Hanging baskets
Steve and Val check out the quality of hanging baskets that are on offer
HANGING baskets have long been a way of gardening vertically, whether to extend a display or as a means of overcoming limited floor space. They were traditionally used to display ornamental plants, but are now used for a much wider range, including strawberries and tomatoes.
Until fairly recently, the baskets were designed along traditional lines, made of heavy gauge wire or thin steel. They were either galvanised or painted green or black and would be lined with sphagnum moss. Now there is a vast range to choose from. Moss is still available, but liners now also come in pre-formed coir (coconut husk), corn straw or wool waste, as well as thin plastic sheeting.
The basketswoven types made from the twisted leaves and stems of millet or maize wrapped around a wire frame and often transported vast distances from parts of Africa and, more commonly, Asia.
