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You probably won’t be able to grow enough food to meet all your needs, but some pole beans, a pot of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and a pepper plant or two will give you a fresh taste of summer. These shiny zinc window boxes make a change from all that galvanized steel and lead that's always around. Thank you for telling me to choose the right plants to start with as soon as I decide to start gardening on my own balcony. I picked up the Balcony Gardener book on a friend's coffee table and immediately fell in love with the photographs of all the different types of balcony and small garden designs. This book shows you how to make the most of your gardening plot, however confined, with clever and creative planting ideas.
If you can’t attach anything to the walls of your balcony, you can still make the most of the vertical space. The ultimate Valentine's Day countdown - here are 10 romantic gestures to help sweep your partner off their feet! From growing florals and vegetables to herbs and more tropical picks, there are lots of ways to plant up and arrange your balcony garden for success.If your balcony is in the sun, consider zinnias, pelargoniums and coleus, and for shades outdoor spaces, begonias and nicotianas will enjoy these conditions. Last year’s high yield tumbling tomato bonanza was great for our summer salads, but there was barely room for me to sit with a cuppa without feeling like I was being attacked by fuzzy foliage. The amount of sunlight the space receives is the most critical factor to consider, but wind exposure and temperature are important too. As well as being an easy way to harmonise your exterior colour scheme and keep it contemporary, painting pots lets you create dramatic contrasts with plants.
It inspired me to take an interest in window boxes and I really enjoyed the book, choosing the materials and planting the window boxes. Jack Sutcliffe, co-founder of Power Sheds, further comments: 'There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to arranging your balcony garden, a lot of it depends on the size of the space available and what you hope to achieve.
Also remember that in high winds, bring less hardy plants in for protection, this is one of the bonuses of planting in pots. Deep purple Black Star morning glory, for example, looks all the more sultry in a pot painted in Bauwerk’s peachy Malibu.
If you have a container that is deep enough to support their long taproots, short carrots can also be grown on a balcony. Nothing was daunting and when I showed it to a colleague, who is a formidable gardener, she fell in love with it too! If you want your balcony garden to mainly grow vegetables, rest assured that it is totally possible.
You can also turn your balcony, roof terrace or patio into an attractive space to dine and entertain with stylish lighting and furnishing ideas.