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FANTASTIC<br />
FOLIAGE<br />
hanging planters<br />
Add some style to both your front<br />
and back garden with these lush green<br />
LOW-MAINTENANCE displays<br />
GO<br />
MODERN<br />
Use a length of<br />
copper piping rested<br />
on brackets to hang<br />
your planter on<br />
Maidenhair fern<br />
The days may be getting shorter and<br />
there might be a bit of chill in the air<br />
but that doesn’t mean your garden<br />
has to look bare. Fill those empty<br />
hanging basket hooks with a stylish and quick<br />
autumnal revamp.<br />
The on-trend way is to go green with a host<br />
of different types of foliage that will add style<br />
and interest to your garden right through the<br />
autumn and winter months, with no wilting<br />
flowers or constant deadheading!<br />
To create a stylish hanging display, first think<br />
about the type of planter. Willow baskets are<br />
very traditional, but can look super modern if<br />
you go for a conical one rather than the usual<br />
rounded shape. Other on-trend planter styles<br />
include aged zinc bowls, zinc buckets either left<br />
natural or painted, shiny metal in copper, silver<br />
or gold tones, faux rattan bowls, galvanised wire<br />
baskets and rusted steel containers.<br />
Fabulous ferns<br />
With their lustrous, dark green leaves, ferns<br />
are one of the on-trend plants to have in your<br />
garden now. Choose hardy evergreen varieties<br />
as their filigree-like foliage looks stunning when<br />
covered in frost.<br />
YOU WILL NEED<br />
✽ Round aged zinc hanging planter, from<br />
£39.95 graceandgloryhome.co.uk<br />
✽ Compost, equal mix of Miracle-Gro All<br />
Purpose Compost, £5.95/50L, and RHS<br />
Horticultural Grit Sand, £3.50/5kg, both<br />
homebase.co.uk and John Innes No 3,<br />
£5.99/30L marshalls-seeds.co.uk<br />
The next thing to consider is what foliage<br />
to put in your chosen planter – one single<br />
statement plant or a combination of different<br />
leaf types? Take inspiration from the foliage<br />
you already have in your garden and then take<br />
a look online or in a garden centre for<br />
cold-weather resistant, evergreen plants that<br />
will complement your garden style and also have<br />
great texture, such as ferns, grasses, succulents<br />
and low-growing conifers.<br />
Trailing plants such as ivy can be planted<br />
around the edges of any planter so they tumble<br />
over and soften the edges, or disguise an old<br />
willow basket. A dwarf shrub or two will give<br />
some height if wanted, around which you can fill<br />
the compost with other green-leaved plants in a<br />
variety of different shades and leaf shapes and<br />
size. Plants at this time of year won’t grow a<br />
huge amount so make sure you cram in plenty<br />
so that none of the compost is visible.<br />
✽ 1 Maidenhair fern, £12.50/1.5-2L pot<br />
burncoose.co.uk<br />
✽ 1 Bear’s paw fern, £7.95/12cm pot<br />
amazon.co.uk<br />
HOW TO DO IT<br />
✽ Half-fill the planter with the compost mix,<br />
then position one fern on each side. Using<br />
your fingers, blend the two foliages together<br />
so they intertwine with each other.<br />
✽ Fill in around the gaps with compost and<br />
firm the plants in place with your hands.<br />
✽ Water with a full can and allow to drain<br />
before hanging.<br />
40 MODERN GARDENS OCTOBER 2018
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