Ever looked up at a block of flats, all bare and boring…and seen one that looked like a small piece of paradise among the concrete? Anyone can have a glorious balcony or patio. It just needs a bit of planning- and five minutes work a week.
Choose the right plants.
Balconies get hotter, colder, and dryer than any garden. Plants have to be TOUGH to survive on a balcony – or else have a devoted gardener who will cosset them, water them every day or two, feed them every few weeks.
If you’re a gardener like that you probably know what to do already! But if your thumbs haven’t turned green yet, go for the toughies…plants like pink, white or yellow daisies (the white ones are the hardiest), bamboo (ALMOST unkillable- just make sure it doesn’t escape into a garden or the bush), poa tussock, geraniums/pelargoniums, weeping rosemary, oleander, weeping bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis), heliotrope in frost free areas, westringia, brachycome, erigeron…or even dull old ivy, that can look luxurious trailing from a hanging basket – and is almost maintenance free. (Again, ivy can be a serious weed – so don’t grow it near the bush.)
If your patio is really impossible (hot, dry, windy but you do get sun) stick with succulents and cacti, most of which have interesting leaf shapes in a good range of colours and some of which have spectacular flowers. (Not all are prickly horrors either). They may not look like much when they are small, but when they multiply and start cascading out of pots they can look magnificent.
In sheltered or shady spots, try impatiens, ferns (in self watering pots), many palms, fuchsias, polyanthus, Cape gooseberries, honeysuckle.
Hot and Dry Survivors: Any cacti or succulents; geraniums/ pelargoniums, erigeron, white or purple alyssum, daisies, rosemary, lavender, sage, calendula, petunia, gazania, tomatoes, wild, native or Warrigal spinach, marigolds, tiny golden nugget pumpkins.
Absolutely gorgeous: floribunda roses, especially white Iceberg, clipped bay trees, cumquats or Tahitian limes, bright red pineapple or soft pink fruit salad sage (frost sensitive), standard bougainvillea, masses of nasturtiums, a froth of sambac jasmine, a miniature clipped box hedge, trailing strawberries
Get lots!
You’re more likely to remember to water and feed a lovely green (or grey, silver or red leafed) jungle than a single boring plant lost in the corner – partly because it’s a bigger investment, but also because it’ll just be so much more fun to be out there.
Choose the right pots.
Think BIG. Small pots dry out fast and get too hot and too cold (and ants and spiders love to crawl between them). Think big – one large pot or hanging basket instead of six small ones. Half barrels or large concrete planters are good too. ‘Self watering’ pots are good too – ones that provide a reserve of water for a week or even two. Okay, most aren’t exactly gorgeous- but once your petunias or bougainvillea ramble over the edges you won’t notice the pot much anyway. You can also group your pots together. This way you can have the geraniums in the old pineapple juice tins and the lobelias in the anchovy tins lurking behind the more presentable containers. This also increases humidity and the plants give each other support and shelter.
Buy a water jug and keep it by the sink!
That way you won’t forget to water your plants at least once a week. Many plants will also need their leaves washed too, if they are under the eaves and don’t get rained on, otherwise they may get mite or other pest problems. (The rain washes a lot of pests away). Perhaps get one of those plastic squirty sprayers, too, so that you can give dry leafed plants a good wetting.
Buy slow release fertiliser every year on your birthday.
That way you’ll always have some to scatter once or twice a year according to directions on the packet – especially in spring. And mulch! Plants in pots need mulch even more than ones in the garden. Coconut fibre is good, and will help keep pots moist and stop the potting mix turning to concrete. But ornamental pebbles do the job too, and can look stunning.
Pull a chair out on to your balcony, breathe deeply…and relax.
