A balcony in the city can easily be transformed into a little plant paradise: from the abundant jungle to the refined Zen style, you must take into account a few major parameters in order to obtain an optimal result with a minimum of worries and maintenance.
Exposure
The exposure of your balcony is a major factor to take into account. The choice of plants will depend on it. Indeed, a balcony facing south that will receive full sunlight throughout the day will benefit from conditions particularly suited to heat-loving plants such as Mediterranean plants and cacti. A shaded, north-facing balcony will welcome plants that like coolness.
Space
The lack of space should not scare you: by exploiting the verticality with trellises and suspensions, you will gain space.
Maintenance
In the city, time is often limited and even a small garden on a balcony can require long hours of maintenance. If your time is limited, choose resistant plants that require little maintenance.
Choosing plants and structuring the space
Start by dressing the walls to set the scene: with its foot in the shade, a clematis will illuminate a wall with its starry, multi-colored bloom.
Honeysuckles like sun or half-shade depending on the species. They will quickly colonize the trellises and perfume the balcony with their sweet scent. Similarly, on well-exposed balconies receiving a few hours of sunlight a day, a star jasmine will be perfect and will spread its powerful fragrance to the interior of the apartment. Fans of foliage will install a Virginia creeper that will blaze with flamboyant colors in the fall or a variegated ivy that will cover the wall all year long.
English baskets and other hanging baskets also allow you to exploit the smallest vertical corner of the balcony. Install Violas which, from October onwards, will develop cascades of small, brightly colored flowers until the first hot days of summer. Once they have finished flowering, replace them with Surfinias associated with white Lobelias or Ivy-leaved Geraniums in the sun, and with drooping Begonias and other Fuschias for shady areas. These plants will also work well in window boxes and planters properly attached to the balcony railing.
Make the most of corners by installing tall rectangular planters: black bamboo will do wonders there. Another possibility is to combine dwarf roses in the foreground with gladioli in the background, although the colors should match!
On a small table, recreate a small country corner in an old pewter basin. Daffodil and muscari bulbs can be placed next to perennials or grasses. If your balcony is in full sun, create a collection of cacti: installed individually in zinc planters, they will give a graphic touch to an already modern terrace.
