A hanging basket is a suspended container used for growing decorative plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

s. Typically they are hung from buildings, where garden space is at a premium, and from street furniture

Street furniture

Street furniture is a collective term for objects and pieces of equipment installed on streets and roads for various purposes, including traffic barriers,...

 for environmental enhancement. They may also be suspended from free standing frames sometimes called hanging basket trees. One type of hanging basket is the inverted planter where plants are grown in an upside down pot and are watered from the top.

Structure

Hanging baskets are normally made from wire

Wire

A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various...

 with an impervious, usually plastic, lining to retain the contents. They are filled with peat

Peat

Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...

-free compost usually with a water-retaining gel and controlled release fertiliser granules. Typically they are planted with bedding plants and may include geraniums, fuchsia

Fuchsia

Fuchsia is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. The first, Fuchsia triphylla, was discovered on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola in 1703 by the French Minim monk and botanist, Charles Plumier...

, and trailing plants around the edges such as lobelia

Lobelia

Lobelia is a genus of flowering plant comprising 360–400 species, with a subcosmopolitan distribution primarily in tropical to warm temperate regions of the world, a few species extending into cooler temperate regions...

.

Criticism

Safety concerns have been raised over hanging baskets. In February 2004, Suffolk County Council

Suffolk County Council

Suffolk County Council is the administrative authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 72 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions...

 ruled there was a risk that baskets, part of the annual summer floral displays in Bury St Edmunds, could fall from lampposts

Street light

A street light, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or walkway, which is turned on or lit at a certain time every night. Modern lamps may also have light-sensitive photocells to turn them on at dusk, off at dawn, or activate...

 and injure the public. After an outcry this decision was reversed the following month. Because of hosepipe bans

Outdoor water-use restriction

An outdoor water-use restriction is a ban or other lesser restrictions put into effect that restricts the outdoor use of water supplies. Often called a watering ban or hosepipe ban, it can affect:*irrigation of lawns*car washing...

 due to drought

Drought

A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...

, local authorities

Local government

Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...

 in South East England

South East England

South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...

reduced the number of hanging baskets in public displays in spring 2006.