Gardening – Page 3 – Balcony Gardening Fun

A garden is such a nice thing to have. You can harvest your own vegetables that taste better and in healthier than store ones. You can enjoy many a good time in a garden, whether you work there or sit there and enjoy it. If you only have a balcony, you can still create a garden. But with a balcony garden you have limited space and limited options. Contrary to common belief, this challenge can make you more creative and give you a much better garden than one with plenty of space. Your options are limited to four types of balcony garden. Each has their advantages and disadvantages, and in the end, you can have all three mixed on one balcony. You can choose between having a… Container Garden Raised Bed Garden Vertical Garden Hybrid Garden It’s important that you pick the right type from the start. Otherwise, you’ll have to change your balcony garden structure later, which is hard work and lost labor. You should make your choice based on the size of your balcony, how it’s constructed, and your physical strength. It’s a good idea to test it all on a piece of paper first to see what will fit in the best. Plan your garden first by using pen and paper. Draw the balcony on one paper where you use the correct measurements in a fitting ratio. Then cut out pots in the right ratio from another piece of paper, and then place it where it looks best. The Container Balcony Garden Starting a container garden on your balcony may be the easiest option, although it won’t work for all types of balconies. What Is Container Gardening When you keep your plants in pots, large or small, you have a container garden. You can have all kinds of pots, made out of material like terra cotta or plastic. They can be small, made to contain a small cactus, or big enough for a small lemon tree. They come in different shapes, like square, rectangular, or round. When Should You Choose This Garden Type? A container garden is the easiest to start. It doesn’t take much to get a pot, fill it with soil, and plant a seedling or a seed into it. It keeps your balcony neat and clean since the soil are kept in one place. Pots are easy to carry, unless you choose a large terra cotta pot, so you can have them on most balconies, even if you need to carry them up the stairs. Since they are usually placed on the ground or on small plates, they can, however, take up more space. So if your balcony is small, you’ll only have room for a few pots. They don’t make optimal use of space like other types can do. Raised Bed Garden Before you choose a raised bed garden, you need to know what it is and what the pros and cons are. What Is a Raised Bed Garden? The name gives it off. You have a raised bed when the soil is raised from the ground and enclosed in some way. The enclosure is typically made of wooden planks, stone, or glass fiber. In praxis, on a balcony you start by setting up the enclosure before you fill it with soil. The soil will reach the floor of your balcony. When Should You Choose Raised Beds on Your Balcony? There are advantages and disadvantages to raised beds. If you want to grow crop that needs more soil around their roots, or which evolve underground, you’ll need a raised bed. This will help you grow your own carrots, potatoes, and can even be used for growing grapes. However, should you decide to move one of your raised beds, you’re in for a lot of work. You can’t just push it aside. You need to dissemble it, move the soil with a shovel, and assemble it again where you want to move it to. If you have limited space on your balcony, a raised bed may not be the best choice for you. For that a pot or even a rack for vertical gardening will work better. Vertical Gardening You probably guessed it from its name: Vertical gardening means growing vertical instead of horizontal. What Is Vertical Gardening? Having a vertical garden means you have your plants and herbs growing against a wall or on racks. Your plants can be place in pots on racks or you can use pots that are hooked to the wall or to the balcony railing. You can even have tall containers with water and grow hydroponics. For this kind of gardening, you won’t need soil. Just water and a mineral solution for the nutrition of the plants. When Should You Make Your Balcony Garden Vertical? If you have limited space on the ground of your balcony, creating a vertical garden makes sense. You could have a hydroponic tower in a corner, low-hanging pots on the railing, and racks of plants against the wall. When you have light plants like strawberry or geranium, they can look pretty in pots hanging from a rack or even from pots attached with chains to the ceiling. Hybrid Garden Type Your final, and perhaps best choice, is to make a hybrid balcony garden. It can consist of a few pots on the ground, hanging rectangular pots over the railing, racks against the wall, and maybe one or two raised beds along one of the sides. Conclusion A balcony garden can be a lot of joy. You can use it for flowers, vegetables, or herbs, just like a “real” garden, but with the limited space available, it’s important that you structure it correctly from the start. Choose between a container garden, a raised bed garden, or a vertical garden. Or mix it up in a hybrid garden. It helps to plan it on a drawing board first. Then, when you’re ready to create your balcony garden, you know you’re starting it right.