Balcony Garden

Hi, I'm new to this forum and pretty new to gardening. I'm living in a flat at the moment which has a small balcony which is essentially an ugly grey box at the moment. I'm really hoping to get some flowers and plants out there to brighten it up plus some herbs and veggies as I really enjoy cooking and would like to try and produce some of my own food. So, basically my question is where is a good place to start? Obviously everything would be grown out of containers so I'm assuming that instantly rules out some plants. The walls of the balcony are railings and I'd love some kind of flowering climber preferably also with a strong fragrance (was thinking of honeysuckle or jasmine). Also, nothing too difficult to look afte as I'm a beginner and don't want to kill anything!!

I've also posted in container gardens but noticed most people hang out here :D

Thanks for any help

 

Your best bet if you want instant colour would be annual bedding plants window boxes and hanging baskets, there are many plants which will have no problems growing in a pot as long as they are properly looked after (watered regularly and given fertiliser) there's also a number of veggies you could grow such as tomatoes and runner beans I'd personally recommend grow bags if you've only got a balcony as it would probably be easier/cheaper

 

You mentioned you wanted to grow herbs. You're in luck, as some of the most popular herbs are very low maintenance and will be fine in containers. Rosemary is a personal favourite of mine. Put it in a nice big planter and more or less ignore it. It is very drought hardy, in fact it gets upset if it gets too wet (sand or grit in the bottom of the planter helps it dry off if it gets battered by rain). If I only had room for one plant it would be Rosemary. It ticks all the boxes, nice fragrance, great appearance, evergreen, low maintenance and great taste when used in cooking.

Basil is another top choice. Being annual and not very hardy means it is only any good for about half the year, but again it is low maintenance, fast growing, and all round great herb. You can save yourself time and money with Basil if you buy a pot full from Aldi for 69p. I do this every year, and I just take the top half of the plants off, leaving a few young leaves on the lower half of the stem, then gently prise it apart into clumps of two or three plants. A week or so of TLC in a windowsill to let the roots recover and then you get lots of lovely basil right through the summer into autumn before it starts to go to seed. The great thing about basil is that you can use it in salad as a tastier substitute for lettuce.

For low maintenance herbs in limited space, I would also be looking at thyme, mint and marjoram. Sage is great but it grows as big as you let it.

For some colour, pot marigolds are easy, and have the added bonus of apparently detering aphids.

For climbers why not go for broad beans which produce a nice flower, or french beans, as you can get all sorts of different coloured ones. They tick both the veggy box and the flowering climber box for your railings.

 

Hi Kate and welcome.
I used to live in an apartment in London with a balcony so I know where you're coming from. You can buy wondow boxes that clip onto the side of the railings thereby maximising your growing space.

As others have suggested, herbs work well and are useful too. If you're going for a climber, I'd advise jasmine as it smells wonderful and grows well in a pot, but plant it in as big a pot as will go no the balcony. I'd also advise you look at where the supporting structure for the balcony is located and sit the pot on them, as there will be the most secure points for heavy pots (hope that makes sense!).

One last thing, you will need to water the pots a lot in summer, and even in winter if we get a dry patch. So think about your neighbour if their balcony is directly underneath! I was lucky in that case, our neighbour never used hers!

Oh and leave a little bit of room to be able to sit out and appreciate it in summer!

 

Good point. You could get round that by using drought tolerant herbs (like rosemary), and for stuff that needs moist compost, water retaining gel granules would minimising water watering needs and help prevent excess water just escaping out the bottom of the pot and down to the balcony below.

 

Hi Kate welcome to GC.If you want to see how lovely a balcony can be made you want to look up ROSA'S one of our members she has made hers a little haven!! 02

 

Quick Reply:

Wow, thank you for all the info :D I've gone out and got some peas which can be planted already and I've got some indoor chives planted now too. Feeling very enthusiastic about all this but may be on here with numpty questions from time to time

The rosemary and lavender sound ideal as well. The balcony door stays open during the summer so it will be lovely to get some fragrant wafts (sp?) in the house :D

 

You must include some Night Scented Stock if you want the fragrance to continue well into the evening. It is a very small flower, so will be happy to share a planter with something much bigger like your Rosemary.