For the past several years Drew (my fiance) and I have lived in an apartment. For a while it was great because it was a nice apartment, great decent neighbors, and the best part was that we didn’t have to shovel snow, rake leaves, or mow the grass. After a while those amenities no longer mattered. I was yearning for a backyard to finally plant flowers and a garden (partially because I have a love for tomatoes and could eat them everyday) and that is not possible when you live in an apartment. Fast forward to the present day; we have finally moved into a house and have a backyard to plant a garden, flowers, and we even have a small fish pond sans fish, or at least I think…Okay, I haven’t seen him in a while. Anyways, after the cold, harsh Ohio winter we had this year I was dying to get outside to begin pruning the yard. I quickly realized I needed to add a floral touch to our porch so I hit up my local greenhouse and bought up the best cascading flowers I could find and began filling my lovely hanging baskets. Remember how I said I had lived in an apartment for several years? Well let’s just say my green thumb was non-existent! With a few tips from my grandma I was able to successfully plant these beautiful flowers in my new hanging baskets that now grace all sides of my porch. It adds just the right amount of color to our front porch. For all you fellow apartment renters-turned-home owners, this one is for you! Happy Earth Day!
Tips from the Pros: (Haha, just kidding!)
- Get a good potting soil mix (I used Miracle Gro potting mix)
- Dampen the soil with water in a bucket
- Fill up the hanging basket with about 7-8 inches of soil
- With a small gardening tool make a small hole in soil
- Gently transplant flowers from the flat to the basket
- Fill soil around the flower and continue adding more into basket until full
- I chose Petunias because they are a great cascading plant and the more you “pluck” the more they grow back!
- They need about 4-6 hours of sunlight a day and they need watered daily
…..which reminds me, darn-it I need to do that! As you can see I am still at rookie status with this whole green thumb thing but I promise I’ll get it and I’ll make sure to share my secrets and tips I discover along the way with you!
