Hanging basket

A hanging basket is a suspended container used for growing decorative plants.

Hanging baskets, normally made from wire, are hung from buildings, where garden space is at a premium, and from street furniture for environmental enhancement. They may also be suspended from free standing frames sometimes called hanging basket trees.

One type of hanging basket is the inverted planter, plants are grown in an upside down pot and are watered from the top. Some great effects similar to hanging baskets can be created with these.

Plants used may include geraniums, begonias, fuschia, and trailing plants such as lobelia.

Safety

Safety concerns have been raised over hanging baskets. In February 2004, Suffolk County Council ruled there was a risk that baskets, part of the annual summer floral displays in Bury St Edmunds, could fall from lampposts and injure the public. After an outcry this decision was reversed the following month.

Water usage

Because of hosepipe bans due to drought, Local Authorities in South East England reduced the number of hanging baskets in public displays in spring 2006.

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