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I have been dabbling with growing things for quite some time. But now I'm trying to grow perennials so that I don't have to replant every year. Here is what I have growing on my 40 square foot balcony.
In pots:
Dwarf crape myrtle, with mountain brauni as ground cover around the tree
Dwarf Japanese maple, with ornamental grass as ground cover around the tree
Azalea
Soon to come will be a dwarf camellia once I finish composting enough food waste
In window boxes:
Columbine
Strawberry
Mountain brauni
Coral bells
Double Grecian rose
I'm trying to make my balcony a little oasis of green. So far the columbine are growing just fine but many of them are not blooming, and I want to accelerate their growth so they fill up the box. Is this realistic or something I will just have to wait until next year to see?
Any comments on what I have and its suitability for a balcony that receives about four hours of morning sun would be very much appreciated!
Just to give you more information, the plants that have survived multiple winters are the crape myrtle and the mountain brauni. The rest of them are new this year.
Hi Tonyw44 - This is my first year in an apartment. I was interested in keeping perennials on my balcony too. I began a thread in the spring, and this is a link to it.
Hi Tonyw44,
I'm in an apartment with a balcony, in Toronto, zone 5. Would love to see photos of your balcony. I wintered a tamarisk tree, about 4 ft, in a pot this winter and it survived nicely. However I discovered I didn't like the colour of the flowers, pink, so gave it away. Will try a cutting from my sister's purple flowered tamarisk this year. Hens and chicks, and creeping thyme will survive our winters in pots.
verdee
Hi all.. just wanna share this to all..i also have my balcony in my apartment..and my balcony garden allows me without "acreage" to enjoy gardening, although on a different level. With a little alteration, everybody can have their own bit of green, no matter where you call home.
hi tony! although i live in the southwest and will have to plant different stuff than you, i hope to acquire a bit of an oasis of green of my own on my balcony.
wow khatsmile! your balcony is gorgeous! although i see you are in pa. (where i use to live, in the levittown area/outside philly) and realize you have some different climate and planting possibilities you are dealing with-i hope to have something similar (in beauty) to what you have, out here in the southwest on my ugly wrought iron railing balcony :0)
I have a balcony in my apartment home upstairs. I've always had a variety of hanging baskets, herbs and NOW I've added a Dwarf Cavendish Banana plant in a planter. It's growing like a weed. I think I'm definitely going to have bananas by spring and I just can't wait!
Well, things have changed a bit since I posted this.
I've got a Japanese maple growing in a small pot. I added some ornamental grass and put a tomato plant in there as well.
The Grecian rose and coral bells didn't make it. So they went out and were replaced with an ice plant (delosperma cooperi).
The azalea got too big so I took it to my parent's place and planted it there.
I had to cut the columbine back and it's incredible how resilient those plants are. They got some kind of brown growth and so I trimmed off all the leaves that were not doing well. I figured, well, worst case scenario, next year, they come back.
Next year? Try next week!
I also put some strawberries into a planter box and that's doing very well.
So, my oasis of green has changed, but it's still there!
You all have given me wonderful motivation. I have an apartment balcony approx 5 ft x 48 ft and want to "green" it with perennials but cannot do the initial work myself. Does anyone know a landscape contractor in northeastern NJ who can plan, install and provide seasonal care?
