Just Hangin’ Around…..

Just Hangin’ Around…..with my flower baskets….

I really like hanging flower baskets…or perhaps I should rephrase that and say that I like flower baskets that hang from high places…..:) but sometimes I find it hard to keep the baskets watered properly….especially when they are …well, …hanging over my head!

 

Ok…I do have an excuse of sorts….I am vertically challenged!

Well, that is a slight exaggeration, as I am 5 foot 3 inches tall! I believe the average height is some where around that area!

 I used to be 5 foot 4 inches tall, but I don’t know what happened to the other inch.  

 Wouldn’t it be nice if we could lose an inch around our waist as easily?

 

 I absolutely love the pergola that my Beloved built for our Secret Garden and we have pink Mandevilla vines growing on all four pergola posts. The pink flowering mandevilla are slowing winding in and around the posts and the top of the pergola. (See other gardening posts showing the vines at their infancy)

 

They still have a  long way to go until they literally cover the top of the pergola…fingers crossed.

 

 I have purchased a few hanging baskets of  pink petunias for the four corners and the middle of the pergola.

 

Anyway, after killing off a few hanging baskets of flowers, the Captain decided I needed pulleys to raise and lower the flower baskets to a reasonable height, allowing me to not only water the beautiful pink petunias, but to dead head them too.  

I am sure you know to remove the dead flowers from petunias (and other flowering plants) and this will produce even more blooms.

 

So the Captain went to a Marine store and found the best little pulleys, that will not only do the job of assisting the raising and lowering of the petunia plants for attention, but they are also weatherproof.

 

No rusting allowed with these little pulleys, as well as the stainless steel screws to attach them to our pergola.  He also found some little cleats to attach to the pergola posts to wrap the weatherproof rope.  

I don’t know if I ever shared this, but in addition to airplanes, the Captain also knows boats! His parents owned a Marina and he grew up literally on the water….but that is another post!   (I have some really good stories to tell that my Beloved’s family have related to me!) 🙂 

I can’t believe the difference these little pulleys make in my watering routine.

Of course, you probably know that there is a confession coming now….and there is.  

Rather than get out a ladder, I would take my garden hose and aim the water high above my head to saturate the flower basket.  

Sometimes this resulted in me taking a water bath along with the flower baskets….especially if the gentle tropical breeze resulted in a gust!  Not that I mind a little water now and then, but…..

 

If you have issues with watering a hanging basket on your porch or wherever you have a hanging basket….I would like to offer this great solution.  It takes just minutes to attach the two pulleys and a cleat to wrap the cord.

 

 All you need for each plant) is two little pulleys, a cleat and rope and a cordless drill.

 

 The rope threads through the pulley above the basket and over to a post or pole where the rope threads through that pulley and down the post to a cleat.  

 

How easy is that? We will be trimming up the rope, and making all the attachments a little neater, adding chain and I will be re-potting the poor shaggy baskets.

 

 I am going to go water my hanging baskets now….wait, it is raining! oh well, tomorrow is another day!

Make your Thursday a great day! 

Me