A balcony garden can be a retreat and get away even if it is no more than 5 foot by 8 foot.For those who live in a condo or apartment this may be the only place you have to garden. The trick to creating a breath taking balcony garden is in the planning. Depending of course whether you have a wall or wrought iron railing around your balcony will make a difference in containers which you will use.
Let start out with the basics. Your balcony will not be a place to entertain on as you just don’t have the room. However you will be able to fit a bench or a chair so you can sit outside and enjoy your garden. The idea is to grow as much as you can in a small space. But first you must decide what you want to grow. Do you want a lot of flowering plants and some foliage or are you thinking of vegetables. Maybe you want an herb garden for your cooking needs. These are the decisions you will have to make. You do not get to have all the choice though. The location of your balcony will in part dictate what you can grow.
If you live on the north side of the building chances are that you will be using plants that will grow in part sun to shade. Traditionally the north side of a building receives the least amount of sun. The west side is good because it gets the afternoon sun and has plenty of sunlight for plants that need full sun but may not be suitable for plants that like shady conditions.The south side of the building is usually sunny and can get hotter due to it’s constant exposure to the sun. The east side will receive morning sun and will be a good choice for most everything to grow. Of course there are other considerations such as other buildings that are nearby that can block the sun all this should be taken into account as well.
Now that you have determined what growing conditions you have and the types of plants you want to grow it is time to design your space.As with any container garden you must remember that the container is a vessel to hold the plant it does not necessarily need to be a pot. You can easily train vines to grow up a trellis using pots at the bottom to hold the plants. A bar can be attached to upright poles attached to the railings sort of like a shower curtain rod to hold hanging baskets. Window boxes can be attached to the railings on both sides to hold a wide variety of plants, and will leave space below for a mixture of low growing plants to maximize the space you have. Strawberry jars are an excellent choice for multiple plants in a single pot. The possibilities are endless left up to your own imagination. Be creative and use unconventional containers and methods in your garden.
