Making the Most of Your Space on Your Balcony

Living in in a condo or an apartment often means limited outdoor spaces. When I moved to Los Angeles, I was lucky enough to secure a place with a small balcony. Having a table and chairs enjoy morning coffee, read a magazine is great but adding living plants can

1. Use planters and stands that don’t sit on the ground.
While gardening on your balcony mainly involves using containers, you still have a variety of growing mediums to choose from, and some allow you to maximize your floor space. I invested in a railing planter (a container that hangs or sits on your railing), a hanging plant, a trellis, and a small shelf that can fit multiple plants and decor. If you’re up for it, you could also train vines on your balcony railing.

2. Start small.
If you’re new to balcony gardening, it doesn’t hurt to start with just a few plants. I went with four small containers so that I didn’t overwhelm myself (or the space, shown above). As you learn and get the hang of caring for your balcony garden, you can always add more plants to your collection.

3. Start an herb garden.
Herbs grow well in containers, and they don’t take up as much room as vegetables or fruit trees. Certain ones even thrive when planted together. Venture out and grow tarragon, marjoram, summer-savory, chives and rosemary. It will be a quick walk from your kitchen to your balcony, to snip and add some freshness to your meals in less than a minute.

4. Try out vegetative trellis.
Another way to save floor space while increasing foliage is to set up a trellis. Living trees are some of the best living screen to create more privacy while benefiting from the tree itself, Dwarf citrus is great in our sunny So-Cal climate.

5. Add perennials and annuals.
Adding brightly and eye catching colors not only are eye catching but you can use them to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Flowers that are tubular tend to produce the most nectar, and are particularly attractive to hummingbirds. Delphinium and hollyhock are two traditional hummingbird favorits while Joe-Pye weed, ironweed, coneflowers, goldenrod, and brightly-hued asters are nectar-filled favorites.