House & Home
WHEN you’re short of space – and even if you aren’t – it makes sound, practical sense to grow herbs in a hanging basket by the back door. That way they will always be handy for cooking, you can snip them without bending, and the fragrance will waft inside every time someone goes in or out of the house.
What’s more, a hanging basket provides naturally good drainage, which herbs need, and being raised up means the plants are safe from slugs and snails too.
As an added bonus, a herbal hanging basket looks very attractive, especially if you cheat slightly and include some pretty edible flowers in your planting scheme.
BASKET BASICS
Choose your favourite style of hanging basket and prepare it for planting, if necessary. Modern bowl-style baskets won’t need lining, whereas traditional baskets with open-wire sides, or rustic ones made from woven twigs, will need to be lined.
You can use a shop-bought basket liner or a circle of plastic, cut from an old compost bag (the inside will be black, so use it facing outwards).
Alternatively, cut a circle from an old wool sweater. Then fill the container with multipurpose compost, leaving roughly two inches of space beneath the rim.
PLANTING
Buy a mixture of small culinary herbs in two to three-inch pots. Naturally compact annual kinds are generally best for this job – look out for parsley, marjoram, chervil, and summer or winter savory (both kinds work well when cooked with beans).
Then, as soon as the weather is warm enough, you can add basil if the basket is in a warm, sheltered spot.
You could also use creeping or upright thyme and prostrate rosemary, two evergreen herbs that are sufficiently small and slow-growing to be at home in a hanging basket.
For more colour, add borage and rocket, which are both good for edible flowers and baby salad leaves, as well as heartsease (edible flowers only) and, if there’s room, a wild strawberry plant for fruit.
Arrange them attractively in the container while still in their pots, so it’s easy to move them around as you decide where each kind looks best.
Water the plants well then knock them out of their pots, standing them close together so their root balls touch. The tops of the root balls should come to about an inch from the top of the basket.
Fill the gaps with more compost, then spread a thin layer all over the surface to cover the tops of the root balls.
Water thoroughly and then hang the completed basket up in a handy place that is reasonably sunny but sheltered, and ideally shaded from strong midday sun.
AFTERCARE
Water sparingly at first.
Then, three weeks after planting, start regular feeding using a general-purpose liquid feed.
Increase feeding and watering as the weather improves and the plants grow larger so the basket fills with roots.
Don’t rely on rain to keep the plants watered since a hanging basket will be sheltered by nearby walls that stop rain reaching the compost, especially when the plants have grown big enough to form a natural umbrella of foliage over the top.
Snip small sprigs, individual edible flowers or a few rocket leaves – cutting little and often helps to keep the plants neat and tight without leaving obvious gaps in the display.
If you find you need to cut more heavily, start a second basket and swap the two over every few weeks.
Alternatively, grow a matching tub of herbs nearby, which could include taller or more vigorous kinds, to complement it.