Hanging Basket at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

WHEN GROUPING plants in a hanging basket, it is useful to have one larger central plant surrounded by smaller-growing kinds, but planting several of a single kind can be equally effective. The side plants in a basket will usually be trailing types, with taller, bushier plants set in the top so that the finished planting creates a ball of color.

Hanging baskets tend to dry out quicker than containers since more of their surface is exposed to the air. If the plants appear to wilt during early afternoon on exceptionally hot days, yet the compost is moist, this is because they cannot absorb moisture quickly enough. The plants usually recover by the evening. If you discover a neglected hanging basket, cut back any severely wilted stems and immerse the compost in a bowl of water. Remove and place in a cool position until the plants recover.

More permanent installations require their own housings and these types are characterised by the basket strainer. Here, a suitably strengthened wire mesh or perforated plate shaped into a basket is placed inside a sealed housing through which the feed stream flows under pressure. In simplex systems the flow continues until the strainer is clogged with the unwanted solids. At this point the flow is interrupted and the basket is manually changed.