Just a heads up, this is a long one!
I moved into this flat in September 2013 with my lovely OH and its my first garden since leaving home 15 years ago. I've always loved plants and gardening but due to a combination of moving round lots for work, lifestyle, flats without balconies, and lodging I've never really managed to have more than a couple pots. Now I have a veritable jungle. Here's a quick shot of it then.
(coming the gremlins are playing up)
It's 8ft x 4ft and a bit of an awkward space with those high walls (and that's not the only challenge). But I've learnt a lot up until now.
Year 1
When we arrived the space felt quite cold despite being west facing. So I planned and decided it had to be all edible or have some other use and come February I started getting excited and planting everything. It was indoors so i was just getting and early start on the season right? So many failures! but replanted later in the season and pushed on with gusto.deciding i could grow it all in hanging baskets and individual pots. When my seed starting failed I succumbed to a few 9cm starts. That year we had Lettuce Nasturtium marigold, potatoes, carrots, french beans, runner beans, Swiss chard, cucumbers. It wasn't a great success. So come autumn I decided on a few plants to brighten up the space in the off season with a dark colour scheme. So off to the garden centre for some beautiful aeonium arborium, begonia, black mondo grass, heather and Ajuga Burgundy glow. We did get some veg that year, so not a total loss but maybe 3 meals total.
Lessons, lots of them this year -
- A south facing windowsill with no nets, above the tree line, no heat and curtains that are closed at night is not the place for raising seedlings. I very rarely close my curtains now. That side looks over a park and were pretty high up so not really a problem with privacy.
- The balcony itself is west facing, which is wonderful for long luxurious afternoons spent basking, but with another balcony above, as most have, it means we get nothing across most of it until 1 then get blasted from there on in. Not great for leafy crops which bolted hung on the front of the balcony but the larger sun lovers didn't get enough to have a great crop situated at the back. You could see they were struggling.
- Wind. Oh the wind. Turns out this is a bit of a wind tunnel. and whilst it had been windy on the balcony the previous winter, the full extent of how much of a wind tunnel this is hadn't made itself known. Not 1 bean from my runners, they were ripped ragged and never stood a chance and the dwarf french even with staking and tying in to the railings just couldn't put out a long enough shoot to flower and fruit before it got broken.we managed maybe one meal worth. Then there was the poor Heather and Begonia. Neither were ever able to put out enough root system to stop them being uprooted every 5 seconds and thus died a slow and painful death.
- Many veg do not do well in 4 inches of soil. What can i say beyond that really, despite many peoples protestations that leafy greens and many others grow great in windowboxes. That wasn't my experience. Maybe the location didn't help.
On to...
Year 2.
I decided to concentrate on finding out what did do well here. Growing more from seed, also bringing in more flowers. Blue and purple colour scheme.
Early in the year i brought and sowed some more herbs. Lots of failures again, but i kept trying. Still had tomatoes, but moved to the sunniest spot i have, also Swiss chard, lettuces and radishes, brought in some pansies, petunia, chives, borage, a Landini lily (because I couldn't help myself) a clematis cirrhosa (couldn't help myself) and 3 luscious lavender Warburton silver edge. got given some divisions of herbs by friends plus some strawberries. I ended up with 4 types of mint! By far my favourite for tea is Swiss mint, Moroccan for salads and garden for boiling. Apple mint I'm not fussed by tbh. Typically the Swiss mint has not come back this year, but the apple has with gusto. Grrrrr.....
The clematis is a Cirrhosa Freckles. A scented winter flowering type, he was chosen as had a slightly lower sun requirement and is going to bring some welcome winter cheer. It hasn't flowered yet (update coming!) but I'm hopeful for this winter as it flowers on old wood which it will have by then, and in summer it'll be just a lush tower of green. Which I'm happy with as it'll never interfere with whatever the colour scheme of that year. Not pictures of it looking bedraggled on its large obelisk, so here's one from www.clematisinternational.com instead.
The Moroccan mint, Swiss mint, strawberries, spring bulbs, clematis, and lily and bulbs all won permanent places. The lavender would have, if it along with a host of others things that got killed by a friend when i went away for a fortnight. Oh well.
Year 3
By year 3 I'm beginning to get a grip on the space and brought a phone with a camera (I know right, analog girl with a camera phone), and decided that as i use the space multiple times a day, I just want it to look nice and be an inviting place for relaxing. So out with the chairs that while super comfy are just too big for the space, in with a bistro set, and packed it with colour so that there is always something of interest, right through the year. The iintroduction of Hostas, hardy ferns, and heuchera, lift up the dark spaces around the base of the walls and give some textural interest. Oh and so many Dahlias.
The bistro set (which i couldn't find a good shot of) has to be my buy of the year, reasonably sized for dining at, and for taking a meze selection, and £29.99 from pound stretcher with the 2 chairs! They are reasonably well made and whilst i am sure they wouldn't last for year and years when exposed to the elements, they are protected here so should last much longer. I don't have a great shot of it and has been taken down for winter, so something to photo next year, this is the best i could find
 |
| So much better with the bistro set |
Here's a look at June.
 |
| Mini herb garden |
 |
| Strawberries and nasturtiums, a classic combo I love. |
As you can see lots of classic varieties, and a hot colour theme.
 |
| Dahlias corner in June |
 |
| Looking from one end |
 |
And the other.
|
 |
| Landini Lily in its second year flowering and just getting bigger and better. |
Moving on to July/August and the issue is where to put everything. As always i have more plants than space and they are suffering. I hate seeing it, but that's another thing I've learnt. Go for long seasons of interest and good leaf shape/colour.
 |
| Dahlia corner, July |
 |
| This is supposed to be a Bishop of llandaff, whilst it has the right colour and shape flowers, in full sun or partial shade the foliage never darkened to that distinctive dark colour. |
 |
| New baby |
 |
| Arabian Night |
 |
| Reverse side Arabian Night, doesn't show well but the front is a gorgeous red and the back a magenta pink |
 |
I know i shouldn't have
favourites, but... |
 |
... how could i not with this. Jescot Julie.
I have yet to get a photo to do this
justice. Orange faced and red/pink
reverse. |
 |
| Yep, that's still Jescot Julie |
 |
| Downham royal |
 |
Thomas A Edison, changes colour with
the light levels |
 |
Thomas A Edison
|
 |
And positively shines in sunlight. The most
iridescent of my dahlias
|
 |
| View through the balcony door. Aug 2016 |
I'm just redoing the balcony for winter. And will update once its done. Hope you've enjoyed seeing my balcony so far and hope it will give you a reference point for future ramblings.
