In a stuffy city, everyone wants to have their own little green corner where you can relax after a working day. Therefore, many are trying to turn a modest balcony into a small blooming garden, where it is so pleasant to go out in the early morning or sit in the evening with a cup of tea.
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Where to start arranging a flower garden?
Before you start creating a flower garden, you need to do some preliminary work:
- Free the balcony. If necessary, make cosmetic repairs - tidy up the sides, floor, fences.
- Decide what you are planning to do - a green gazebo, a lush flower bed, create a real jungle, or limit yourself to planting a few flowering bushes. Whether you have hanging outdoor boxes or set up a small garden in one corner.
- Make a plan for the future composition. Install trellises, flowerpots, boxes, fill them with drainage and earth. The land can be selected special for each species or purchased universal in a flower shop. It is better to use large expanded clay or crushed stone as drainage. Do not forget to purchase mineral fertilizers and study the feeding schedule.
Features of balcony flowers
Balcony flowers have their own specific features that distinguish them not only from indoor plants, but also from summer cottages or lawns
- They should have a small root system that "economically" consumes resources, because it is difficult to place large and deep boxes on a modest space;
- Low elevated part. Too tall plants in small boxes do not look very aesthetically pleasing, and besides, they can be broken by the wind;
- Long and abundant flowering. It is much more pleasant when the balcony is decorated with bright, fragrant heads and inflorescences than only green stems;
- Resistant to temperature changes. Unless you plan to bring the pots back into the apartment every evening, then it is better to choose non-capricious views.
Planting a flower garden can begin to be planned as early as February or early March, since future seedlings for some species need to begin to be planted already at this time. Look for plants that bloom at different times. For example, petunias bloom in June and bloom until August, and marigolds bloom in July and bloom until the first frost. Thus, some species will always bloom and the composition will not be lost.
Selection Tips
Which specimens you can choose for your garden largely depends on your climatic zone and the area of the balcony.
If you have a small area for creativity, then it is better to carry out vertical gardening. For this, various curly species are suitable. Set up frames for them, stretch the ropes and soon you will have your own green gazebo.
On an elongated area, it is better to do horizontal gardening. Ampelous plants, that is, hanging down from pots and flowerpots, will look very beautiful.
Among the names of flowers for the balcony, annuals are most often found - marigolds, petunias, nasturtiums and many others, since they are the most practical for these purposes. Annuals are not whimsical in care and bloom from the beginning of summer until the first frost. At the beginning of autumn, you can collect seeds from them and plant them next year, without fear that the plants will not survive the winter.
On the northern balcony, it is better to plant species that are undemanding to a lot of sunlight, such as fuchsia, nasturtium, petunia, cyclamen. The southern side is preferable to semi-succulents and light-loving plants - geraniums, stonecrops, sweet peas, zinnias, purslane.
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Curly
Echinocystis is lobed. One of the most unpretentious climbing plants, known to everyone from childhood. It is suitable for growing on a balcony with any light level. Large soft leaves create a pleasant shade, and white tassels of flowers have an unobtrusive honey scent. This is a great option for novice gardeners who are just trying their hand.
Decorative bindweed. They will delight you all summer with gramophone flowers of various colors. Pale pink field bindweed, pale blue small bindweed, pale lilac Mauritanian bindweed and other species together make an excellent composition.
Morning glory. Its various varieties are very popular, as they grow very quickly, forming a beautiful green carpet, and large flowers of rich blue and purple tones are pleasing to the eye from May to September.
Hop. A perennial plant with large, dissected, rough leaves, giving a thick shade. The pale green bud flowers have a honey aroma and many medicinal properties.
Ampelny
Nasturtium. Broad-leaved ampelous plant with large orange-red flowers. Prefers the shady side. There are over 80 annual and biennial species.
Petunia. Differs in long, abundant flowering and delicate scent. The color ranges from pale pink to bright blue and purple. There are also terry species that differ from the usual multi-lobed, large heads. In areas with a cold climate, it is better to pre-grow petunias through seedlings.
Lobelia. Experienced gardeners prefer to plant Erinus lobelia in the country, but for a balcony composition it is better to choose hanging lobelia. This plant with thin, branched stems, during flowering, is completely covered with small flowers of white, purple or pink color.
Landscaping
Boxwood. A great option for creating green borders. Boxwood is an evergreen perennial, shrub type. With the onset of cold weather, it is recommended to bring it to a warm place. In park culture, boxwood is used to create green shapes. In apartment conditions, a constant haircut is required so that the shrub does not grow and does not lose its shape.
Juniper and thuja. These evergreen perennial conifers love the sunny side. They are convenient because they grow very slowly (3-5 cm per year) and do not require frequent transplants, but they like feeding from mineral fertilizers. Their crown is quite plastic and it can be given any shape. The upper part tolerates negative temperatures well, but it is better to cover the pots for the winter with polystyrene so that the roots do not freeze.
The balcony is a great place to grow softwood dwarf trees, mainly various types of pine. You can purchase dwarf species from special nurseries, or try your hand at the art of bonsai. Experts advise starting with Scots pine and having patience for several years ahead, since this process is very unhurried.
Undersized
Marigold. Low-growing, up to 20 cm in height, branched plants, with large orange or yellow heads, with a spicy aroma. They bloom from mid-summer until the first frost and tolerate drought well. Both sowing seeds and planting through seedlings are possible.
Zinnia. An annual or perennial plant with large, multi-petalled, voluminous flowers of various colors - white, red, yellow, orange. Blooms from August to the first cold weather. Loves sunlight and humus-rich soil. Some species can reach a height of 90 cm, but a zinnia-midget is recommended for a balcony - no more than 30 cm high. Zinnia-midget blooms so magnificently that its green part is almost invisible. Requires pre-growing seedlings.
Pansies or viola. These perennials will delight you with their exotic colors for a long time, while they are completely unpretentious to growing conditions. The plant is not tall - 15-20 cm, strongly branched, and when tightly planted forms a continuous bright, variegated rug.
Also undersized, lush blooming species include Chinese carnation, daisies, fuchsia, geranium, verbena and many others.
Succulents
Purslane. A creeping annual plant popularly known as the "rug". It got this name for the lush bloom from June to September and the bright color of the flowers. Purslane is very photophilous, but otherwise completely unpretentious in care. Possesses many medicinal properties.
Sedum. The family of stonecrops is very diverse. Among them there are lush flowering annuals, for example, a prominent sedum with bright pink flower caps or a hybrid sedum, a creeping species with yellow panicles. There are also perennial representatives with branching stems and fleshy thick leaves - red-colored sedum and Adolf's sedum. The sedum Morgan is an ampelous plant with small red panicles of flowers.
Plants for scent
Often, in the process of "domestication" and cultivation, plants lose their strong natural aroma, and it turns out that beautiful, bright flowers almost do not smell. If you want a wonderful aroma to come from your balcony to your apartment in the evening, try planting mattiola, levkoy and decorative tobacco.
Mattiola flowers are pale and inconspicuous, curl up into a tube during the day, but at dusk they open, exuding a tart, slightly bitter smell. Levkoy is a relative of Mattiola, but, unlike her, it has magnificent flowers - long clusters of white, purple and crimson tones.
Red and white tobacco stars start to smell after sunset. It can bloom almost until October, but it is very picky about the conditions - it needs a lot of light, abundant watering and well-fertilized soil.
