I live in an apartment, on the top (3rd) floor, with a view that is marred by another (1 floor higher) apartment. For a person that craves greenery, and felt like a fish living in a fish bowl when I first moved here, putting up a green plant barrier was my first priority!
My South facing balcony was furnished sooner than my living room, I swear.
There was a lot of trial and error involved in the first few years, I can tell you. For example the wind...This being the Dutch Delta, we have a LOT of it, and it only seems to become heavier.
Mistake nr.2: shade loving plants don't either.
Mistake nr.3: my effort to cover the two side walls with climbers. The wind tore them down.
BUT! Many Mediterranean plants are very happy on my balcony. They just need some TLC during the long wet winters we have over here.
My neighbours witnessed my efforts and wisely shook their heads. No use putting plants up there, it won't work, they said. Please make sure those planters will not go flying and land on our cars, they moaned (to be fair, in one storm one plant did take a nose dive, but luckily it landed in the middle of the street). Don't you get tired of dragging all that soil up there, they asked.
Me being a stubborn sort, I kept doggedly explaining it could be done, it was only a case of using the correct plants. And yes, I would be mindful of their cars. And besides, in my opinion, having a balcony devoid of plants is bad, but putting plastic ones on (in vogue when I arrived in 2018) is sacrilege. That was usually the point when they raised their eyebrows and left me to it.
Trial and error
Through trial (lots of it) and error (sigh), I slowly learned which plants survive my balcony conditions and which plants even thrive on them. Like Pelargoniums. Not quite my favourite plants, but hey, beggars etcetera. And they have grown on me, I must admit.
I built a trellis planter and after a hesitant start my Clematis now covers it and is up to the top of it (2m). Last year I chanced a Pandorea, and not only did it survive the winter, but this year it has joined the Clematis at the top.
Slowly, it took years, but surely, more and more balconies in my block turned green! I am so very happy with that!! I call it the zwaan-kleef-aan method (a Dutch expression about swans that makes no sense whatsoever, but means that if one sheep has crossed the bridge, the others will follow).
Most neighbours have gone trendy, putting expensive Olive trees and Trachycarpus on, and I am still the only one with railing planters, but still! It is a victory over barren desert concrete balconies!
And I grow tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, lettuce, strawberries, and spinach on the balcony as well. Amongst the herbs and flowers. Last year I grew potatoes. Why not?
There is a tiny pond for the birds to drink out of (don't tell Puck, she thinks it is her private drinking bowl), with flowering plants in it that thrive. I get visited by many birds, and one of the Jackdaws left me a pretty green pebble, smack in the middle, in front of my door. You can see it next to the jolly tortoise above.
Absolutely, dragging up all those bags of soil is a slog. And dragging down the bags of spent flowers and soil is as well. But the men opposite me (expats, that block is full of expats working in the industry) cannot ogle me any longer, instead they see a lovely balcony garden. Puck can enjoy herself stealing strawberries and barking at the dogs and cats passing below on the street. (She's not allowed to bark too long, and she solves this problem by coming indoors to bark, all the while looking at me for approval)
So. Do you have a balcony? Make it green! You will do the neighbourhood and yourself a favour.
By the way, I will paint that concrete soon. Just building up the courage...all those plants will have to be moved indoors. Oh dear.
Have a great week, wherever you are.
Renée Grashoff
