7 Tips for Balcony Gardening

I’m by no means a gardening expert, but I’ve learned a thing or two over the last few years of my urban gardening adventures. Today I thought I would share some of my top tips for balcony gardening, and I’d love to hear your advice as well!

1. Map out the sunlight

Before embarking on your small-space gardening adventures the first thing to do is map out the sunlight your space receives. This includes knowing which way your space faces, how much direct sunlight different areas receive, and at what time of the day. Then you can plan your plants to suit the conditions – including those that are shade tolerant or alternatively can cope with harsh sunshine.

2. Use high quality potting mix

Given you are likely to be introducing soil into your garden in pots, rather than from the ground, start with the highest quality potting mix you can find. Choose an organic mix and add compost and nutrients to ensure your plants get the best possible start. You can always mix in your own compost as well of course!

3. Water consistently

Given balcony gardening usually involves a series of smaller pots it’s important to water consistently. You don’t want to drown them by giving them an extra large drink every so often, but you also don’t want to dry them out, so a consistent watering regime is key. Of course, the amount of water required will also depend on what it is you’re growing! The general rule of thumb is provide less water, more often.

4. Feed your plants

Kicking things off with top-notch potting mix is an excellent start, but you need to keep up the nutrients while the plants are growing as well. The plants will pull all the nutrients out of the soil as they grow and produce, so they will need to be replaced over time. What you need to add to the soil will depend on what plants you are growing, but liquid fertilisers are a good place to start.

5. Start small & hardy

Even in small spaces gardening can become a time consuming (but worthwhile!) hobby, so it’s best to start small and with hardy plants. A few pots of hard to kill herbs like rosemary, mint, oregano and sage are an excellent place to start, and will provide instant flavour to your cooking as well. Small tomato varieties like cherry tomatoes are another excellent option, as are greens like spinach and lettuces. By building up your garden over time you get the chance to learn what works for you and your space, and it’s a lot less overwhelming too. Don’t be disheartened if things don’t work out as planned though (or you get an attack of the caterpillars like has happened to me before!) – just try again with something else!

6. Sort out your drainage

The water in your pots needs to be able to freely move through the soil and not clog the roots, as that can result in root-rot, and restrict oxygen flowing through the soil. This can be resolved by popping some small pebbles in the base of your pots to allow the water to filter through, and lift the pots up using ‘pot feet’ onto saucers to catch excess water.

7. Get creative with space

No matter how small your space is you can find spots to grow plants – you might just have to get a little creative! Don’t restrict yourself to just pots on the ground, you can also grow things in hanging pots, vertical planters, trellises, plant stands, windowsills – you name it! Raising some of your plants up through the use of vertical planters, or even putting them on small tables can also help them get more sunlight as well – plus you can pop the shade loving plants underneath!

I hope these tips for balcony gardening were helpful – I’d love your tips too!

Join the Weekly News & get my Meal Planning 101 Guide!

3 Comments on 7 Tips for Balcony Gardening

  1. Pearl Moon
    May 24, 2017 at 9:00 am (7 years ago)

    Hi Liz, I’ve been enjoying watching your balcony garden produce and evolve with each season. Two tips I could add that work even for small apartment dwellers – 1) worm farm, they will eat scraps, produce excellent nutrient laden “worm tea” (better than Seasol!) and when the farm has grown to a stage it needs dividing you’ll have top quality compost and sufficient worms to be able to gift a friend with a starter farm!
    Tip #2 – Bokashi compost, this is an amazing benchtop compost acellerator you can put vegetable and meat waste into and with the addition of the Bokashi it composts anaerobically – without odour, You can also draw off nutrient juice for adding to plants during this process. When full the bin contents do need to be buried so apartment dwellers will need to donate their contents to a park or yard owner every few weeks…
    all the best!

    Reply
  2. Shreya @ The Creatives Hour
    July 13, 2021 at 5:44 am (3 years ago)

    These ideas are amazing and super insightful! I agree that using high-quality potting mix is super important.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge