Revive Hanging Baskets
by
Sow and Dipity
(IC: blogger)
If your hanging baskets are starting to look haggard then there is no time to waste, you need to cut them back NOW if you want them to look great all summer.... here's how.
Spring hanging baskets get tired by the time the heat of summer starts. When you buy them in spring, your baskets have been growing since January. It's time to pinch them back and you better do it now.
This hanging basket still has plenty of blooms but it's looking stretched and in a week or two will be done. Cut it back by half right now!
This is not going to be easy, you might even cry a little... but it's necessary to cut them back if you want them to last and last. Want a tip on how to clean your pruners or scissors? Just give them a quick shot with Lysol Disinfectant Spray.... I know, brilliant right ;)
This is not a pretty site, but it will only be a couple of weeks before this is flushing again. I cut this basket back on June 16th. To get it to bounce back quickly you must feed it, water it... and tell your hanging basket how beautiful it is ;)
This is the key to bushy plants. You must cut back the growing point to trigger the side shoots to grow. They remain dormant until you remove the lead growing point. For the full explanation of the correct technique visit the link below.
I'll add updated pictures to show the progress to this post, be sure to follow me if you don't want to miss them! One week later, June 22nd....the verbena is already on the way to recovery, there are very small buds on the Lobelia and the petunia's still look the same.
I see that this post is getting a lot of attention today... the before picture was taken right after the haircut June 17th, the after is how these plants looked last week :)
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Published June 22nd, 2014 11:21 AM
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Gail Price on Aug 03, 2014I trimmed back my petunias in the hanging flower basket and they have started to really bloom out again!!! Yes i did shed a tear but all in all it was worth it. :) Now my clematis is brown, wilted and dying, what can be done to save this beautiful plant?
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