Apartment dwellers and sububanites as well may have nothing more to grow on, than a balcony or patio, but you can still have a display that will astound your family and neighbors alike even in this small space.

All it takes is a bit of preplanning and some imagination.

Before you begin to grow your garden, be sure that you know how much your balcony or deck is rated to hold and that the addition of the plants will not take you over the top of that weight limit prior to placing then on the balcony.

There are a few things besides weight that need to be taken into consideration on a balcony or patio garden, not the least of which is sunlight.

Growing small fruit trees or vegetables takes a good bit of sunlight. You will want to make sure that where you place your vegetables or trees will receive about 5-6 hours of sunlight per day. This means that what you choose to plant will depend in a large part on your patio or balcony’s orientation to the sun.

 

Tomatoes and beans need a good bit of sunlight and will require either grow lamps, or a warm light filled balcony facing south or west, while lettuce or root vegetables such as carrots or small potatoes will be perfectly happy on a south or east facing balcony which gets only limited amounts of sunlight daily.

If you have a larger balcony, or patio, you can create an outdoor “room” on your space by using hanging plants above and small plants or trees below to make a wall of greenery.

If you choose to grow climbers on your balcony, you will want to secure trellises to the walls, or to secure the plants to the wall using wire or twine so they are able to resist the wind shear.

For durable planters that will resist rot and last a long time, use vinyl, or, old halved whisky casks or barrels. These are available at any nursery or many hardware stores.Be sure to drill holes in the bottom of them and line the first couple inches with small gravel to assure adequate drainage of the plants.

If you choose to build your own wooden boxes or raised platforms, be certain that the wood you use is untreated, as some treated lumbers can, when they become hot, give off fumes that will damage the plant roots.

The decking will dry perfectly well after a rain or plant watering, provided it is well sealed and has room to air below it, so the water on the deck or balcony should not be a real concern.
In many areas you can leave your garden out on the balcony even in wintertime with a few precautions. If the climate where you live is particularly intemperate, cover your clay or glass pots with plastic bags and set them on wood blocks in the winter. This will prevent the heaves and freezing that will crack your pots.

How its done is to take a l.arge plastic bag, fill it with straw, packing peanuts or sawdust and place it over the pot to insulate the plant roots and the pot from the heavy temperature changes.

<script src=”http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js” type=”text/javascript”>
</script>
<script type=”text/javascript”>
_uacct = “UA-3512363-1″;
urchinTracker();
</script>

One Response to “Balcony Gardens”