The general rule is to use one plant per two inches of soil space –this applies to larger plants such as petunias, fuschias or mixed plantings.

Another reason why different types of ivy plants are good house plants is that their trailing vines and variegated leaves can be an interesting feature. You can put ivies in pots on shelves, on top of cabinets, or plant them in hanging baskets. Some types of ivy plants are on the list of the best shower plants to keep in the bathroom. Plants such as winter pansies, evergreen shrubs and berries, and hardy perennials are ideal for winter hanging baskets.These low-growing, tough plants come in various colours, from pinks and whites to purples, adding some charm and texture to your winter baskets.

The most important of these is to position your container in the ideal spot for the plants inside it. This is known as ‘right plant, right place’ in the gardening world, and it’s a great way to make hanging flowers look good.Beauticals are astonishing new generation petunias. They combine the size and beauty of petunia flowers with the mass flowering and superb weather resistance of their cousins, the calibrachoas. So you get the best of both worlds. They are a fantastic choice for baskets and containers, flowering for weeks on end. These are fabulous rain and weather proof petunias that put on a brilliant display, whatever the weather. The neat mounding plants are covered with so many flowers you can’t see the leaves and they keep flowering happily from June through to October.

This combination will give you hanging baskets that wow, remaining vibrant and captivating throughout the winter months. You can usually find the ideal conditions for a plant on the care label it comes with when you buy it. If this is missing or there’s not much information, you can look the plant up online, or use a plant identification app. Hedera and Parthenocissus are the two most widely grown ivies in landscaping. The major difference between them is that types of t Plant winter-flowering heathers in acidic soil, like ericaceous compost, to ensure they thrive and brighten up your winter garden with their beautiful blooms. We all want our hanging baskets and container displays to look lush and amazing straight away, don’t we? But this is one of those times when you need a little bit of patience!

For all types of ivy vines to grow well outdoors, they should be planted in well-drained soil. Most varieties of ivy can withstand a range of pH levels, however, they grow best in slightly alkaline soil. Top of my list is a good * hand trowel. You’ll use this all the time to fill your containers with compost, and top up gaps around your plants. Go for a size that’s well-suited to your hanging basket or pot; you might find that child-sized tools work best if your containers are on the small side. The perfect plants for colorful hanging plants are pansies and violas. Both these plants are amongst the easiest plants to grow and are often planted as filler plants in beds or containers. But their brightly colored flowers can stand out on their own, making them wonderful basket plants. Feeding tip: Feed with a high-nitrogen fertiliser every two weeks until early summer as this will produce long trails, then switch to a low-nitrogen feed to encourage more numerous blooms.

Deadheading sounds like a serious business, but it’s actually super-simple. All you do is remove any drooping or dead flower heads, plus any seed heads that the plant has formed. When you do this, you stop the plant setting seed, which in turn stimulates it to make more lovely flowers. A good quality, peat-free multipurpose compost is fine for a display that only has to last for one year. Adding some loam based compost, such as peat-free John Innes potting compost, will benefitlong-term plantings, but be mindful of the additional weight it will add to your basket.If you want to grow plants that prefer acidic soil, such as winter flowering heathers, it is best to go for ericaeous compost; although Erica carnea and E. × darleyensis, and cultivars of them, are less fussy about pH levels. Planting up your basket This timing allows your plants to establish themselves before the colder weather arrives, ensuring your garden looks stunning throughout the winter months. Although Swedish ivy is relatively pest resistant due to the special aroma of its flower, it is susceptible to the mealybug. If you notice pale leaves and a cottony or webby mass on the underside of the leaves, then this may be a sign of a mealybug infestation. Insecticidal soap can be used to treat an infestation. Make sure you buy the trailing variety of lobelia, as it’s also available as an upright plant. Trailing petunia (Calibrachoa)A: Plectranthus verticillatus is an evergreen perennial native to South Africa. Not to be confused with Plectranthus australis (tubular mauve), which is native to northern Australia and the pacific islands. There are lots of good reasons why you should definitely consider trailing plants for pots or a hanging basket arrangement.