Metal Basket Container Planting

This is what the metal basket looked like unaltered. First step was to give it a coat of anti-rust paint.



To enable the basket to retain soil, I used a double layer of window screen material to line the bowl of the basket. To hold it in place, I used florist pins pushed through the screening and then I cut off the excess screen with scissors.



Next I removed the pins and covered the screening with a layer of long-fiber sphagnum moss. I prepared the moss layer by soaking bunches of the moss in water until it softened and then shaped the moss into even-layered sheets.



The plants and their minimal root balls were placed on the moss and covered by spooning soil over the roots. I added the other plants as I was filling the basket with more soil. With not much soil below the root balls, watering must be done slowly, thoroughly, and more frequently.

A spray water bottle adjusted to gentle jet spray is great for targeting water onto the soil and not the succulents.



I decided to have two separate planted sides to the basket, so that each side would have its own individual look. Here's a photo of the basket planted in 2013 with each side having different plants. The planting lasted almost two years.