How to Manage a Balcony Garden
Find out what the strata organization's rules for your building are., Estimate beforehand what plants you are going to grow, the size and material of the containers they would need to grow in, and very important, how many such containers your...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Find out what the strata organization's rules for your building are.
Think of your would-be plants as your children, and for their sake at least, strike up a friendship with the self-important manager of your apartment (aka building manager).
Befriend and have pleasant relations with your neighbours.
If you do not have good relations with all your neighbours, including the all-important building manager, even small infringements, real or made-up, in the course of your garden-building can create flashpoints that can end up with you having a fight on your hands.
There can be a hundred reasons why people can object to your garden and even if they are all wrong and you are all right, still it's not worth the aggravation.
After all, you are keeping your garden for relaxation and enjoyment, not stress.
Be thorough in your enquiries and find out what is allowed, what is not allowed, and make sure you get the strata's permission in writing for everything you plan to keep or do in your balcony to save yourself heartburn down the line. -
Step 2: Estimate beforehand what plants you are going to grow
Also very important, check the drainage qualities of your balcony.
Does it slope gently as it must, according to apartment-building rules, towards the drain-holes or is it prone to water-logging in places? If not, and if the lay of your balcony floor happens to be faulty, try to get the strata to repair and rectify it.
Don't start a balcony garden on a floor going down the wrong way because it would entail daily clearing of small pools of water, a nuisance on a daily basis. , Thank your lucky stars for the internet and the hundreds of gardeners, botanists and other experts who give generously of their knowledge and time.
You will find a lot of the information you need at your fingertips.
Be practical and mind the height and weather conditions at your balcony and consider carefully which of your favourite plants are likely to do well and which are likely to struggle.
For instance, if you feel yourself in love with the jackfruit of your native land, don't mail order a seed and plant it in a pot under the eaves.
You might even find an expert on the net who assures you that jackfruit can indeed be made to fruit and flower in a window-box.
But unless that window box measures at least 2 square metres, is located on the ground and is open to the sky, don't try.
It would be cruel to the plant.
So, choose the plants according to their purpose, their ability to thrive under the conditions that you can provide for them and/or their usefulness.
For example:
Tall plants that can provide screening and privacy, easy-to-grow and pest-resistant hybrids that can thrill a novice gardener, prolific leafers that can quickly green up a space, pretty flowering shrubs that bring pleasure to the eyes, night-flowering plants that waft their fragrance out on the evening breezes, hardy natives that, though not showy, can host wildlife because of their edible leaves or nectar-producing capabilities; or aromatic herbs that double as bee magnets.
There is a whole world of beauty from which to choose those that will thrive in the particular environment that you can provide for them. , Do not be taken in by effusive assurances that you can have a balcony garden that costs next to nothing.
Maybe this is true for a garden on the ground where the basic soil, at least, exists and there is ample space for a compost pit.
Things are usually very different with a balcony garden.
Here, everything has to be bought, from the pot and planter, the potting mix, manure/fertilizer to trellises, stakes and supports, which a garden on the ground may have resources to provide, like trees, posts, pillars and large vertical and lateral areas like fences and walls.
When at the garden store, you will find that things that are freely available and easily improvisable on a farm, for instance, comes at considerable expense when you want to buy them off a shelf.
If you have land, you have the space to do things yourself, like propagate many plants from one or grow your own seedlings.
These can be done even on a balcony, but not too easily, if it's not a large one.
If you want a good quality balcony garden, you have to invest in premier potting mix, fertilizers, amenders, etc.
It is, of course, possible to make your own compost from kitchen waste using a table-top composter and some may succeed in making a go of it, but generally speaking, in apartment-type homes, space proves to be a constraint both within the kitchen, out on the balcony and inside the pots themselves. , Plants need individual attention, even the poor, so-called abuse-tolerant ones, unless they are made of plastic.
Pots have to be weeded individually.
A keen eye has to be kept for pests on each and every plant as different plants may be susceptible to different pests.
If the pests, depending on their kind, are not picked off by hand or otherwise disposed of as soon as they arrive, and are allowed, instead, to stick around and multiply, chemical warfare will have to be resorted to- not at all a happy solution anywhere, but especially not on a balcony, which is usually bang next to a living or sleeping area.
Diseases like mould and mildew can take over when pots are kept in close proximity due to space constraint and air circulation between plants gets curtailed.
Again, individual plants will have to be moved around according to their specific requirements of sun or shade or protection from wind and rain.
The more attention is paid to each plant, the more successful it's life will be. , With a balcony garden, expense also comes from what may be called an unnatural use of space.
For instance, your lovely balcony tiles will likely be stained by the muddy water leaking out of your pots because leak they must if your plants are not to be left standing in water to suffer root-rot.
You can alleviate this problem by mounting your pots on stands, but again, this costs money and is not a full cure.
An added problem is the necessity of having to frequently clean under and between the pots
-a backbreaking chore. , All this goes to show how important are factors like time, money, strength and energy in the maintenance of a healthy balcony garden.
A balcony garden is a lovely thing to have, but it's not a breeze and people at various stages of life and health should think hard and realistically about the implications and consequences of embarking on such a project. -
Step 3: the size and material of the containers they would need to grow in
-
Step 4: and very important
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Step 5: how many such containers your balcony can safely hold.
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Step 6: Research on what plants you will be able to grow well as opposed to what you would like to grow.
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Step 7: Consider the affordability.
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Step 8: Ensure that you have sufficient time.
-
Step 9: Expect additional cleaning duties.
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Step 10: Be realistic.
Detailed Guide
Think of your would-be plants as your children, and for their sake at least, strike up a friendship with the self-important manager of your apartment (aka building manager).
Befriend and have pleasant relations with your neighbours.
If you do not have good relations with all your neighbours, including the all-important building manager, even small infringements, real or made-up, in the course of your garden-building can create flashpoints that can end up with you having a fight on your hands.
There can be a hundred reasons why people can object to your garden and even if they are all wrong and you are all right, still it's not worth the aggravation.
After all, you are keeping your garden for relaxation and enjoyment, not stress.
Be thorough in your enquiries and find out what is allowed, what is not allowed, and make sure you get the strata's permission in writing for everything you plan to keep or do in your balcony to save yourself heartburn down the line.
Also very important, check the drainage qualities of your balcony.
Does it slope gently as it must, according to apartment-building rules, towards the drain-holes or is it prone to water-logging in places? If not, and if the lay of your balcony floor happens to be faulty, try to get the strata to repair and rectify it.
Don't start a balcony garden on a floor going down the wrong way because it would entail daily clearing of small pools of water, a nuisance on a daily basis. , Thank your lucky stars for the internet and the hundreds of gardeners, botanists and other experts who give generously of their knowledge and time.
You will find a lot of the information you need at your fingertips.
Be practical and mind the height and weather conditions at your balcony and consider carefully which of your favourite plants are likely to do well and which are likely to struggle.
For instance, if you feel yourself in love with the jackfruit of your native land, don't mail order a seed and plant it in a pot under the eaves.
You might even find an expert on the net who assures you that jackfruit can indeed be made to fruit and flower in a window-box.
But unless that window box measures at least 2 square metres, is located on the ground and is open to the sky, don't try.
It would be cruel to the plant.
So, choose the plants according to their purpose, their ability to thrive under the conditions that you can provide for them and/or their usefulness.
For example:
Tall plants that can provide screening and privacy, easy-to-grow and pest-resistant hybrids that can thrill a novice gardener, prolific leafers that can quickly green up a space, pretty flowering shrubs that bring pleasure to the eyes, night-flowering plants that waft their fragrance out on the evening breezes, hardy natives that, though not showy, can host wildlife because of their edible leaves or nectar-producing capabilities; or aromatic herbs that double as bee magnets.
There is a whole world of beauty from which to choose those that will thrive in the particular environment that you can provide for them. , Do not be taken in by effusive assurances that you can have a balcony garden that costs next to nothing.
Maybe this is true for a garden on the ground where the basic soil, at least, exists and there is ample space for a compost pit.
Things are usually very different with a balcony garden.
Here, everything has to be bought, from the pot and planter, the potting mix, manure/fertilizer to trellises, stakes and supports, which a garden on the ground may have resources to provide, like trees, posts, pillars and large vertical and lateral areas like fences and walls.
When at the garden store, you will find that things that are freely available and easily improvisable on a farm, for instance, comes at considerable expense when you want to buy them off a shelf.
If you have land, you have the space to do things yourself, like propagate many plants from one or grow your own seedlings.
These can be done even on a balcony, but not too easily, if it's not a large one.
If you want a good quality balcony garden, you have to invest in premier potting mix, fertilizers, amenders, etc.
It is, of course, possible to make your own compost from kitchen waste using a table-top composter and some may succeed in making a go of it, but generally speaking, in apartment-type homes, space proves to be a constraint both within the kitchen, out on the balcony and inside the pots themselves. , Plants need individual attention, even the poor, so-called abuse-tolerant ones, unless they are made of plastic.
Pots have to be weeded individually.
A keen eye has to be kept for pests on each and every plant as different plants may be susceptible to different pests.
If the pests, depending on their kind, are not picked off by hand or otherwise disposed of as soon as they arrive, and are allowed, instead, to stick around and multiply, chemical warfare will have to be resorted to- not at all a happy solution anywhere, but especially not on a balcony, which is usually bang next to a living or sleeping area.
Diseases like mould and mildew can take over when pots are kept in close proximity due to space constraint and air circulation between plants gets curtailed.
Again, individual plants will have to be moved around according to their specific requirements of sun or shade or protection from wind and rain.
The more attention is paid to each plant, the more successful it's life will be. , With a balcony garden, expense also comes from what may be called an unnatural use of space.
For instance, your lovely balcony tiles will likely be stained by the muddy water leaking out of your pots because leak they must if your plants are not to be left standing in water to suffer root-rot.
You can alleviate this problem by mounting your pots on stands, but again, this costs money and is not a full cure.
An added problem is the necessity of having to frequently clean under and between the pots
-a backbreaking chore. , All this goes to show how important are factors like time, money, strength and energy in the maintenance of a healthy balcony garden.
A balcony garden is a lovely thing to have, but it's not a breeze and people at various stages of life and health should think hard and realistically about the implications and consequences of embarking on such a project.
About the Author
Daniel Stokes
Experienced content creator specializing in cooking guides and tutorials.
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