Hanging baskets are a versatile addition to any garden and are not too dissimilar to other planters; there are lots of ways to plant and style them to suit any garden while adding a burst of colour to any garden corner.
There is no wrong or right answer to exactly how many plants you should be putting in your hanging basket, but we’ve put together a guide to give you an idea of what looks best and what gives your plants the ultimate growing conditions with enough space to thrive!
What plants do I put in a hanging basket?
There are lots of different plants you can plant in a hanging basket, bedding plants with different habits such as ones that spread or ones that are more compact. All this will have an influence on how many plants you may want to fill your basket with. Read more on what the best hanging basket plants are here.
As a quick guide, some types of plants we recommend planting in your baskets are:
Spacing your plants in a hanging basket
So how many of each exactly is the right amount? This depends on a number of factors such as spread of the plant, having enough space to accommodate the root systems of each plant, what look you’re going for, etc. How you organise your plants is also something to consider.
Planting Methods
- With cascading plants (such as ivy) or plants of one type, you can plant these over the basket, allowing them to grow outwards and over the edge, giving the hanging basket a beautifully overgrown look.
- You can create a visual masterpiece by placing a more pronounced centrepiece in the middle of the basket (such as a small conifer) before planting smaller (or trailing) plants around it.
- Create a more ‘wild’ look by just spreading out different colours, textures and types over the space you have in your basket.
- Some hanging baskets look stunning with just one large focal plant placed inside it.
Find whatever look is best for what you want to achieve and keep this in mind when buying the plants you plan to use for your hanging basket. The size of the plants will hugely influence what layout you’ll be able to make with them.
Generally using well-established/bigger plants will help your hanging basket look like it’s flourishing almost instantly, but using plug plants will allow for more plants.
Number of plants
As a general rule of thumb, we would recommend planting one plug plant per every 1-2 inches of your basket to fill it out well as it isn’t necessary to give them a huge amount of space. For larger plants (such as those that come in 9cm pots), it’s probably best to place one every 3-4 inches.
8 inch/20.5cm hanging basket – 4-7 plug plants or 1-2 larger plants
10 inch/25.5cm hanging basket – 5-9 plug plants or 2-3 larger plants
12 inch/30cm hanging basket – 6-11 plug plants or 3-4 larger plants
14 inch/35.5cm hanging basket – 7-13 plug plants or 4 larger plants
16 inch/40.5cm hanging basket – 8-15 plug plants or 4-5 larger plants
A Happy Hanging Basket
Remember that each hanging basket is different, and some will be able to hold more plants than others depending on the plants.
Browse the type of plants you may want to fill your basket with such as perennials or bedding plants before coming up with a plan on how to execute the perfect colourful explosion!
If you aren’t sure where to start but need some vibrancy in your garden, why not try out a speed planter, which takes all the hassle of planting out a hanging basket out of the equation.