Developing a Garden for Your Balcony
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are the first image that springs to mind for me whenever I think about balcony gardens. Plants such as flowers, vegetables, and herbs that trail over railings can help soften sharp corners while also giving the gardener and the bees food. The mentality gardener thinks and operates in this way. A gardener can imagine and construct a beautiful space with carefully chosen plants and a little bit of dirt by ignoring the relatively insignificant challenges of space and aspect.
The size of the garden on the balcony can be determined entirely by the gardener's imagination or by the physical constraints of the available space. It could be as simple as a few railing baskets or as complex as several pots and vertical gardens covering every available inch of wall space. If you have an imaginative mind like a gardener but are unfamiliar with the notion, the steps that are outlined below will provide a good beginning to the process of beautifying your environment.
Is a garden even possible on a balcony?
Yes! However, you shouldn't rush toward finishing it without first conducting some research. Because wet soil and terra cotta pots are both very heavy, it is important that you first determine whether or not there are any weight restrictions on the balcony before making your selection. If you have a balcony that is on the smaller side, you should discuss the weight limits that you are allowed to work with either the building manager or a builder.
When pots are full to the brim with water, the destination of the excess liquid will depend on the building material used. It's possible that the people living below you don't enjoy the rain shower that occurs every morning when you water, so think about this problem before your neighbors complain and install catchment or diversion systems for the containers.
Designing
After you have decided on the weight limitations and the direction the sun faces, you can then start designing the micro-scape for your balcony. Make the most of the limited space by either making use of the vast number of container possibilities that various providers will have to offer or by pushing the limits of what is possible with your own original creative ideas. Create a kitchen garden where you can grow some of your own food, or if you're more of a gourmet, plant a herb garden.
You can enjoy the benefits of both flowering plants and edible plants if you know how to combine them properly. When you are designing your container garden, you should give some thought to the "thriller, spiller, and filler" planting technique. This technique uses multiple plant varieties in a single container, with the "thriller" being the focal upright, the "spiller" cascading over the container, and the "filler" filling in the spaces in between. This piece of advice for decorating the outside of your home incorporates the natural charm of a little garden.
Planters
Large planters and pots made of wood or terra cotta are quite appealing and offer an adequate area for many sorts of plants. If weight is not a concern, you should use these materials. However, that terra cotta typically dries out quite rapidly. Pots made of resin or plastic provide an alternative that is lightweight and comes in the widest variety of sizes, styles, and options for self-watering.
When using huge pots and planters, a gardener has the option to cultivate a wide variety of traditional garden vegetables, as well as individual tiny shrubs, perennials, and other flowering plants. Planting annuals, perennials, and annual herbs in the kitchen is an excellent use for more compact planters and pots. Vertical gardening is a method that can be utilized in conjunction with their use.
Vertical
Because they utilize the vertical walls of your balcony, vertical gardens offer a concept that is beneficial to the home gardener in terms of saving space. This method can be utilized in a number of inventive ways, such as by affixing pallets that have been filled with soil to the wall, securing pots to a trellis, suspending gutters from a chain, or terracing on planter stairs.
The vertical garden does have certain drawbacks, one of which is that it can have a splash factor, which can contaminate the walls due to overhead watering and dripping from a height. If you combine it with a collection system at the bottom, drip irrigation is an effective method for avoiding this problem.
Hanging baskets
Hanging baskets, window boxes, or railing baskets are the options that provide the least amount of hassle for the little balcony. These containers can be crafted out of wood, steel, or plastic, and they are designed to be hung from the eaves or the railings of balconies. These sorts of baskets are typically quite shallow in form and are more prone to drying out. Therefore they are best suited for drought-resistant plants or those that are smaller in size.
A hanging basket or fence planter can be used to effectively cultivate a variety of plants, including succulents, annuals, strawberries, herbs, and lettuce. Both of these possible container configurations must be fastened in place utilizing zap straps, screws, or brackets so that the container does not become dislodged due to gusts of wind or accidental collisions.
The Soil
Your plant's bed is the soil, and just like people, some plants like a firm bed while others do well in a more forgiving environment. The soil mixtures serve as the basis upon which the plants are able to thrive; they supply the plant's root system with both oxygen and moisture. You will save both water and time in the long run if you address the structure of the soil right from the start.
When compared to Mediterranean herbs, vegetables, and fruits have a preference for a coarser, drier soil that contains a higher percentage of water-retaining compost and organic matter. On the other hand, vegetables and fruits have a preference for soil that has a higher percentage of organic matter. Keep in mind that porous pot material such as terra cotta dries out more quickly and, as a result, will require additional compost or another media that can retain water.
A typical mixture consists of compost, peat, and either perlite or sand in a ratio of 1:1:1. This is known as a standard mix. Compost tea should be used as a top dressing twice a week, and the soil should be amended with a slow-release organic fertilizer in order to provide sustained nutrition.
Balcony gardening
Do not let the challenge of constructing a garden on your balcony frighten you. Your balcony can be transformed into a serene location in which you can relax and reflect on the natural elements that you have introduced into your space in as little as one weekend by simply gathering the necessary supplies and planting the appropriate seeds and cuttings. Your micro-scape will reveal its distinctive character to you over time, and the cultivation of your garden will become progressively less difficult as time passes.
Leave a comment