Gardening
on a balcony
by Julian Brandram
If
you live in a flat and only have a small balcony instead of
a garden, you can still enjoy growing flowers and maybe even
some fruit and veg as well.
Large
flowerpots are expensive but there are lots of other things
that you can use instead, such as buckets, dustbins and old
sinks. Give them a coat of paint and fill them with plants
and no one will notice what they used to be. Choose plants
that flower for a long time such as Diascias, petunias and
lobelias, take care to avoid plants which will get too big
or take up too much space. Climbers such as clematis, honeysuckle,
ivy or the annual canary creeper, can all be trained upwards
to make the most of the small space but clematis can get a
bit battered in a windy spot
 Scented
plants will give you pleasure too, night scented stocks and
sweet peas can be cheaply grown from seed, perennials include
honey suckle and the summer flowering jasmine as well as sweet
rocket.
Herbs
such as rosemary, thyme and sage are easy to grow and are
so much nicer fresh. Perpetual spinach is also very easy you
can grow it from seed and it will keep cropping for months,
a better bet than lettuce which is very slow to grow and will
quickly go to seed.
Finally
some fruit could be included, strawberries are dead easy especially
the alpine kind, thornless loganberries can be trained up
or over the railings and figs are incredibly easy to grow.
Happy gardening!
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