Plant ideas for small balcony

Achasanai

Just wondering if anyone has any plant ideas for a (very) small balcony (maybe 5/6ft long by 1ft wide). It's south/south west facing, but it's walled (not sure if that would make a difference). I was thinking a (very) small herb garden (maybe rosemary, sage, coriander, thyme) and 2/3 plants. Would those herbs do well? Any ideas for the plants?

There's also a place for a hanging basket, but have never had one of those before, so any suggestions would be much appreciated.

I'm also thinking, would it be possible to get maybe the herb 'garden' to sit on the walled part of the balcony? It's a fairly thick brick wall, but would prefer to have clasps or something to hold the pots in place (it's on the 3rd floor). Again, haven't had a balcony in years, so no idea re making sure the plants wouldn't fall off.

paddylonglegs

Google vertical gardens. A good solution to planting in small places

looksee

If it is only 1 ft wide and walled it will have to have the plants lifted to top of the wall height. They do not have to be on top of the wall, some sort of hook over the wall to the outside with the plants on the inside level with the top of the wall would be ok. This would be the safest arrangement as there would be no chance of the container falling. The plant trough would be less likely to dry out in warm weather as the wall would shade it, but not the plants.

Not all the plants you mention would be suitable. You could plant rosemary but would have to replace it every couple of years as it naturally grows into a large shrub. Being in a trough would restrain it somewhat but it will not be very happy. Sage also grows quite big and leggy, but you can deal with that by trimming it down each year. Thyme would be fine. Coriander grows from seed each year, it will not survive a winter. You could plant coriander and parsley in the spring, they might survive a mild winter but generally do not.

You could also put in annual bedding plants, the sort you see everywere from March on, but don't buy any until around mid May as they can easily be killed by a late frost.

looksee

If it is only 1 ft wide and walled it will have to have the plants lifted to top of the wall height. They do not have to be on top of the wall, some sort of hook over the wall to the outside with the plants on the inside level with the top of the wall would be ok. This would be the safest arrangement as there would be no chance of the container falling. The plant trough would be less likely to dry out in warm weather as the wall would shade it, but not the plants.

Not all the plants you mention would be suitable. You could plant rosemary but would have to replace it every couple of years as it naturally grows into a large shrub. Being in a trough would restrain it somewhat but it will not be very happy. Sage also grows quite big and leggy, but you can deal with that by trimming it down each year. Thyme would be fine. Coriander grows from seed each year, it will not survive a winter. You could plant coriander and parsley in the spring, they might survive a mild winter but generally do not.

You could also put in annual bedding plants, the sort you see everywere from March on, but don't buy any until around mid May as they can easily be killed by a late frost.

Achasanai

looksee wrote: »

If it is only 1 ft wide and walled it will have to have the plants lifted to top of the wall height.

Thanks for the advice. I guess I'll drop the coriander. I have a sage plant in a pot, so I'll see how that does, but will trim it down as well. Would I be able to do that with the rosemary, or was the three year period that you suggested after regular trimming?

Another poster suggested vertical gardening, and while a lot of the suggestions after googling wouldn't really suit the balcony, would something like the following be okay, if I could get one to fit the balcony?

http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/trio-metal-3-tier-plant-stand-377743

I'm thinking something like that and a small hanging pot like you suggested would probably be all that I should realistically fit on to such a small balcony.

looksee

I doubt that would fit on a 1ft wide balcony. And remember that anything below the top of the wall is not going to get enough light.