Transform your balcony or terrace into a small-scale garden
Updated 4:37 pm, Monday, June 11, 2012
New Yorkers grow lettuce and tomatoes on fire escapes. New Orleanians have elevated balcony gardening to an art form.
Urban Texans increasingly are joining the small-gardening movement, transforming balconies and terraces into upstairs green spaces.
Patrick Murphy, owner of the Perennial Potter, designs high-rise gardens for his San Antonio clients by first considering how the space will be used. Will a sitting area with a few pots do, or will the space be used to entertain?
Style and color preferences are important in selecting furniture, plants and containers, Murphy says. They should complement the look of the home.
"Consider the view from inside when placing objects outside on a balcony or terrace," he adds.
A water feature adds a sensory touch to a small garden several floors up. Soft lighting and candles boost atmosphere.
High-rise gardens may be tropical, formal and evergreen or scaled-down cottage. But take note of growing conditions at higher altitudes. The sun can be hotter and the wind stronger in exposed areas.
Study the light to determine if sun- or shade-loving plants are best. Bougainvillea, plumbago, portulaca and rosemary can take the sun. Texas Superstar roses including 'Souvenir St. Anne,' 'Knock Out' and 'Caldwell Pink' bring months of blooms. Caladiums, coleuses, impatiens and torenias are shade options.
Walls and glass banisters can block wind, Murphy says. But choose plants carefully for a blustery ledge. A leafy banana will shred in high wind. Murphy's had success with 'Little Gem' magnolias and boxwood. Ornamental grasses bring movement to a breezy terrace. Olive trees, Japanese yews, hollies and oleanders can be used singly or as a wind-blocking hedge.
Measure your balcony or terrace, and think about scale, Murphy recommends. You don't want plants that are too large or small.
Check your building's weight restriction codes so you don't overload your outdoor space. Consider attractive lightweight containers in zinc or faux terra cotta or limestone. Place the pots, fill with a well-draining potting medium, then plant. Otherwise, you may find that plants are too heavy to easily move.
And use saucers beneath the containers. If you don't, leaching may stain the flooring and excess drainage may run off into a neighbor's space below.
Murphy brings a variety of plants to a small garden by creating "thriller, filler, spiller containers" - those with a dominant plant that's surrounded by shorter types and those that cascade from the pot.
Maximize your balcony space
Layer plants like a choir: From tall to short.
Use a blank wall as a canvas: Add charm with a pair of old shutters or a baker's rack with potted plants.
Look up: Hang a basket of cascasing plants from the ceiling.
Warm it up: Add an outdoor rug to make it feel like home.
When staging pots, the bigger the better, he says. Contrasting colors and textures, whether with pots or plants, add interest.
If permitted, train a better-behaved vine such as black-eyed Susan vine or mandevilla on a partially sunny wall. Or check out fabric, plastic and wood planting systems that allow do-it-yourselfers to create hanging gardens on outdoor walls.
If allowed, hang baskets of cascading plants from a ceiling or display them in containers that fit over hand rails. Verbena, lantana, sweet potato vine and Silver Falls' dichondra are possibilities.
A smaller garden generally is less maintenance, but containers can dry more quickly, especially small or porous terra cotta pots. This means more watering, which in turn leaches nutrients, so a bit more fertilizer may be in order. Low-water plants such as succulents are a great option Murphy used in clustering containers on a terrace garden at the Broadway.