Hanging baskets are notoriously thirsty and can drink copious amounts of water during a dry spell. I’ve limited Mr green to just one outside the front door because I can’t bear to see all that water dripping from it after he has watered it!

Here are some tips to reduce water usage, but still enjoy hanging baskets in your garden.

Lining a hanging basket

The most important thing is to line a hanging basket to prevent water loss and help with moisture retention. You can indulge in some recycling for this! Instead of buying moss which isn’t very environmentally friendly, use an old wool jumper! Line the bottom of your basket with a black bin liner and place the jumper on top before filling with compost.

Morning and evening

Timing is important when it comes to watering hanging baskets. If you water at the hottest part of the day, most of the water will evaoprate. By watering early morning and late evening, you’ll get more of the water to the roots of the plants and have less evaporation.

Reuse plastic bottles

A great way to reuse plastic drinking bottles is to make them into funnels. Cut a bottle in half and stick the next down into the soil. Water through the cut end and the funnel will direct the water to the roots, rather than it running down the sides.

Catch the drips

We have a couple more planters underneath our hanging basket so most of the water that drips out of the basket doesn’t get wasted - it waters the troughs below! Try moving a thirsty plant underneath your hanging basket and water it for free.

Harvest rainwater

Every gardener should have at least one water butt (rain barrel) in their garden to maximise on rainfall. using stored rainwater is not as wasteful as using drinking water from the taps and plants prefer rain water anyway. If you do not have a water butt, then use old cooking water or bath and washing up water. A little eco friendly detergent on flowers in your hanging basket is fine and will do no harm.

How could you enjoy hanging baskets while keeping water conservation in mind?

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