With the advent of the warm season, the stone jungles of megacities are filled with bright colors, including delightful flowers on the balcony. Designers offer many interesting ways to decorate balconies and loggias with vegetation, but the best option depends on many factors. On 2-3 square meters of the city balcony, everyone can create a small green island. Flowers and plants do not have to be rooted in hanging planters and flower boxes, there are many original tricks to decorate a balcony for the summer.
Before starting the gardening process, it is important to decide in advance which flowers to plant on the balcony and evaluate all the possibilities:
- is there enough free space and planes for hanging boxes and flower pots;
- is there enough light for normal plant growth;
- what will be the general style of design;
- how the ennobled balcony is used;
- balcony open or glazed;
- is there a desire to see the same plants or to give preference to a change in seasonal vegetation?
- First, we determine the type of balcony and its possibilities, since a spacious glazed loggia and a narrow barred balcony are designed differently. The thoughtful decoration of the balcony with flowers makes it possible to use the maximum number of flowers to transform a small corner of the apartment. It will be the best place for a pleasant stay or creative pastime.
Tip: A country house with a landscape design will complement the noble dotted gardening. The gray facade with balconies in the house of a typical layout will be decorated with a lattice with climbing plants on the south side, giving shade. Framed with hanging boxes with fragrant flowers, the perimeter of a simple balcony will emphasize the individuality of the owners of an apartment or house. Fragrant flowers on the first floor balcony will help kill the smell from the basement of the common house or from other unpleasant sources.
- Preparing space for plants. For our compatriots, this part of the apartment is reserved for storing rarely used items. And for most foreign citizens, the balcony is more like a green oasis for relaxation. By the way, the fashion for landscaping small balconies came from Venice, where there is an excess of dampness due to proximity to the canals. Hanging pots and boxes for strong-smelling flowers and spicy spices were used for natural aeration: a draft pulled all these aromas into the apartments of the townspeople. This custom was quickly picked up by the whole of Europe - flowers on the balcony photo.
Tip: It is wise to start ennobling the balcony with a revision - throw away the trash, sort the tool into boxes, put rarely used items out of sight. Flowers can also be used for the purpose of camouflage - the side wall of the balcony with a working tool will be well hidden by a lattice with climbing plants or a collection of violets. Large flowerpots and pots with rare plants divert attention from items that have nowhere else to store. Decorative curly flowers for a balcony can surround an armchair or a deck chair, as well as fence off a seating area from a workshop corner.
- When deciding how to decorate a balcony with flowers, it is important to minimize the allowable load on the balcony. Please note that plants, metal parts for fastening flower boxes, pots, flowerpots and planters with earth filling them and decorative stones - an additional 100-300 kg, especially after abundant watering of flowers.
Tip: The easier the arrangement of landscaping a balcony, the more space and a pleasant aesthetic feeling, so you should not clutter it up with large boxes and tubs. Give preference to plants that have a small root system with abundant flowering. It is important to periodically check the security of the fastening of shelves, containers and pots. Check the trays for excess water from irrigation - it is important that their contents do not leak on the heads of neighbors and do not create prerequisites for mold, especially when there is access to rainwater on an open balcony.
- The style of decorating the balcony with flowers plays a decisive role - often the minimum number of plantings creates the maximum effect. It is important to choose the option that is most appropriate for your circumstances. The glazed balcony is used not only for relaxation, but also as a functional area.
Tip: Living plants and fragrant flowers noticeably ennoble both the workshop balcony, and the place to work at the computer, and the dining area around the small console, where it is pleasant to dine together in the summer.
- A balcony can replace a small vegetable garden if curly parsley and dill are sown in hanging boxes next to flowers and a feather onion is planted. You can also add stands with strawberries and decorative forms of Dutch-selected vegetables grown only on balconies: bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and curly beans.
Tip: Special seed is ordered from catalogues. Specially bred forms of vegetable crops for balconies not only take up little space and do not require a lot of land for the root system. Balcony vegetables look very beautiful at different stages - seedlings, flowering, fruiting. However, for a plentiful harvest, it is important to follow the technology of their cultivation in specially prepared soil with mandatory top dressing. But even in this case, it is important to correctly design the balcony with flowers.
Ways to decorate a balcony with flowers
1. Depending on the type of facade of the building, thoughtful flower decoration will help to ennoble, draw attention to a certain part of it or distract from unaesthetic areas.
- it is good to decorate a smooth inconspicuous facade with flowers placed along geometric lines;
- smooth lines in the architecture of the building can be decorated with asymmetry or dotted large hanging planters and flower baskets;
- if 2 balconies are combined into a single line or one long one goes around the corner of a multi-storey building, then containers should not be hung along the railing for all lengths;
- the combined design looks spectacular, where all planes are used - flowerpots, boxes and pots on the floor, shelves on the wall of the house, hanging planters on the ceiling plane, etc.
2. If there is no clear certainty about what flowers to grow on the balcony, then you should not rush to buy everything or put all indoor plants out of the apartment. Of course, they will benefit from an abundance of natural light and rain watering, but do not forget that pets are not adapted to withstand wind gusts, the scorching sun and temperature changes. Their stay on the open balcony should be episodic, they are not considered as the main filling of open balconies. But in the glazed area, indoor flowers for the summer on the balcony will be very appropriate - pelargonium, aloe, violets, cyclamen, begonia, etc.
3. Particular attention should be paid to climbing and clinging plants, which are successfully used in vertical gardening. They are able to turn an ordinary balcony into a kind of abundantly blooming garden gazebo or an English courtyard covered with ivy. By the way, ivy is an ideal plant for landscaping open balconies; it does not need a lot of fertile soil and ideal conditions. With it, it doesn’t matter how to decorate the balcony with flowers - the dark green background of graceful ivy leaves will favorably set off 3-4 flowerpots with petunia and other bright summer plantings. And when they fade, ivy can be left on the balcony until the first frost, and then cut off the largest layering and let it winter in the apartment.
4. A green oasis of southern exotics is a great option for a glazed loggia or balcony on the south or west side of the house, where there is a lot of light and heat. Indoor lemons and tangerines, money trees, "palms" and other plants with a "southern appearance" are suitable here. If you don’t know what flowers to plant on the balcony with this type of landscaping, keep in mind that they should be in harmony with the rest of the tropics.
5. Japanese Balcony Bonsai Garden is one of the most sophisticated gardening methods for a glazed balcony. Container dwarf trees and flat bowls of fleshy succulents among the rocks will be the main decoration of this part of the Japanese-style apartment. For the overall impression, hanging planters with a full-color form of pink petunias, reminiscent of cherry blossoms, are added. Japanese-style flat screened curtains with hieroglyph prints complete the overall design.
6. Drought tolerant succulents in flat containers with rocks are also good for landscaping balconies where bulky flowers are not desirable. For example, when there are several small children in the family, and a lot of laundry is often dried on the balcony. These plants do well when forgotten to water or broken into pieces, they will quickly sprout roots in a glass of water and take root again. The second option is when a glazed balcony is used as a training corner, and many voluminous flowering plants are inappropriate here. Small flowers on the balcony will fit into any design.
Tip: Succulents are the perfect plants for any room, and they bloom amazingly beautifully, but cats love to nibble on them. Therefore, it makes sense to place them in an inaccessible place, and it is better for pets to sow special grass in a container for vitamins if the cats are not outside.
7. One of the most difficult ways to decorate a balcony with flowers is all-season, that is, pick up plants in such a way that they please the eye all year round.
- spring: bulbous flowers of early spring flowering and primroses;
- summer: most annuals and perennials;
- autumn: asters, dahlias, chrysanthemums;
- winter: miniature conifers with decorative cones and other fruits.
8. The type of lighting and climatic conditions also affect the way the balcony is planted with flowers and ornamental plants.
- the north side does not suit most of the flowers on the balcony, but wild grapes, sweet peas, phloxes will take root in the southern latitudes;
- plants do not take root in northern latitudes on open balconies, and even on the south side of a glazed loggia they may not have enough light;
- penumbra like petunia, nasturtium pelargonium;
- on the drafts of the upper floors, undersized forms of such plants as stonecrop, lawn grass, marigolds, daisies, etc. will take root well;
- flowers on the balcony on the sunny side - garden climbing perennials and seed plants take root well.
Selection of boxes and pots for balcony flowers
Non-standard containers for planting flowers will help to beautifully decorate an open or glazed balcony:
- an ordinary trough can be pasted over with a colored mosaic of broken ceramic tiles planted on liquid nails, the gaps can be filled with an ordinary cement mixture with the addition of PVA building glue or building sealant;
- identical ceramic pots can be painted in different colors for greater decorative effect;
- old voluminous dishes without handles will be ennobled by pasting with a cord, twine or rope, laid tightly in a spiral;
- boxes for balcony flowers can be knocked down independently from scraps of timber, which can be ordered at any carpentry workshop - they are painted in a natural texture;
- unexpected options from children's rubber boots or old garden watering cans have long become "classics" of garden decorations, and these finds are also successfully used to decorate balconies.
Tip: It is important to consider that planters, baskets, boxes, pots, flowerpots and containers for balcony flowers are selected for specific plants. It is prudent to choose their shape, size and their total number, depending on how they will look from the outside (open balcony), and inside the closed area. Do not abuse the depth of the boxes, if this is not required by the developed root system of plants - it is better to focus on nutritious soil with top dressing. The soil is changed once a year, preferably in early spring or autumn, when the flowers are degrading. Most flowers need 15-25 cm.
Caring for balcony plants
If containers for planting a balcony with flowers are filled with properly prepared soil, then plant care will be minimal. It boils down to timely watering, spraying and top dressing as needed. Flowers in pots are placed on well-supported stands or hinged boxes for boxes, so as not to accidentally knock them over or drop them from the balcony. It is important that the plants are not crowded, there is enough heat and light, taking into account their growth and abundant flowering.
You can't skimp on the quality of the soil, although some can be grown hydroponically in a nutrient water solution. Succulents are suitable for depleted rocky soil. Many flowers prefer a mixture of soil and sand fertilized with peat, but its acidic environment is not acceptable for all plants, so crushed eggshells are added there.
Fertilizing plants should not be done too often, they need it during the period of rapid flowering or fruiting. Balcony forms of vegetable crops are fed with different fertilizers according to the growing technology, depending on the stage of development. Most young plants need regular and abundant watering, except for desert dwellers. Tropical forms must be sprayed in the morning and evening, but not under scorching rays, so that drip microlenses do not burn delicate leaves.
Balcony Interior Design Ideas
1. A small balcony should not be cluttered with a large number of pots and containers, it is enough to limit yourself to small boxes along the outer perimeter with hanging plants of abundant flowering. You can add 2 pots in the corners under the ceiling and 2-3 tall flowerpots with bushy ornamental plants, or limit yourself to one flat stand for indoor plants. Complete the decor with folding furniture or stackable plastic chairs and a folding table top.
2. A lounge on a spacious balcony can be decorated as an outdoor terrace, where all the planes are used for landscaping in different colors. But here it is important not to overdo it and stick to one style. Even a small double sofa, including a hanging one, is suitable as furniture. If the owners spend a lot of time here in the summer, relaxing after a hard day, it is worth planting the night violet in containers for the intoxicating aroma that it gives all night. In such an environment, a small electric grill and a coffee maker in the table area, as well as wicker garden furniture with soft cushions, are also appropriate.