Balcony Garden Design

If you live in an apartment or a condominium with a balcony you think is too small to be functional for much of anything beyond sitting, think again.  With a little creative use of space-saving ideas and techniques, you can turn that balcony into an outdoor eating area and garden.  Here are some ideas for how to get it done.

All balconies have steel or wooden enclosures and you can purchase a wide variety of flower or deck boxes to mount on them.  Mounting involves hanging the containers on the enclosures and there are several mounting styles available.  The boxes themselves come in wood or PVC materials available in several different colors.  Their biggest disadvantage is watering.  Because of the lack of depth and total volume of the soil, it tends to dry out quickly.  

Do yourself a favor and spend a little more for special moisture retention potting soil instead of traditional soils.  These include special materials which attract and retain moisture, releasing it gradually over time.  In addition, you can look for attractive watering globes, which are basically glass containers you fill with water which then release water into the soil as it dries out.

Finally, if your patio is large enough you can also plant in large ground planters.  Adding a wheeled platform to these containers makes them portable so you can easily move them around.  Some vegetable will do well in containers like these.  Tomato “towers” are also available, with special strains of tomato plants that grow up more than out.  

To turn your balcony garden into a functional eating area you can start with a small, “baby” size gas grill.  While this is not an endorsement of the brand, Weber Grill Company makes a line of balcony style portable grills in their “Q” series.  This grill feature’s the reliable performance of Weber grills and comes in two sizes, the standard Q and the baby Q.  Coleman also makes quality portable grills small enough in size and powerful enough in functionality to perform well in garden balcony settings.

To eat outdoors, check out PVC style foldable trays.  Many of the better quality ones come with storage stands that make it easy to keep them out on the garden balcony instead of moving them back and forth from indoor storage.

Outdoor lighting is another way to make your balcony more like a garden.  Solar powered outdoor lights are now available in post mounting styles that could be affixed to your balcony enclosure.

Finally, if you enjoy sitting out on your balcony enjoying a cool breeze on a summer night while gazing at the stars, consider adding the soothing sounds of flowing water to the environment.  Outdoor fountains have become extremely popular. And with increasing demand comes increasing supply.  Today there are fountain styles small enough to fit on most garden balconies.  Some are even capable of wall mounting, while others fit snugly into corner enclosures.  All you need to make them work is an outdoor electrical outlet.  The water is self-contained and flows continuously by means of an electrical pump.  Treat yourself to one.  You’ll be glad you did.