Save The Plants!

If you are a mom, then chances are you just received flowers over Mother’s Day weekend. My husband surprised me (more like I sent him an email a month ago to plant a little bug in his ear) with some potted plants, birdfeeders, and a couple of hanging baskets for our backyard. He rocks!

I’ve had a few metal hanging baskets with cocoa liners that we’ve used on our patio for several years now. I love them, and every year we plant new flowers in them and they look awesome till mid July and then it gets really hot outside and I get lazy and everything dries up and dies.

So, as I’m planting my new flowers  this spring, I remembered this tip that I came across somewhere last year. I only wish I had found it BEFORE I planted last year’s flowers. There’s something self-defeating about planting  flowers in cocoa liners and expecting them to make it through a hot summer. Every time you water them, the water just drains out the bottom!

So here’s what you do:

This year I purchased new liners for my hanging baskets and a few plastic party plates. If you go looking for flower pot drain pans at a garden store, they are over $1.00 each, and the price goes up depending on size. I found clear plastic party plates on clearance for $.75 for 9. They are the same material, and are about an inch deep from the base of the plate to the rim.

Place a plate in the bottom of your cocoa liner.

Add some gravel for a little bit of drainage. I just used some landscaping rock that I took out of the flowerbeds that line our driveway. This way the water will pool between the rocks when you water. It will create a wicking system for the plants to draw up moisture when it gets hot. Also, you won’t feel like a fool watching it drain out the bottom while you water the top.

Then, plant on! That’s it. Two easy steps to save you some grief. You still have to water your plants, of course. I’m going for a record this year; let’s see if they are still green by August!