Home and Garden Chat

Living in an apartment or condominium in the city doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the pleasures of gardening. As long as you have a small balcony or patio and access to an adequate amount of light, you can easily create a modest-sized garden. Even if you only have a few square feet of space, if you use it efficiently you can double-even triple-the amount of room you have available for gardening. Creating a balcony garden requires some imagination but regardless of size, any balcony can be transformed into a garden paradise.

One of the best ways to maximize a small balcony or patio for gardening is to take advantage of your wall space. You can only afford so much floor space for pots and urns if you plan to include patio furniture into the mix, but even the tiniest balcony or terrace can offer at least a foot or two of wall space. Another advantage to using wall space is that walls are often protected from direct sunlight and damaging winds, which is a bonus if you’re growing more delicate types of plants.

Using trellises is another easy way to utilize space. They come in all shapes and sizes, and with just a few small branches and some wire, you can assemble one yourself. Metal trellises offer a more formal look, natural wood trellises keep things looking rustic and trellises painted white will really set off the color of plants and flowers. Small trellises can be placed directly into individual pots to support climbing flowers and vegetables, but don’t forget that plants that like to climb are just as happy trailing. A large trellis mounted along a wall can be fitted with several rings that can accommodate multiple trailing plants.

If you don’t have enough wall space for a trellis, there are endless flat-backed pots, pockets and urns designed specifically to be mounted on walls. Hooks and brackets designed to hold several pots need not be fancy, but if you only have room for one or two, consider buying something wrought-iron or whimsical that becomes part of your garden design.

If you are permitted to mount them, shelving units are another wonderful way to utilize wall space. Adjustable units mounted from the floor to the ceiling are a convenient way to accommodate different sizes of pots. Stagger floating shelves along the span of an entire wall for a dramatic effect.

PVC pipe comes in a variety of lengths and diameters and it’s usually sold by the foot at hardware stores so you can get the exact length you need. By drilling a few holes along the length of the pipe and inserting pieces of wooden dowels, you can make yourself a cheap and effective pole-ladder for climbing plants.

Lattice provides a really great solution when you can secure anything to the wall. Cut three or four pieces of lattice as tall as you like and fasten them together with door hinges to create a self-standing screen. This will not only offer you some privacy, but it will allow you to hang multiple hooks for holding multiple pots.

Imagine sitting under a canopy of lush green vines in your own secret garden. Arbors and arches are wonderful ways to create extra gardening space on a balcony or terrace. Train vines to climb over the top or hang several pots from the sides. Place a patio seating underneath for a cozy place to read and relax.

Save space by “layering” plants or placing them in tiers. Group some pots on the ground and elevate others on bricks, concrete blocks, milk crates or overturned unused pots. This “step-up” effect is a space-saving way to create a lush garden in a corner or along an unused wall.

Window boxes and planters are a great way to utilize ledges and railings and balconies and patios. Most home and garden centers offer a variety of brackets that enable you to suspend planters and flower pots from deck and balcony railings. Double your growing space by hanging brackets so that plants are displayed on both the outside and the inside of your railing. Create a garland of flowers by training peas, beans and climbing flowers like clematis and morning glory to spread horizontally along railings and ledges.

If one hanging basket is good, than three are even better. Try using a 3-tiered wire produce basket as a space-saving hanging basket. Line the baskets with dried moss from a craft store (soak it a first to rejuvenate it) and fill each tier with a light potting soil. Don’t forget to water the plants in your hanging basket daily.

Are you looking to plant edibles?

Decide what you want to grow. An east-facing balcony can grow beautiful flowers, herbs, and smaller vegetables such as radishes. Cool-weather crops such as lettuce also do well with an eastern exposure that gets most of its direct sun in the morning, since leafy vegetables tend to go to seed rather than maturing if they’re grown in a desert climate or with hot afternoon sun on them. A southern exposure to sun will grow almost anything, but stay away from bushy or tall crops like corn if you have limited space. Root vegetables, such as long carrots and most potatoes, require soil depths that you really can’t get in a container-based garden.

Line up all of your containers according to size. Figure out which herbs or vegetables are good matches to which containers. Bell peppers need slightly more depth and plenty of horizontal space to spread out, so you might use regular flower pots for those. Plan a crop for each container. To get maximum yield from each container you’ll want to plant more starter plants than the container can actually grow, because you’ll undoubtedly want to weed out the slower growing and sickly looking ones along the way.

Let the starter plants sit for 24 hours in their nursery containers to allow them to recover from the handling they’ve endured. During that time, fill your growing containers half to two-thirds full of a mixture of potting soil and dirt. I’ve found that mixing dirt and potting soil together is a good way to get a rich mixture for vegetables. Flowers are usually happy to be plopped directly into potting soil. After the 24 hour rest period, plant starter plants according to package or nursery guidelines, expecting to thin the smaller ones out when you can see which ones are more robust.

Buckets will be used for some “inverse gardening” of plants like tomatoes and cucumbers that are often avoided in small gardens because they are bushy. If you have a covering on your balcony where sturdy hanging hooks can be mounted, you can grow these bushy crops quite easily. Simply cut a hole in the bottom of the bucket that is very slightly larger than the root ball of your tomato or cucumber plant. You’ll need someone to assist with the rest of the operation so you won’t break the plant after it’s inserted into the bucket. Carefully push the root ball through the opening so the plant emerges from the bottom of the bucket, then line the bottom of the bucket with part of a feed sack or other discarded fabric. The fabric should form a loose shield between the top of the root ball and the hole in the bucket to secure the plant and soil until the root ball grows larger. Fill the bucket with soil as you normally would. The plant should be hanging out the bottom of the bucket. Now hang the bucket in the upside-down position from the upper rail or near the edge of the balcony ceiling. You may be able to use the bucket’s own handle as a hanger. Leave enough room around the hanging planter for the plant to spread out, water regularly and watch the plant mature. Plants grown this way require less water and often grow larger produce because gravity allows water to flow more easily to where it’s needed.

Place your smaller planters on railings, hang plants in flower boxes over the railings, and get creative about where to put all of the other pots. Rotate the locations of plants occasionally and rotate individual pots often to get the best exposure to the sun. You’ll be amazed at how much produce you’ll enjoy this summer from such a small space!

Balcony seating.One of the most important elements to a successful, relaxing balcony garden is the seating. Being able to sit in comfort and enjoy the solitude, or having a place to entertain friends, requires sturdy and appealing seating. The proper seating for a balcony garden depends on the size of the balcony and the atmosphere you’re trying to create. A couple of wicker chairs with comfortable cushions fit well on even the smallest of balconies. A larger balcony can handle a small patio set with two to four chairs. The material should be weatherproof and fit with the garden decor.

Plants on a balcony garden.Choosing plants for a balcony can take some patience. The location, lighting and size of the balcony all come into play here. Plants that require full sun cannot be planted on a balcony that is in full shade, just as a balcony with a 7 foot ceiling cannot handle plants that grow tall, and a small, compact balcony cannot accommodate plants of an extremely wide berth. Color is another important factor. Creating a relaxing atmosphere of serenity, solitude and peacefulness requires softer colors and lacy leaves, such as those found in ferns, fichus trees, pastel patio roses and hanging petunias. For a bolder garden where you plan to entertain, choose fun plants like painted daisies, bougainvillea, palms and hibiscus. Always be sure to have a watering container available if a watering spigot is not within easy reach.

Subtle lighting on a balcony garden.Choosing the correct lighting for a balcony garden depends on the size of the balcony and the surroundings, such as neighbors. In order to best show off the flowers and other plants in your garden, choose floor-track lighting or small, well-placed spot lights in assorted colors. If you prefer overall balcony lighting, a palm blade ceiling fan light or mosaic lamps would be ideal. To be respectful of close neighbors, keep the lighting soft.

Be sure to check out our wonderful garden stores for all of your gardening needs. The prices can’t be beat and shipping is often free. Remember, No sales tax. Happy Shopping!