Balcony Railings and Plants

krinpit

Hi All,

I have a balcony that's about 10' x 5'. It's just an aluminum frame all round, with a decked floor. The railing looks kind of like this: http://steelbamboo.com/db2/00108/steelbamboo.com/_uimages/Marsharailsouthside.JPG

It's not the prettiest to look at, so I'd like to have some plants which will drape over the balcony and have a nice flower (I was thinking a classic white, but not set on this).

Any ideas of what I should be looking for, as well as a price range and where I can buy it?

I'm not exactly a seasoned gardener, so I appreciate any help at all on this one.

Thanks

looksee

I understand the effect you are looking for with trailing flowers over the balcony, but its a difficult effect to achieve for all sorts of reasons. Perrenial plants (that keep coming each year) mostly have a short flowering season. You would be better to plant seasonal stuff - annuals for the summer, a couple of foliage plants for the rest of the year and maybe a few bulbs for spring. There is a climbing shrub called solanum alba which has a white flower all summer and is fairly hardy, but it makes a lot of growth and may overwhelm your space.

While its getting a bit late to put in annuals now, there are a few still available. You could consider getting a long trough that will hang over the top of the rail - I saw some somewhere recently might have been Homebase - with a couple of hooks instead of screw-holes for hanging over a wall or rail. They are not cheap but get a good quality metal one, it will look better and last several years. Line with the special liner, or with black plastic with some holes punched in the bottom. Just get one to 'practice' on to start with, eventually you will probably want several.

Fill with the kind of compost (not just peatmoss) you can buy in garden centres and diy shops, mix in some water retaining/fertilizing gel granules (ask in wherever you get the compost, they are readily available, and put in some annuals - you can see what they all look like at the moment as they are all in flower so just choose what you like. Water well. If the weather does dry up (or if you are under an overhanging balcony)you will need to water every day.

You won't get anything to flower all year but you could have a couple of foliage plants in large pots and put bulbs around them for the spring. Buy outdoor rather than indoor plants, conifers are not that suitable as they tend to die off completely if you dont water them.

Your biggest problem apart from watering will be wind damage, and do you know which way your balcony faces? I suggest you get a book on container gardening from the library (the Hessayon ones are good) as there are lots of angles and possibilities.

krinpit

Thanks for all the information looksee. The trough idea should work well. I would be able to hang it on the inside of my railing so that it doesn't smash down to the ground in high winds.

It's a south facing balcony, so lots of sunshine. I'm not sure about how sheltered it is from winds, but I'll go ahead with it anyway.

I'll check out the books you mentioned before I visit the garden centre.