Hanging basket: what to check before you buy
Updated: October 2026
You are choosing a first hanging basket for a UK wall, porch or balcony, and the same two words cover a 14 inch bowl, a 13 cm metal cup and a cotton sleeve. By the end of this page you should be able to read the rim, the depth and the liner, and tell a bowl you plant from a holder for a pot you already own. Prices and star lines come from the amazon.co.uk listings in our [hanging basket comparison](/hub/plant-accessories/hanging-basket). Peter F., editor, 22 October 2026. This is not a lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You are choosing a first hanging basket for a UK wall, porch or balcony, and the same two words cover a 14 inch bowl, a 13 cm metal cup and a cotton sleeve.
You are choosing a first hanging basket for a UK wall, porch or balcony, and the same two words cover a 14 inch bowl, a 13 cm metal cup and a cotton sleeve. By the end of this page you should be able to read the rim, the depth and the liner, and tell a bowl you plant from a holder for a pot you already own. Prices and star lines come from the amazon.co.uk listings in our hanging basket comparison. Peter F., editor, 22 October 2026. This is not a lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Size | Liner | Drainage | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  ADEPTNA ADEPTNA (12 inch cone pair) | 12 inch cone | Included | Not stated | 9.6 | about £12.95 | View offer |
| Best value |  Fyne-Finds Fyne-Finds (30 cm pair) | 30.5 × 18.5 cm | Polythene | Pierced liner | 9.2 | about £9.95 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Kingfisher Kingfisher (14 inch) | 14 inch | Included | Yes | 9.0 | about £6.99 | View offer |
On this page
Read the rim, then the depth
UK shops still sell a hanging basket by a 10, 12 or 14 inch rim, and those inches are the diameter, not the depth of compost. A plant count for that rim only works when the bowl is deep enough for roots.
Tosnail's metal pair is 30.5 cm across and only 13 cm deep. Kingfisher's HB14R is the 14 inch title here, though one UK review measured 13 inches. Fyne-Finds gives a height of about 18.5 cm on a 30 cm pair. ADEPTNA's plastic bowl is 26 cm across and 15.5 cm high, a 10 inch class even when the photo looks full.
Four types, and who should leave each one
Open rattan you plant into is Kingfisher, Fyne-Finds and the ADEPTNA cone pair. Metal with coco is Tosnail, a cup that drains through the coir. Plastic with a stated reservoir is the two SQOKHT packs. Solid walls mean you plant from the top only.
Holders are PEIQICHU, Dveezull and CKUO. Leave those if you wanted a ball of bedding. Leave Tosnail for a deep summer basket, and leave a reservoir if you wanted plants through the sides. About £7 to £10 is ordinary shop money. Plantopia's Easy Fill pair is not a kept listing here.
Liner, plug and the words on the label
The RHS treats drainage holes, or a pierced liner, as essential for most plantings. Open coir dries from the sides. Gardeners' World puts a plastic sheet inside the coir and snips holes.
Fyne-Finds liners often arrive already pierced. ADEPTNA's 26 cm plug slows balcony drip and can leave compost wet for a fortnight. It is a stopper, not a well. SQOKHT's two-week line is the seller's claim. Dveezull sets drainage to no, so do not fill the cotton with compost.
What to count before you pay
Count the pack, the chain and the hook. Kingfisher names a 40 cm chain and no hook. The ADEPTNA cone chain is listed at 50 cm, and one UK review found it shorter. Both SQOKHT listings name a chain and an S-hook. One PEIQICHU order arrived with a single hook.
Section 22 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you 30 days, from the day after delivery, to reject goods that are faulty or misdescribed. There is no British Standard number for a hanging basket. A reservoir against an open liner is on the self-watering hanging basket page. Which listing suits which job is on best hanging baskets.
Match the bowl to the job
If you want a summer bowl and you can water it, read the rim against the height and check that water can leave. If you will miss days, or someone lives under the hook, a reservoir is a different product from a plug left in. If the pot is already yours, buy a holder and leave the compost in the pot.
Common questions
Do I need a 12 inch or a 14 inch hanging basket?
Choose 14 inch when you want the usual UK summer display and the bracket can take the wet weight. Kingfisher is that title here, and one UK review measured 13 inches. A deep 12 inch rim is easier on a small porch. Brookside Nursery's rule of thumb is about six or seven plants in 12 inch and about seven or eight in 14 inch. Tosnail's 13 cm cup will not carry that count.
Is a 13 cm metal cup a garden hanging basket?
It is a hanging planter, and it is a shallow one. Tosnail's pair is 12 inches across and 13 cm deep, with coco liners, at about £15.99. UK written reviews in the file are short and often call the cups sturdy. The depth on the listing is still 13 cm, so trailing bedding has little compost under the rim. For a mixed summer basket, use a bowl closer to Fyne-Finds' 18.5 cm height or Kingfisher's garden size.
Do I need a coco liner or a plastic bowl?
Use coco, or rattan with a pierced liner, when you want an open summer basket and you can water often. The RHS expects water to be able to leave. Use a plastic bowl with a plug or a reservoir when drip matters, and accept that you cannot plant through the sides. ADEPTNA's 26 cm plug is a stopper. SQOKHT's compartment is the reservoir in this set. Coir without an inner sheet dries from the sides on a hot day.
What should I pay on amazon.co.uk?
In this folder the entry band is about £7 to £10, and about £13 to £18 covers the cone pair, Tosnail and PEIQICHU. Plantopia at £24.20 is a price check, not a listing scored here. Trago has listed cheaper 12 inch rattan, so a low amazon.co.uk price is not automatically a mistake.
Is a seagrass pair a summer basket or a pot-holder?
PEIQICHU at about £17.09 is a pot-holder. The bullets describe woven grass with an inner coating and hooks, and one UK review measured about 20 cm against a 15 cm line. Dveezull and CKUO are cotton holders in the same class. None of the three is a bowl you fill for a summer ball of bedding. Buy one when you already have a pot and you want it off the floor.
What if a hook is missing or the bowl arrives cracked?
Photograph the shortage or the crack before you plant, and use the 30-day right to reject under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22. The clock starts the day after delivery. In this set, one PEIQICHU order arrived with a single hook, and one ADEPTNA 26 cm bowl cracked before soil went in. A silver chain when the photo was black is still worth raising while that window is open.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources used for this comparison. Shelf prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures captured for these ten listings. Last checked 22 October 2026.
- RHS, Hanging baskets (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- RHS, How to plant a hanging basket (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- RHS, Watering containers experiment (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- RHS, Wisley hanging-basket watering trial (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- BBC Gardeners' World, 10 steps to long-lasting hanging baskets (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- Hanging Basket Co, Fixings guide (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (retrieved 22 October 2026)