Wanting to add color, texture and shape to your balcony, patio, or garden area?  A hanging garden is an inexpensive way to dress up these areas and provide a splendid show in any season.

Plants such as bright and colorful impatiens, fabulous ferns, English ivy, bridal veil, vining geraniums, or trailing petunias can be used to create a beautiful suspended flowerbed.  Plants & flowers can be mixed for a garden effect, or use only one plant such as impatiens in a mixture of colors, hot pink, soft pink, and white.  New guinea impatiens have very colorful leaves and make an awesome hanging plant and by using other green plants you can add some foliage, shape and texture to your hanging garden.  Some succulents also come in trailing varieties and can be used with other succulents towards the top of your basket.
Depending on your climate, hanging gardens require more attention to watering needs.  Hanging containers allow the soil to dry out more quickly as air is constantly circulating around the hanging planter.

Choosing Hanging Containers
Enjoy shopping for your hanging pots and containers.  Consider containers that are well designed for your planting purpose. 

Plastic containers are inexpensive and slower to dry out while wire hanging baskets can offer some moisture retention depending on the liner used.  Wire hanging basket containers are a great choice.  They offer more choices of sizes, and many people find them more attractive.  Additionally, liners for hanging baskets come in the form of dried sphagnum moss, coconut fiber (coco fibre), peat, compost, or wool fleece.  Using a wire basket also offers more versatility; plants can be placed through the bottom of the basket as well as planting from the top of the basket.

Soil
Use a lightweight potting soil for your hanging garden.  Soil-less planting mixtures are available that provide aeration, excellent drainage and have a great water-holding capacity.  Soil or soil-less mixtures must be used in addition to the liners in wire baskets.