A step by step guide for balcony gardening design and tips
Today, we learn the balcony gardening design ideas and tips for flowers, vegetables, fruits, and herbs, so that you can set up your own balcony garden. Gardening is undeniably an inspirational activity that fills your heart by dirtying your hands. No matter how urban our lifestyle is, we cannot resist the tempting smell of the soil and the plants that bring us positivity and motivation. We all visit cafes is to sip coffee with our loved ones as they say “ a lot can happen over a coffee” but I believe all of you will agree the latest trends and MSP of balcony garden India are flowers and greenery. You will spot beautiful scented colorful flowers hanging down from vibrant attractive pots giving the place a lively touch and of course more oxygen and fresh air to breathe in.
Everybody dreams of having at least a small garden in their home where they can find peace from hustle bustle life. Though, with urban living in small apartments, often, the balcony or terrace is the only alternative for setting up a small garden. Creating your green corner is not only is therapeutic but it also adds beauty to your house. For those who know the healing power of plants and want to embrace them in their home, we have put together these balcony garden design ideas for inspiration. You definitely don’t need a 5-acre property or even a separate backyard to grow your own garden. Surprisingly, quite a lot can actually be grown in pots or containers on a sunny balcony, not only providing you with fresh organic herbs, flowers, and vegetables, but also saving you a good amount of money. You can give a touch of DIY balcony garden decor to your place and make it a happier corner for you and your family.
Read on for tips for balcony gardening for beginners on opting low-maintenance balcony plants, ideas on the type of containers to use in the balcony or terrace as well as design ideas on creating a perfect garden within the limited space. Why wait, let us get into the ideas of balcony garden design.
1: Observe or gather knowledge about the natural conditions in the balcony garden
It’s worthless to buy a variety of expensive and colorful plants to beautify your balcony garden without knowing whether the growing conditions are appropriate for the survival of the plants. Each species even variety of plant have need of a certain set of weather conditions to flourish. For example, some plants grow well in sunny balconies whereas others need shade to look their best.
In general, balconies on higher floors get more sunlight as they are less obstructed by walls, neighboring buildings or trees. Hence, when looking for the best- potted plants for balcony gardens, one can even think about raising fruit trees such as pomegranate or lemon in pots. For the lower floors, where most balconies are in the shade or less exposed to sunlight, ferns and other plants that don’t call for much sunlight will work best. So this is the thing that needs to be little researched for growing healthy balcony garden plants.
2: Choose the right type of plants for the balcony garden
As we mentioned earlier, one should choose the right type of plant depending on the location of the balcony or place wherever you wish to add colors and most important you must have an idea about the weather. Let’s take a look at the type of plants suitable for different conditions.
Appropriate plants for low balconies: in view of the fact that sunlight is mostly limited in a balcony garden on a lower floor, shade-loving plants are the most suited for them. Besides ferns, orchids, Peperonia, succulents, and African violets grow well.
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Suitable plants for windy balconies: When a balcony is located in a place with the occurrence of strong winds, then the type of plant should be able to withstand those windy conditions. Therefore, it’s wise to avoid plants with a thin, delicate stem that can easily break off. Among the top preference of plant species for growing on a balcony are succulents, crotons, and cacti.
Balcony gardens receiving plentiful afternoon sun: In this type of places, plants that can handle a good number of sunlight hours are ideal scientifically long day plants. And for such places, you can have a good number of plants such as Bougainvillea and geranium are balcony flowers which are best-suited plants for sunny balcony gardens.
Plants that have need of morning sunlight: The early morning sun is much milder than the straight falling afternoon sunlight, so plants that require partial sunny hours will suit these spaces well. Best flowers for apartment balcony such as Peace lilies, anthurium, and begonia, are the perfect selections for these sort of gardens space.
Covered balconies: In the case of enclosed balconies, air circulation can have an effect on plant growth. However, one can opt for indoor plants that not only thrive in such an environment but also purify the air in the balcony which is a high demand at current situations. Known plants such as Spider plant, snake plants, money plants, English ivy, aloe vera, and azalea are common balcony plants and can be planted in enclosed balcony gardens.
Balcony garden ideas for vegetables
Not all the plants are evergreen meaning each plant differs in its requirements. There are plants which require 6 to 8 hours (full sun) of direct sunlight such as green beans, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, etc. climbing plants like beans, peas and cucumber will need trellis to hold up them, so plant them into a deep trough pot near your balcony railing and let them climb up the rails and WhatsApp your friends with your beautiful and green balcony garden images. While others like carrot, radishes, curry leaves, beetroots, and other root vegetables call for a maximum of 3 to 4 hours of direct sunlight. Therefore, depending on the growing season and the availability of sunlight to your balcony, you can figure out the plants that can be grown and you can shop them in balcony garden supplies stores, nurseries and even on various online sites. You can also rotate the crop as the season changes to have a constant supply of freshness at your place; you can also grow leafy vegetables like lettuce, spinach, and herbs in simple foam boxes recycled from your local green grocery that too very reasonably. Balcony garden vegetables such as tomatoes, capsicum, and eggplant are can be grown in individual plastic containers of about 30cm (12 inches) diameter. Mini or dwarf cabbages and broccoli also grow terrifically in containers giving your balcony a lush green appearance.
Adding colors to the garden
Undoubtedly flowering plants add splashes of color to balconies and terraces, but many of them are seasonal, so there will be times when the garden will look one-dimensional with just greenery. Adding colorful foliage is another way out for adding color to the balcony garden. There are varieties of ornamental plants with colorful foliage which even without flowers gives a complete look to the space balcony garden plants like Croton, African mask plant, Chinese evergreen, and purple passion plant will is like a feather in the cap with unique planters. All you need is to visit the local nursery and find plants to decorate the garden in a balcony or terrace; it is just a one-time investment that needs minimal maintenance.
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For utilizing available space you can also follow given balcony ideas:
Grow complimenting plants: When space and resources are limited in a balcony, we should opt for the best combination of plants. For an instance plant having expansive, shady leaves such as squash or bottle gourd can be planted along with the plants that require less or indirect sunlight (shade lovers). Alternatively planting plants that need more nitrogen and plants that fix atmospheric nitrogen such as soybean or mung bean is a useful trick to ensure healthy growth of both plants. All legumes and other nitrogen-fixing plants can be planted to increase the fertility of the soil before planting those which need more of them. Alternatively, coffee grounds can be added to the potting soil to supplement it with a generous amount of nitrogen. So these little hacks can help you to maintain a lush green and a happy garden.
Growing vertically another idea to utilize your space especially, if you are running out of space with veggies and can’t figure out the right space for your beautiful flower garden, think of growing them vertically. If the railings of the balcony are still lying unexploited!! Either hang those pots on them or use the ceiling. If the greedy gardener inside you has probably used every single free space in the balcony (leaving apart the walkway) and surprisingly it does not look messed up but beautiful a garden my friend you have turned a lifeless balcony into a life generator space.
Small flower pots
For a small balcony, instead of large planters that take up a lot of space, use cute tiny pots to grow more species and more variation in the garden. They can also be arranged on a table or shelf giving your indoor or living areas nature’s touch.
Adding layers to the garden
Illusions works everywhere, growing plants of variable heights can bring an interesting look to your balcony garden, making it almost look like a garden in the backyard.
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Balcony railing planters
When space is scarce or you are living in apartments providing you less free space to establish a garden, it is a good idea to keep the floor neat and untouched. Instead, shop for planters that can be hooked on to the balcony rail and allow plants to be grown without taking up floor space.
Anyway, there is a lot more to the efficient design of the balcony hanging garden to make it attractive and functional. That is why we recommend consulting a professional landscape architect who can offer advice on the layout, style and ideal species for the particular area. This is especially necessary when one is looking for small balcony garden ideas as it demands careful planning and design of the area so that all the essential elements can be integrated without messing up the area. Additionally, for homeowners with a busy routine, who wish to have a balcony garden in their home, but don’t have the time to maintain it to look stunning always. The advantage of consulting a professional is that they can assist with everything starting from installing automated self-watering balcony planters to installing drip irrigation units so that the daily task of watering the plants with a hose is no longer needed.
We are hopeful that this balcony garden design ideas have ignited a gardener in you.
Happy gardening, friends!!. Any questions, comment us below.
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