My five ultimate tips for balcony gardeners

Month-long fireworks of flowers in the smallest of spaces

As soon as the first rays of sunshine hit the balcony in spring, some people can hardly wait to plant it beautifully for the season. In the garden centre, you’ll find lots of small, squat plants in squeaky colours (so-called balcony flowers), which may have a long flowering period, but in my opinion always look rather antiquated. The good thing is: there are alternatives! Here are my five ultimate tips for successful balcony planting!

1. For slightly larger balconies, I definitely recommend placing big planters at the edges and combining them with flower railing boxes. You may take up some space, but you have so many more options for planting a wide variety of flowers. The atmosphere becomes wild and cosy when you are surrounded by plants. For very small balconies that don’t have the space for this, I recommend planting lush climbing plants such as nasturtiums in containers and perhaps only planting one container with changing highlights.

2. If space permits, I would always opt for the following four plant groups and favour a combination of them: bulbs for a bombastic start to the balcony season, dahlias as a highlight that blooms for months, annual summer flowers for wildness and thus a “real garden feeling” on the balcony, and easy-care perennials so as not to make too much work for yourself.

3. Caring for plants on the balcony is more complex than in the garden, as the flowers in containers have less space and nutrients, are less able to store moisture and the location of the balconies is often very exposed due to wind and sun. In extreme locations, I would favour perennials. Shady balconies can be wonderfully planted with plantain lilies and ferns. For extremely dry, sunny and windy south-facing balconies, I would prioritise grasses and supplement them with robust flowering perennials. However, if your balcony location is not quite so extreme, you can and should go all out! The most important thing is regular fertilisation and watering. There are now very simple automatic watering systems and I would install one if at all possible.

4. To make the most of the season, it is worth planting succession plants in containers. In autumn, you can fill them with bulbs and when these have faded in May, you can plant dahlias or annual summer flowers. Once these have “done their job” in the autumn, these containers can be replanted with flower bulbs. And if you don’t have much time, then mainly use perennials, but just one or three highlights of this kind will create a great wow effect.

5. If the balcony is large enough, I would always plant at least one shrub. The atmosphere it creates is fantastic. I opted for a juneberry on our terrace. A lilac or a smaller jasmine would also be conceivable. Especially if you have neighbouring balconies to your left and right, a privacy screen like this is an excellent idea. Please note, however, that the pot should be at least 50 cm deep.

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