Hanging Baskets on a Balcony: Placement, Plants and Safety

Hanging baskets on a balcony put flowers at eye level without taking up any floor space, which is why they are so tempting when every square foot counts. They are also the one type of container that can hurt someone if it comes down, so the order of decisions matters.

Start with permission and hardware, then choose the spot, and only then choose the plants.

Find out whether you can hang anything

Many apartment balconies have a concrete or finished ceiling that tenants may not drill into, and many buildings restrict hanging items of any kind. Read your lease and the building rules, and if they are unclear, ask the landlord or building management in writing before you buy a single hook.

Ask two things: whether hanging planters are allowed at all, and whether you may fix anything to the ceiling, wall or railing. If the answer is no, skip ahead to the freestanding options below.

Hooks, brackets and what holds the basket up

If hanging is allowed, the hook or bracket has to suit the material it goes into. Hardware made for a wooden beam is not the same as hardware made for concrete or masonry, and a fixing that only grips a thin finished surface is not holding onto the structure behind it. Buy hardware sold for hanging planters, match it to your ceiling or wall, and install it exactly as its manufacturer instructs. If you are not sure what your ceiling is made of, ask the building management.

Remember that the basket you lift in the store is dry. Once the potting mix is soaked and the plants have grown, it is much heavier than it looked, and wind adds movement on top of that. Check the chains, the hanger and the hook now and then through the season, and take the basket down if anything looks bent, rusted or loose.

Where a basket should hang

Hang baskets over your own balcony floor, well inside the railing, and never beyond the railing where a basket or its drips could fall onto the street or a balcony below. Water runs out of the bottom every time you water, so think about what sits underneath too.

• Height: high enough that heads miss it, low enough that you can see the surface of the mix and reach it with a watering can without stretching or standing on a chair.
• Clear of the door: not in the path of the balcony door or the route you walk most.
• Light: under a balcony above, the top of a basket may sit in shade even when the floor is sunny. Check the light at basket height before choosing plants.

If you were thinking of the railing instead, planters made to sit on it follow their own rules, covered in the guide to choosing and fitting railing planters.

The no-drill alternative

A freestanding basket stand, or a shepherd-hook style stand set in a weighted base, lets you hang a basket without fixing anything to the building. Set it on a level part of the floor, inside the railing and away from the edge, and choose one whose base is wide for its height.

A stand can still tip in wind, so treat it the same way as a hung basket in bad weather. Another simple option is to plant trailing varieties in a tall pot or on a low plant stand, where they spill over the rim in much the same way.

Liners, potting mix and slowing the drying

Wire baskets need a liner to hold the mix. Coir and moss liners look natural and drain freely, but they also lose moisture through the sides. Solid plastic baskets hold water longer and often come with a small built-in saucer.

To slow drying in a lined basket:

• Choose the largest basket your setup allows, since a bigger volume of mix holds more water.
• Lay a piece of plastic with a few holes poked in it inside the liner, across the lower part only, so water still drains.
• Use fresh potting mix rather than garden soil, and fill to a little below the rim so water does not run straight off.

Watering, feeding and turning

Baskets dry faster than any other container. They hold a small volume of mix, they are exposed on every side, and they hang where the wind reaches them. In warm weather, check them often: push a finger about 2 in (5 cm) into the mix, or lift the basket slightly from below to feel how light it has become. In a hot, windy spell a small basket may need water more than once a day, while in cool, still weather it might stay moist for several days.

Water slowly until it drips from the bottom. If the mix has dried so far that water runs straight through, take the basket down and stand it in a tub of water for a while. The guide to watering balcony plants explains how to judge this.

Frequent watering washes nutrients out, so flowering baskets usually need feeding through the season. Follow the product label for rate and timing, and never use more. Turn the basket a quarter turn now and then so every side gets light and growth stays even.

Plants that suit hanging baskets

Pick plants for the light at basket height, and prefer trailing or mounding types that cover the sides.

• Full sun (about six hours or more of direct sun): trailing petunias and calibrachoa flower for months and spill well over the rim.
• Part shade to shade: fuchsia, with its hanging flowers, and begonias both do well out of strong afternoon sun.
• Edibles: trailing herbs such as thyme and oregano, and strawberries, whose fruit hangs clear of the mix.

Keep plants with similar light and water needs together in one basket. For more options in bright positions, see the list of reliable flowers for a sunny balcony.