Hanging Basket

Work from the overall drop stated in the title, which includes the foliage. Baskets between 28cm and 46cm suit a verandah post, a narrow entry or a position with limited headroom. The 110cm fern and English baskets and the 135cm mixed fern need a pergola, stairwell or void where the full fall can be read from underneath.

Yes, the terms are interchangeable and Designer Plants uses artificial throughout. The difference that actually shows on a basket is the planting: a convincing basket has foliage falling at several different lengths and a filled centre, whereas a poor one is a ring of identical strands around an empty middle, which becomes obvious the moment it is hung above head height.

The baskets whose titles state UV Resistant can, including the 110cm fern, the 110cm English basket, the 36cm succulent basket and the 43cm spring evergreen. Those carry UVTex inhibitors bonded within the leaf material rather than sprayed onto the surface. A basket without that wording should stay under cover.

Yes. Each basket is supplied planted in its own container with a chain fitted, so the only thing needed on site is a rated hook, screw-in eye or S hook. That is the practical difference between a basket and a loose trailing plant, which arrives as greenery alone and needs a container chosen for it.

A basket comes planted and is bought for the greenery. A hanging pot is bought empty for the container itself, whether that is a 30cm pot on a chain or a half moon wall planter, and is then filled with whichever trailing plant suits. Choose a basket for speed and a pot where the container needs to match existing hardware.

Petunia is the traditional choice and appears here as a 28cm basket and a 50cm draping window box, since the flower naturally falls rather than standing up. Flowering buxus at 46cm gives a tighter, more clipped look with flower through it. For a softer mass, the spring evergreen basket at 43cm carries mixed blooms across a green base.

Less than a live basket, since there is no soil and no water, but the larger 110cm and 135cm baskets still need a hook fixed into a joist or beam rather than into plasterboard alone. The hanging discs and chandeliers between 40cm and 100cm are heavier again and should be fixed to structure. Weights for a specific piece can be confirmed on 1800 617 341.

There is no watering, deadheading or feeding, and the basket does not dry out over a long weekend, which is the usual failure point for a live one. Take it down two or three times a year and rinse it with a hose, or dust the upper leaf faces with a soft brush where it is indoors. Baskets at the end of their life can go through the Designer Plants artificial greenery recycling programme.