Choosing the Right Plants for Your Balcony

Most balconies can be transformed into lush, garden oasis – regardless of where you may live. This is often referred to as container gardening and rightfully so. Obviously, you don’t have the option of designing and laying out your garden in the ground when we’re talking about doing this on a balcony so you’ll use ‘containers’ instead.

Buying Containers

When you go shopping for containers you have to think about what kinds of flowers, herbs, plants or veggies you want to grow. You also have to remember that some will need to be taken out and repotted as they grow too big for their original containers. With this in mind, buy extra ones and vary the sizes… and don’t use every single one of them right at the beginning.

You may think you’re very limited when it comes to container gardening on a balcony, but actually you have a lot of choices available. There are all kinds of plants, flowers and herbs that are great at growing in pots. In fact, most herbs thrive in these conditions and you’ll have a plethora of delightful herbs to choose from when it’s time to cook up a special dish.

Variety

Plan on using some climbing or hanging plants to give your balcony garden a little depth. Bamboo plants are quick to sprout up and can offer a gorgeous backdrop for an ugly wall.

While there are tons of options to consider for what you’re going to plant, plan realistically. Don’t just start throwing a little bit of everything into you cart. How much time can you actually devote to your new balcony oasis? It’s pointless to start the garden if you get overwhelmed and the plants end up withering away because you simply didn’t have the time to properly care for them.

Another thing to consider is that your plants are likely going to be in very close proximity to each other. While companion gardening is normally practiced in large gardens and agriculture, it could be helpful to do a little research on it. Basically, companion gardening is just planting plants next to each other that have proven to be beneficial to one another. One of the most common and well-known examples of companion gardening is rosemary and garlic.

Container Tips

Make sure that your pots and containers have adequate drainage holes. The soil mix you use should also be maximized for drainage, as you don’t want your plants to get waterlogged. Empty any saucers your containers might be sitting on about half an hour after you water.

You should check your soil each and every day at the hottest time of day. Just put your finger into the soil an inch or so and see if it feels dry or moist. If dry, then it needs more water. Many times, balcony plants battle conditions that normal garden plants don’t, as they’re likely to face a lot of wind and during the summer – heat.

Premade Container Gardening

Due to the rising popularity of container gardening, many places offer premade container gardening set-ups. You can find flowers, as well as herbs and veggies in their own special little container already planted and waiting for you to take it home, add water and watch as they grow.