Growing Herbs, Flowers and Vegetables on Patio, Deck and Balconies
Want to grow your own vegetables or flowers, but have no garden? These deck, balcony and patio garden ideas may provide inspiration for plants and arrangements to try.
We’ve heard from nature lovers, former farmers and gardeners who have needed to downsize to an apartment, condo or townhouse, some with just a patio of balcony. The good news is that there are still lots of balcony and patio garden ideas to keep you surrounded by garden beauty, privacy and even food!
However, there are a few challenges to work around. In this article we present balcony and patio garden ideas, problems and solutions.
There’s really no limit to patio garden ideas you can create. From growing vegetables and fruit bushes, tomatoes and herbs, to floral or succulent themes, or maybe only purple flowers one season and all colors the next. Perhaps you’d like to change it each season or year, or perhaps you like the comfort of the familiar plants and placements each year.
There’s no limit to possibilities on even small balconies, take your pick and have fun creating your garden oasis.
Challenges With Balcony Gardening
For apartment, condo and city dwellers, balconies can have issues with the elements, especially in taller apartment buildings in cities.
The Elements
- Sunlight – since most balconies do not have access to full sun, you’ll need to assess what to plan for the sun you have.
- Wind – wind can be do a lot of damage, and tall buildings can create a “canyon effect” of strong wind to contend with.
- Heat – depending on where you live, a heat wave or drought can be hard on your plants.
- Rain – you’ll probably need to water rather than count on the rain, so keep a good watering can full nearby.
PATIO GARDEN IDEAS
8 Ways Avoiding Wind Damage to Plants
- HEAVIER POTS: Use heavier pots that won’t blow over. Use plant dollies and plant carrier straps for mobility.
- PLASTIC, RESIN or GLAZED ceramic pots to help retain moisture.
- WIND BARRIERS: Create wind barriers, such as a climbing vines on staked trellis planters.
- HANGING POTS: Hang sturdy plants in protected hanging pots.
- CLUSTERS: Cluster plants together for mutual support.
- TALLS AGAINST WALLS: Place taller plants against a wall for additional support.
- SHORTER PLANTS: If growing wide leaved plants, use shorter ones lower to the ground or floor to prevent
- CREATE NOOKS: Place more delicate plants in the least windy nook on the leeward side, and also using sturdy plants that create a windbreak, such as the resilient and determined Janet Craig plants.
Create a Windbreak for More Delicate Plants
Grow wind-sensitive plants in the leeward side of the balcony railing or shelter them with larger plants. You can also use solid materials similar to that featured in the following photo if allowed by your landlord. If not, you can of course use large more sturdy plants as windbreakers.
Deck, Balcony and Patio Garden Ideas – Creating Your Garden Oasis
This image is a fantastic example of creating a patio or balcony garden retreat. Your balcony can become your garden oasis!
Patio Garden Ideas Good for Decks and Balconies too
Hanging Pots and Planters
If you’re short on time, here’s a very quick way to color up a balcony, deck or old chain link fence. Use these colorful little 4″ pots with attached hooks, perfect for herbs, available on Amazon.
Colorful planters and pots that hang from a railing are a great way to maximize balcony growing space. Add colorful pots and flowers plus herbs, and you’ve got a flower garden with nutritious herbs as well as beautiful flowers, and maybe even some edible flowers!
One of the GardensAll Facebook community members shared this photo of a balcony garden he had a couple years ago before he moved. It’s a lovely example of how much beauty we can bring to even small spaces and places with a few well planted and tended potted plants.
Robert used some of the lovely coco fiber liners inside a wrought iron deck rail planter.
“This was my balcony several years ago. It was mostly flowers, intended to help the bees. I also had a few edibles in the form of herbs and nasturtiums.“
~Robert Welter
Trellis Planters for Climbing Plants Are Great for Decks, Patios and Balcony Gardens
There are many and varied options for balcony garden planters, so it just depends on your location, what elements you’re dealing with, your personal preferences, and what you plan to grow.
You can achieve a lush and tiered look by grouping plants together or erecting a trellis against a wall for a climbing plant like clematis or climbing hydrangea.
Trellis Planters for Growing Vining Flowers and Vegetables
You can grow vining flowers and vegetables like peas and beans in planters with an attached trellis. For growing balcony vegetables and tomatoes, you can choose large pots or sturdy planters with pot sized tomato cage or trellis to support the plants as they grow.
This is one of the most popular tomato planters with trellis, available in either wide planters or round pots with tomato cage included.
Balcony Gardening in Pots
You can also create your own teepee trellis in a large pot, such as these attractive large but lightweight resin pots made to look like stone or ceramic pots. We have a number of these 15″ – 20.5″ rustic resin barrel pots
Just consider that while the empty pot is light, once you fill it with dirt and a plant, it may still be too heavy for you to lift alone.
To help with moving plants around for optimum sun and to clean around them, we use plant dollies. However, you still need to be able to lift a plant enough to get it on the dollie. Either that or place it on the dolly first and then add the soil and plant.
If a large potted plant will be too heavy for you to get onto a dolly, you can probably slide them around as needed. But if you can’t manage large pots at all, then go with multiple smaller pots instead. You don’t want your gardening efforts to cause you distress.
BACK SAVING TIP:
For good body mechanics, whenever lifting heavy pots, remember to squat down and lift with your legs and not your back. (If you have bad knees then get help)!
How Much Does a Large Pot of Soil Weigh?
Potting soil varies in weight depending on the makeup. Variables can include how much filler that’s lighter than soil, such as coco coir, peat, and perlite, and also how much water content.
Many of the large pots are around the size of a 5 gallon bucket. Garden soil weighs approximately 12 pounds per gallon, so a large pot that’s approximately the size of a 5 gallon bucket could weigh around 60 pounds dry. Add a gallon of water, and that would be over 68 lbs.
A large pot of soil can weigh between 40-60 lbs. Use plant dollies to help move large pots around on your balcony garden.
Growing in Smaller Pots
When it comes to growing tomatoes in smaller pots, you can also consider growing fewer full sized tomato plants and more of the small tomato plants. Cherry and grape type tomatoes are easier to manage and provide a good yield in less space.
You could still include a full size plant or two for sandwich makings, and just keep it pruned to the size that best fits your pot and growing scenario.
Sun or shade
Unless your apartment or condo is a corner unit, most balcony gardens get light from mostly just one direction. If your balcony is south facing, that’s good because it means you’ll get the longest sun exposure. If not, your balcony may be shaded for half of the day. If your have more shade, then you’ll be able to grow more shade friendly garden vegetables such as lettuce, chard and kale.
Assess your light conditions and choose appropriate plants for bests results.
See some of the shade loving vegetables and plants.
Hanging Planters and Deck Rail Planters Expand Your Growing Space
If you have deck railing, these planters, are available from Amazon, and can add significant growing space fitted over a deck rail. You may even be able to place them on both sides of the railing, if conditions and management rules allow it.
They’ll need to be hardy plants though, especially if you’re in a location that tends to get windy.
These rail planters can be good for hardy herbs like rosemary and mints.
Vertical Balcony Garden Ideas
Limited space means needing to think creatively about how to plant. Going vertical is one of the best way and there are so many innovative options available to choose from these days.
You can buy all kinds of wall hanging pocket planters now, or repurpose an old shoe organizer for this.
If you have an old hanging shoe organizer not in use, you could start there. If not, you can buy the vertical wall garden pockets specifically for plants, as these should be designed to better handle moisture retention and drainage management.
Pros and Cons of Vertical Wall Pouches 3.5 Stars
Cons of Vertical Wall Pouches
- Moisture issues
- leaks at bottom
- fabric not waterproof – so better for patios
- moisture drains out quickly
- plants dry out too quickly, especially in hot, dry climates
- Pockets are too small for most plants
- Unwieldy, messy – hard to add plants and dirt before or after hanging
- Too heavy and hard to hang once dirt and plants are placed
- Not attractive as compared to hanging pots
Pros – on Vertical Wall Pouch
- Materials and construction quality are good
- Great for hanging on a backyard fence
- Beneficial as a privacy screen for patios
Pros and Cons of 5 Tier Vertical Planter – 4.5 Stars
Cons on 5-Tier Vertical Planter
- Drilled holes not properly aligned for screws
- Only one small drainage hole on one side of each planter
- Bottom planter gets wetter as the higher tiers drain down through to the bottom trays
Pros on 5-Tier Vertical Planter:
- Looks good
- Includes small plugs to stop up drainage holes, so can use indoors
- Good for moisture loving plants
- Works well for strawberries and mint
- Perfect size for patios
More Vertical Garden Ideas
Growing Abundance in Small Spaces
Even people living in apartments are finding ways to grow food on balcony gardens enough to save a little grocery money. It also provides exercise in fresh air and gardening therapy is proven to be beneficial. Incorporating more green, living growing things into the home environment is always a good thing.
Another way to look at making money farming or gardening, is to consider that saving money is almost like putting money in your pocket. Spending less on grocery bills by growing your own food saves money, even if it’s just tomato plants or fresh herbs on a balcony.
But more than that, is the quality, freshness and taste of homegrown along with the wonderful feeling of being able to grow your own nutritious food.
Money not spent, is money in your pocket.
Balcony Gardening
You can grow a lot of your own food on just a balcony using hanging pots, grow towers, and vertical garden walls. Plant towers can produce lots of plants in smaller spaces, but there is an issue of the “shadow” cast by the tower.
So if you choose a plant tower option, be prepared to turn it frequently, or use grow lights to supplement. This works, but can add to your power bill, so these are all things to consider.
This Composting Garden Tower (available from Amazon) is another solution for limited spaces, but again, just beware the shadow effect mentioned previously. We’ve found that pots, trays and raised garden beds or elevated planters work best for patios, but if you have really limited space with good light, you can try a tower.
We’d just recommend you try one of the less expensive smaller plant towers first to be sure it’s a fit for you before investing in the larger, more expensive towers.
Bottom line, these towers are for those with small areas or patios, and not for market gardeners, but they can help you grow food for your family. We know of one GardensAll Facebook member who had three in her yard garden area and planned to add more because it helped keep her do less bending and squatting.
No matter how little space you have, grow something… and keep on growing!
Balcony or Patio Garden Ideas for Attracting Birds
To attract birds to your patio or balcony, consider attractive bird feeders and growing small trees and shrubs in pots that provide more places for birds to perch. We do hummingbird feeders in summer and bird seed feeders in winter.
We recommend hanging the bird feeder on the outside of you balcony via an attachment, otherwise, bird seeds will get all over your balcony or patio area.
If you have a limb near your garden area, you can hang it there, or you could include a bird-friendly potted shrub or small tree with a limb that hangs out beyond your patio are to help cut down on the bird mess.
For winter gardens you can choose ornamentals such as flowers that bloom in winter. Edible trees and shrubs such as the deciduous winterberry or red currant, or evergreen berries such as the strawberry tree.
From thrift store finds to flowering vines and trellises… your garden oasis is just a little time and imagination away. Here’s more for you on flowers for balconies.
We are an online gardening publication sharing all things garden related! Including urban farming, family gardening, homesteading, gardening for profits, and more. We’re all about growth!