Set Up a Little Balcony Garden
These days, ecological foods and home gardens are in. But what if you don’t have the yard space for a garden? No problem, you can set up a small balcony garden instead.
A small, personal space for yourself can be a huge benefit and will allow you to yield your own fresh produce – and that’s what having an ecological garden is all about.
But a city lifestyle doesn’t always offer the possibility of a home garden. Instead, we have to buy from supermarkets and we don’t know if our products have been given artificial preservatives or treated with chemicals.
The doors that a balcony garden can open
You can actually use your balcony for many purposes: for enhancing home decor, rest, work, etc. And you can even consider one more option – starting a garden.
When we suggest starting a balcony garden, we don’t mean covering your floor with earth for planting, though that would be a dream. What we actually mean is setting up your balcony in a way to sustain a small garden.
You’ll still be able to use your balcony for other purposes and can maintain its decor. In fact, we recommend setting up your garden in a corner to keep the rest of your balcony free. By distributing the space properly, you can still enjoy different activities on your balcony.
— Don’t forget that balconies are a space that connect a home’s interior to the outdoors. —
Starting a garden
To start a balcony garden, make sure you have enough space. Let’s take a look at some must-have items for your garden:
- Wide, rectangular drawers or shelves: you can use wooden or metal boxes, but make sure they have enough space to fill with earth. We recommend using pieces that are around 1 to 1.5 meters long and 0.5 meters wide.
- Each drawer will have a different plant: try not to mix your plants up unless you are short on space and want a variety.
- Keep them at waist-height for easy gardening. Try to keep from hunching over and prevent unnecessary injuries. The drawers should stand on four legs, making clean-up easier as well.
- Drainage system: the drawers should have holes or slots at the bottom to allow water to pass through them. With that in mind, keep your balcony clean by putting another container beneath the drawers to collect the excess water for reuse.
Just as we mentioned earlier in this post, try not to fill your entire balcony with your garden. Remember that gardening is a leisure activity, not a full-time job.
Balcony greenhouse
Another solution for balcony gardens is using a small greenhouse. By growing a garden in an enclosed space, you can cultivate warm-climate plants. There are three ways to garden with a greenhouse:
- You can close off your balcony with glass walls or fiber cement sheets. But the latter material will make your balcony unbearably hot during the summer, so consider a permanently enclosed structure.
- Greenhouse cabinet: a cabinet can serve as a small greenhouse if you close it off entirely with glass, fiber cement or special plastic. Keep the internal temperature constant.
- Another idea is investing in a mini-greenhouse that’s up to 2 meters wide, 1 meter long and 2.5 meters high. Those measurements will work on a balcony, fitting perfectly into a small space.
Regardless of which idea you choose, remember to keep the interior climate and humidity under control. In addition, make sure that the temperatures don’t get too high during the summer.
Balcony garden and decor
You might not believe that a balcony garden can help decorate your home as well, but it can have great visual benefits and offer alternative decor.
A garden will give your home a natural air and entice the curiosity of your guests. A garden balcony is an original resource that could reflect your concern for rural matters; it expresses your admiration for the countryside.