthetic flowers; as real plants faded or needed replacing, she tucked in faux fern foliage, cascading strands of dull plastic variegated ivy, and sprays of little mums made of who knows what but most certainly not silk. And it looked. Just. Fine. And she wasn’t alone; many of the lushest hanging baskets in England include artificial foliage and flowers, some so realistic it takes close inspection to be sure. That’s the key, going with good quality, non-fade synthetics in realistic colors, which can be found in more upscale hobby stores.

I have even used artificial Spanish moss in part of my garden where the real stuff nearly died from extreme drought a couple of years ago; I misted it with gray spray paint to be more realistic, and now I find live stuff making a comeback entwined with the fake! Don’t get me wrong - ferns and petunias are fine, and elegant. But for we who want interest with less maintenance, there’s fun to be had. And even with a bit of the non-natural tucked here and there, I hold my head just as high as anyone.

But note this: the swankier your swinging basket, the more likely you’ll end up with a bird nesting in it - careful with the watering!