Need suggestions for my balcony please!
KatDL
Posts: 1
Hi all,
I love my new flat and it has a great balcony (photo above) but at the far end of this photo you'll see that we have a small partition with the neighbours which doesn't lend itself much to privacy. Does anyone have ideas for nice looking barriers? I was thinking dense bamboo or a fake hedge like this one: https://www.internetgardener.co.uk/product/artifical-hedging/witchhedge-extendable-instant-artificial-hedging-laurel/16382
Or perhaps some large potted plants? Are there any plant types you would recommend which are low maintenance and would last all year round?
Also I wonder if i could do something with those white panels on the left with the holes in them to make it look a bit nicer. I've been looking at 'vertical gardening' and thinking I could attach some sort of square trellis to them? But maybe that would look a bit too much? Any suggestions are welcome. I have never done any gardening before so would appreciate any ideas.
Thanks in advance!
Posts
Which way does your balcony face? You need to consider how much sun/wind you will get. Bay trees are evergreen and if pruned to be short would be a good fix for screening your neighbours. I think you could do quite a bit with a balcony that size but I'm not great with gardening in containers. Other people on here will have great ideas and I mostly posted to bump your post up.
Personally I'd probably put some Olive trees there but I don't know your preference. I'm confident you could climb a clematis up an olive tree. You shouldn't have too much trouble growing in containers, if for no reason other than that- as long as you don't inadvertently introduce them- you shouldn't have any slugs to destroy almost everything you do. You might find it useful to invest in an irrigation system to make your life a little easier (again, I enjoy the therapy watering pot brings but you might not!) and don't forget to put up a bird box and feeder or I'll throw slugs up on to your patio ;-)
I think that fake hedge would work well. I saw some in a garden centre and it looked quite effective. But it would be nice to have some living plants on the balcony too. You could put up some window boxes on that white fence with trailing plants in them.
There are lots of ideas on the Internet. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=balcony+gardens+uk&biw=1188&bih=539&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi38vnA5u_QAhWMK8AKHWloDI4Q_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=balcony+gardens+
The Royal Horticultural Society have a good advice page on their website for rooftop/balcony gardening
www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=674
Also there is a page about vertical vegetable growing
www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/containers/veg-on-walls
Looks like your balcony has plenty of potential; we'll look forward to watching it develop.
pbff, just want to say that your name makes me happy.