Balcony landscaping - types of landscaping, design and selection of plants, general recommendations. 90 photos of design ideas that guarantee a striking effect

Features of vertical gardening in different styles

Before you start vertical gardening, you need to carefully consider the design so that reality matches your expectations. In general, the operating algorithm looks like this:

• Choose a landscaping style. To do this, ask yourself questions: what style suits me best, what exactly do I want to decorate (a house, a gazebo or make a phytowall), what scale interests me.
• Think about the appearance of the future design.
• Draw a diagram or order one from a landscape designer.
• Choose plants. The choice depends on which design you choose. Also evaluate which crops are suitable for your climate and which ones you like in appearance.

Let's look at the features of different styles.

Gardening with container plants

To create a vertical flower bed, you can use different equipment:

Hanging pots or regular containers. They are hung on the wall, on poles, on a gazebo, etc. As a rule, ampelous flowers are used.

Containers that form a pyramid, or multi-tiered pots. They are installed on a selected area and planted with plants of interest, and you can choose both ordinary flower crops and hanging ones.

Plastic pipe with holes. The pipe is installed vertically, filled with earth, and flowers are planted in the holes.

Chain-link mesh rolled into a cylinder. The inner walls are covered with polyethylene, the cylinder is filled with soil, slits are made in the film and flowers are planted.

It is very important that the soil is very nutritious and moisture-absorbing. It is necessary to carefully monitor soil moisture so that the soil does not dry out.

And also regularly feed the plants, since they have a limited feeding area.

Living wall (phytowall)

Phytowall can come in several variations:

Modular type. To create a living wall, you need to install phytomodules - special racks with cells and a drainage system. Phytomodules for vertical gardening are separate elements (like pots) that are held together after planting.

Carpet landscaping. The pocket system involves the use of fabric (usually felt), which has many pockets for planting plants.

Wooden pallets. Plants peek out between the wooden slats.

Vertical gardening with climbing plants

The principle of gardening with climbing plants is extremely simple. You need to plant a seedling next to a selected object (for example, a wall, trellis, arch, pergola, obelisk), the distance between the seedling and the object is 30-50 cm. If the plant needs additional support, then you need to build it in advance (if you want to decorate the wall ) - gratings or strong wire on hooks, chain-link mesh, wooden mesh. After planting, you need to care for the plant and as soon as it grows, secure it to a support (if they do not attach on their own).

Designs for climbing plants

Most often, with vertical gardening, vines grow on the wall. However, growing on special structures - supports for climbing plants - is also popular.

The most popular and interesting options for supports for vines:

Gazebos;

Pergolas;

Arches;

Trellis;

Berso.

Secret 2: Playing with contrasts

Agree, pots of the same color and size, lined up in one row, look “clean, but poor.” To make the composition harmonious, effective, and not boring, you should learn to play not only with color, but also with shape.

How to achieve this? For example, use containers of the same color, but different shapes and sizes. When put together, they will look very stylish, even if you fill them with plants of the same type.

In bright, unusual containers, plant more modest decorative foliage plants: hostas, coleus, ferns, etc.

You can plant catchy bulbous or any other bright flowers in simple plain pots.

Fuchsia

Evergreen ampelous fuchsias need a small amount of light and coolness for full development. Direct sunlight is destructive for them: the flowers may not open or become crushed. Therefore, plants will like it on the northern balcony. Fuchsia flowers are very unusual, reminiscent of skirts. The stamens are long, with sweet nectar. A very elegant and unpretentious plant!

How to care for fuchsia on the balcony

The flower does not like drought; as soon as the soil dries out, the plant dies immediately, so water the fuchsia regularly and abundantly. But make sure that water does not stagnate in the pot. In addition to watering, fuchsia also needs regular feeding and pruning. Young plants need more nitrogen, and fertilize the grown shoots with phosphorus and potassium, then the buds will cover the entire bush and bloom luxuriantly. To create a beautiful crown, trim the side shoots.

The main pest of the plant is the whitefly, the larvae of which feed on cell sap. But on the northern balcony they most likely will not disturb the fuchsia, because... love warmth. For lush flowering, replant the flower annually in a spacious container.

Viola

Bright violas, or pansies, are found in almost every garden. But you can successfully grow this flower on the balcony. Viola is completely unpretentious and will delight you with flowering until autumn. Usually it is planted on sunny balconies, but there pansies can suffer from the heat. Therefore, the northern one is a very good alternative.

And if the sun hits your balcony even occasionally, pansies will bloom much longer than if they grew in bright light.

Be prepared for the fact that when planted in the shade, the viola will bloom smaller and slightly paler than when grown in the sun.

How to care for viola

Viola loves light and loose soil. You need to water the soil as soon as it dries out a little. Moderate watering will help avoid rot, which affects the tender roots of the viola. To achieve flowering, feed the flower weekly with complex fertilizers and inspect it for pests. And once every 10 days, loosen the soil so that a dry crust does not form on the surface. When planting seedlings, leave at least 15-20 cm between plants so that the roots feel comfortable.

Basic rules for landscaping a balcony

The balcony is a significant part of the room. It should not be allocated for various unnecessary things. If you landscape it and install a table with chairs or an armchair there, you will get an excellent relaxation area.

There are several rules for arranging a balcony:

1. If the loggia faces the sunny side, then it is better to place climbing plants on it. They will create a pleasant shadow. Preference should be given to flowers that develop quickly and have large, dense foliage. Support will need to be installed for support.
2. If not much sunlight falls on the balcony, then along the windows it is worth placing flowering, but not too tall plants in decorative flowerpots.
3. The choice of “green pets” must be taken seriously. Typical garden dwellers, such as hydrangeas, gladioli or dahlias, will not survive there: they will not have enough space and food.
4. Indoor plants can be safely placed on the balcony in the warm season. They should be shaded from the bright sun using mesh or tulle. The most drought-tolerant specimens, such as agave and cacti, can be exposed directly to the sun.
5. In autumn, it is good to plant bulbous crops (daffodils, tulips) in special boxes. They will bloom in early spring.
6. The correct combination of plants in size and color of foliage is the key to a successful composition. In addition to green ones, it is worth purchasing specimens with burgundy and purple foliage. Such a contrast will look interesting. Rows of identical plants, but with different shades of flowers, also look beautiful. For example, geraniums or petunias will delight you with lush flowering and bright colors.
7. In city conditions, when the windows overlook a busy highway, not all crops can tolerate such polluted air. In this case, it is better to grow unpretentious ferns and chlorophytum, and you should refuse expensive exotic flowers.
8. One thing should be bright: either the pot itself or the plant. To highlight the beauty of the flower, you should choose flowerpots in neutral shades. If the plant is small in size with modest foliage, then a bright container can become a color accent. It’s nice to decorate them with your own hands, involving children in this activity.

In order for plants to feel good, bloom magnificently, and not get sick, they need to be provided with proper care and allocated enough space.

What flowers to plant

Verbena ampelous:

• leaves are dense, hairy;
• flower color - blue, purple, pink, red.

Variety of Verbena flowers.

This plant attracts butterflies and, according to ancient legend, serves as a talisman against ill-wishers.

Lubelia ampelous: small oblong leaves are practically not visible from under the abundant cap of flowers.

Flower color:

• blue;
• blue;
• purple.

Breeders have not yet bred red lubelia! Don't trust enterprising, careless sellers!

Diascia:

• leaves opposite;
• dark green (glossy);
• flower color - purple, salmon, orange, pink.

Their diameter reaches 20 cm. Shoots grow 30-50 cm, depending on the variety.

Fuchsia ampelous: cascading stems decorated with flowers of white-pink, scarlet or lilac-violet color.

The flower reacts sensitively to changes in location, so it is advisable to immediately place the basket or flowerpot with fuchsia in a permanent place.

Moorish bindweed: blooms in all shades of blue all summer without interruption. It is absolutely unpretentious to the soil.

With proper care, flowering lasts until the first frost.

Scaevola has lanceolate leaves that are quite large (up to 9 cm);

Flower color:

• blue-purple;
• lilac;
• blue;
• white.

According to the shape of the flower, all the petals are asymmetrically concentrated on one side of the tube and form a kind of fan.

Ampelous petunias: beautifully flowing vines reach 80 cm.

Plant varieties such as “Snow Queen”, “Dubble Cascade”, “Ramblin” have a pleasant aroma. Such a variety of petunia as “Black Velvet” is beautiful and unusual. We wrote more about petunias here.

The stunning deep black petals appear velvety and form a flower 8-9 cm in diameter.

Ampelous fern: openwork leaves need regular spraying. The width of the leaves can reach 80 cm.

Prefers acidic soil.

Ampelous begonia (Limming's Begonia): the hanging shoots of the plant reach 30-50 cm. The leaves are light green with a yellowish tint.

The color of the flowers varies from light red to coral.

What plants will do well on balconies on the north side?

On the north side of the buildings there is a lack of lighting, which some plants cannot tolerate. Here, for landscaping balconies, flowers should be selected with special care. The following plants tolerate shade normally:

Fuchsia - you should not hope for its abundant flowering on northern balconies. However, the plant intensively grows green mass and forms a lush bush. The main thing is to organize regular watering, preventing the soil from drying out.

Fuchsia

• Mimulus - thanks to the petals elongated forward, it is popularly called “lipstick”. The plant thrives in the shade and has a fast growing season - about two months pass from sowing to flowering.
• Calceolaria is a very interesting shade-tolerant plant with yellow flowers speckled with brown. The leaves do not tolerate water, so it is better to grow the plant on glazed balconies and water it very carefully.
• Waller's balsam is a plant with thick, fleshy stems and flowers of various colors. It dies at the slightest frost, so it is planted on open balconies as late as possible.

Waller's balsam

• Marigolds - these flowers amaze with their diversity. There are high, medium and low varieties. It is better to place the former on the floor of the balcony, and the latter on the sides of its railings. Plants bloom from summer to late autumn.
• Periwinkle is an evergreen perennial. Its creeping stems are covered with delicate blue flowers in May. Dark green glossy leaves can decorate the balcony all year round.
• Sweet tobacco - the plant is a close relative of petunia, but it tolerates shading absolutely normally.

Fragrant tobacco

The same flowers can be used for landscaping balconies that are located on the west side of the house.

Main aspects of balcony design

Landscaping balconies and loggias only at first glance seems such a simple task. In practice, to create a harmonious design, many aspects must be taken into account. How to decorate a room with flowers correctly?

Before arranging a greenhouse on a balcony or organizing a winter garden, a number of factors should be taken into account:

• size of available area;
• location of the structure (sunny side, shadow);
• desired balcony design style;
• periods of flowering of different plants (if you want to have a flowering balcony all year round).

Advice: proper placement of plants in a winter garden or greenhouse will save you from difficulties in caring for them in the future.

Bright flowers on the balcony will always cheer you up, photo

Plant container options

Flower containers will help you achieve harmony in your design. Pots, flowerpots and boxes act in this capacity. Plastic forms successfully combine strength and lightness, so they are optimal for flowers located on the external fence. When planting flowers on the outside of the balcony, it is recommended to abandon long boxes; it is better to use several forms up to 1 meter long.

It is preferable to place clay pots on the floor due to their significant weight. Before first use, they are immersed in water for a couple of hours. Thanks to the displaced air bubbles, this procedure will increase the strength of the product. It is advisable to choose dishes for flowers with small holes in the bottom and the presence of a tray, so that excess moisture does not spoil the design of the balcony.

Even if in the first year the balcony design does not correspond to the idea of ​​beauty, do not despair. Experience will come with time, and the balcony oasis will win the hearts of passers-by.

Photo examples of balcony landscaping

Make your life brighter! Plant flowers on the balcony and enjoy their unforgettable bloom and aroma.

Balcony garden concept

If you are going to place 3-5 flower pots on the balcony, you can simply place them in the most suitable places. Are there many more flowers? Then you need to carefully consider the concept of the garden and develop its design.

One of the possible options is imitation of a terrace. Suitable for open spaces not limited by glazing design. Use flowerpots, floor boxes, hanging planters. Decorate the walls with hanging flowers. To complete the picture, use street lamps (or imitation) and lightweight folding furniture.

Tropical garden. Suitable for a carefully arranged balcony. Important: long daylight hours, high humidity, regular watering. Use large decorative foliage and flowering perennials. It is better if their buds are single, but large and bright.

Large palm species “plunge” into the tropics

A single plant garden is a rose garden or orchidarium, where only roses or orchids grow, respectively. Requires careful care and constant monitoring of the microclimate of the room. However, all the efforts will more than pay off with luxurious flowering.

For those who want to save time, the natural garden concept is suitable. For it, it is better to use garden plants, both hanging and erect. Let them grow freely, refusing to give the bushes a clear shape. Ampel ones can only be directed in the desired direction with the help of special supports. Such a garden will be decorated with large dry tree branches, small stumps and even stones.

The idea of ​​a natural garden is best implemented on an open balcony

If you prefer flowering species, you can choose them so that all flowers have the same shade or contrast favorably. A bright solution is a combination of yellow, orange and red buds, a classic one is a combination of any shade with white.

Selection of plants taking into account light-loving properties

Depending on the location, structures can be either brightly lit or shaded

In this case, the position on the cardinal points is not important. Even a south-facing loggia can be shaded

The shadow comes from neighboring houses, trees growing nearby and other objects. Before planting plants, you should evaluate the amount of light entering the balcony space.

Plants for illuminated balconies

If the balcony space is well lit, then most plants are suitable for growing. These may be annuals. There are many varieties and colors of petunias. This flower is easy to care for and blooms profusely and for a long time.

In addition to the classic varieties, ampelous and bush petunias have now been bred. According to the size of the flower, they are large-flowered and small-flowered, and according to the nature of the petals - regular and double. The color of petunias is not only monochromatic. Some flowers contain combinations of shades.

Rice. 5 Plants for the balcony - petunia

Another plant that is great for loggias is marigolds. There are also a huge number of varieties of marigolds. They are distinguished by the color of their inflorescences, which range from red or orange to white.

Marigolds are drought-resistant, which is especially important on balconies with bright lighting. They grow quickly and bloom in a short time

In order for the plants to continue to actively bloom, it is important to cut off already wilted inflorescences. Otherwise, nutrition will be spent on seed ripening

If you need to choose which flowers to plant on balconies so that they bloom all summer, then marigolds are one of the most successful options. With their help you can create an original design.

Rice. 6 Flowers for a sunny side balcony – marigolds

Low-growing varieties of plants look best on loggias. You can plant asters, small dahlias, calendula, snapdragons, nasturtiums and impatiens. Many herbs also do well in containers. You can often find purslane on balconies.

Rice. 7 Spicy herbs will complement the design

Sweet peas, decorative beans, morning glory and some others are suitable as climbing plants.

Among biennial and perennial plants, geraniums are suitable for sunny spaces. In addition to them, indoor flowers are moved out onto the loggia in the summer. Coleus and hibiscus, roses, cacti, citrus fruits and pomegranates, as well as a number of other species, grow well on the sunny side.

Plants for a shaded balcony

It is also not difficult to arrange a beautiful flower garden on a shaded balcony. Bulbs, ferns, primroses, chlorophytums and tradescantia are suitable for such conditions. Begonias will provide beautiful flowering on a shaded balcony.

Begonias have beautiful not only flowers, which come in different sizes and colors. Their foliage has an interesting shape and color. Begonias bloom for a long time, almost all summer, until the first frost.

Rice. 8 Flowers on the loggia - begonia

The soil used for begonias is fertile and slightly acidic. Watering is required often, especially in hot weather. Begonia loves moist soil.

Fuchsia will perfectly decorate a shady balcony. It blooms profusely. Flower colors vary greatly. The ampelous versions of fuchsia, which hang from the flower pots in a lush flow of flowers, look especially impressive. Fuchsia reproduces easily and grows quickly.

Rice. 9 Ampelous flowers for the balcony – fuchsia

Verbena, forget-me-nots, carnations and gillyflowers will grow well in the shade. If there is a chance of strong winds, it is better to stick to low-growing plants. These could be daisies, marigolds and some others.

Rice. 10 Balcony flowers - carnations

If the loggia is not glazed, then floral design is possible only in the summer. In order for plants to be grown all year round, the space needs to be insulated.

Having glazed and insulated the balcony, we get a place where you can put a flower planted in cold weather. Flowers on a glass balcony create an interesting design and a spring mood.

Boxes for balcony flowers and plants

Boxes as the basis of a garden composition should be the same in size. Green shoots will look brighter if the color of the balcony does not “interrupt” the color scheme formed by the plants. An important advantage of homemade containers for planting flowers is the development of sizes that increase the mobility of the structures, that is, carrying the boxes is not difficult for one person.

It is necessary to drill holes in the bottom for drainage, place small pieces of bricks or sea pebbles on the bottom to prevent soil or a special planting mixture from spilling out. Next you need to lay a layer of sand or peat to retain the optimal amount of moisture.

Use specialized soil for balcony flowers.

Growers strive to achieve almost constant flowering in portable greenhouses. To do this, it is necessary to carry out certain scientific and educational work: study the literature, compare color images of plants, choose the most suitable ones in terms of timing and duration of flowering.

Which flowers are better for the balcony - garden or indoor?

On a loggia or balcony you can successfully grow both indoor and garden flowers. But there are several fundamental points here.

You can grow indoor plants on the balcony in the warm season and all year round. For seasonal gardening, an open space without glazing or a glazed but not insulated room is suitable. In this case, indoor flowers can be brought there no earlier than the end of April or beginning of May (for central Russia), and this must be done gradually. Start with two hours in the morning, gradually increasing the time the plants are in the sun and at different temperatures.

Indoor species will not survive winter in open ground. You will have to properly insulate the balcony for flowers or, during the cold season, bring them into the house, creating a comfortable microclimate there.

The first option is not always affordable, and the second is not always convenient. Think carefully before arranging a luxurious garden of only indoor plants on your balcony.

Garden species are more resistant to atmospheric conditions and temperature fluctuations. However, not many of them can grow in limited soil conditions. Most of these are annuals. Good examples: petunias, marigolds, lobelia, pansies.

Marigolds bloom profusely all summer

Containers for planting vegetation on the balcony

It is better for the plants on the balcony to form a complete composition; different containers will serve this purpose:

• Place the pots on wooden or wrought iron stands.
• In open areas, use hanging pots or baskets.

Important! Make sure the boxes are not too heavy. In addition, you can paint the containers with bright colors or decorate them using the decoupage technique.

• Dilute the decor with candles and figurines, and pots with beads, stones or paintings.

• You can make containers with your own hands. To do this, you can use tin cans, bottles or other garden tools.

Types of landscaping for balconies and loggias

To create a home garden, various planting options are used. At the same time, different planting methods can be combined with each other, which will give special originality to the home garden on the balcony.

One way to decorate a balcony is horizontal gardening. With this type of landscaping, the emphasis is on horizontal lines. To decorate your balcony in this way, you need to place pots with various plants and flowers around the perimeter. Pots can be placed on special shelves or racks with flower stands. An excellent option would be to install a strip along the entire length of the window. Next, vases or flower boxes are placed on the bar and plants are planted there.

Horizontal gardening is suitable for large and wide balconies and loggias

Vertical gardening is also widely used. For this method, the entire wall is used. Plants with long-growing stems intertwining are recommended. As with horizontal gardening, shelves or stands are placed along the wall, and pots of flowers are placed directly there. Flowers such as liana, hoya, ivy and the like will look gorgeous. Flower pots can be easily replaced with a tall rack with existing planting spaces, or flower pots can be installed on specially installed shelves.

Vertical balcony gardening is usually preferred by owners of small balconies and narrow loggias.

Phytowalls are especially popular. This is a relatively new and modern interior design. A phytowall is essentially a structure that provides an automatic watering and lighting system. Flowers are planted in pots with peat, without adding soil. The result is a continuous flower wall. Thanks to its compactness, automatic watering system and beauty, phytowall is becoming very popular for decorating rooms.

A phytowall on a balcony is a new trend in landscaping balconies and loggias.

Designers love to combine different landscaping methods. So they combine both horizontal and vertical gardening. And the phytowall is combined with large shelving in the same compositions. This creates a harmonious space.

Landscaping on the balcony

Landscaping also includes design. The use of various landscape design techniques will help you create excellent compositions, make everything thoughtful and harmonious. A comfortable relaxation area on the balcony can be designed using different ideas.

Little garden

Even if you live in an apartment in a high-rise building, you should not deprive yourself of the pleasure of enjoying your own garden. Not only indoor flowers can be planted on the balcony; even miniature shrubs can be used for design.

If you have space, you can organize a small relaxation area among the greenery: install a rocking chair, shelves with books.

Vegetable garden in the apartment

Another great design idea is to organize a small vegetable garden. On the balcony you can grow many crops, which will later be useful for eating. And it's not just greens. You can drop off:

• cucumbers;
• tomatoes (there are special varieties for loggias);
• spices: cilantro, basil, parsley and dill, lettuce;
• onions (later you can use both feathers and the bulbs themselves);
• hot and sweet pepper varieties.

At the same time, such a mini-vegetable garden can be beautifully decorated. For example, cucumbers are a climbing plant. By dedicating a wall for them and hanging the stems on supports, you can enjoy a small harvest of your own.

Combination and composition

The beautiful design of a landscaped balcony also lies in selecting the right color combinations and creating harmonious compositions. There are several tips on how to properly combine plants when landscaping:

• if you use flowers of different heights, it is better to place them separately (for example, a shelf with high and a shelf with low) or alternate in a checkerboard pattern;
• Pink and white, purple and yellow, red and white go well together; it is better to place such flowers side by side;
• you should not use pots, tubs and boxes that are very different from each other; it is better to choose containers in the same style;
• Accent zones will look great: either the largest or the brightest plant can be made the center of the composition.

To create beautiful compositions, before choosing crops, it is better to be inspired by the ideas and results of other people's work. This will help you visualize what exactly you want to implement and formulate a ready-made design plan.

The most unpretentious balcony flowers

Any gardener would like to care for the plants on the balcony minimally and at the same time admire their long and lush flowering. Fortunately, there are types of flowers that meet all these requirements.

5 most popular unpretentious plants:

1. Marigold. These flowers are known to everyone. The abundance of varieties allows you to choose plants with very different colors (yellow, orange, red, variegated) and the degree of petal terry. When planted on a balcony, only low-growing species, whose height does not exceed 15–25 cm, will look beautiful. Some hybrid marigolds grow in the form of a bush. It will be enough to plant 1-2 plants in a box; in the future they will grow greatly. Flowering of marigolds begins in early summer and continues until frost. In order for plants to always look decorative, it is necessary to promptly remove faded buds.
2. Pelargoniums. The popular name of this plant is geranium. The flower grows well, blooms luxuriantly all summer, and has a spicy scent. Classic color options are red and white; more modern varieties have a wide range of colors, up to a dark burgundy, almost black hue. For the winter, the flower can be moved indoors, where it will continue to bloom. Geranium is perfect for creating compositions. Florists recommend combining it with evening primrose, bacopa, immortelle, and petunias.
3. Nemesia. Low compact bushes perfectly decorate the balcony. For more luxuriant flowering, young seedlings are pinched after planting. Flowers are planted in a box at intervals of 20 cm. The colors of nemesias can be one-color, two-color or three-color. Heat shortens flowering time. Nemesia can bloom in 2 waves. To get flowers again closer to autumn, the stems are shortened after the first wave of flowering.
4. Fuchsia. To plant these flowers on the balcony in boxes, it is better to choose hanging plant varieties. The flower is unpretentious and easily tolerates shade. Blooming buds cascading down look very impressive and attract the eye. The length of fuchsia shoots can reach up to 50 cm. The color of the flowers is most often red and white. The only important condition for growing fuchsias is regular and abundant watering. After drought, the flower will not recover.
5. Pansy (Viola). The height of the plant is only 15–25 cm. There are many hybrid varieties. If the flowers are regularly watered and shaded from the midday sun, they will delight the eye with their beauty for a long time. For lush flowering, plants also need fertilizing. The viola's coloring is very cheerful, combining two contrasting colors (usually yellow-violet). Flowering continues all summer.

A good start is important for annuals, so you need to properly care for the seedlings. If high-quality seeds were used, and the seedlings received everything they needed, then the flowers will grow healthy and strong. Only such plants can bloom beautifully.

Examples of landscaping an open loggia

An open loggia can be decorated with plants using various options for their placement. At the same time, in choosing flowers, preference should be given to the most resistant crops, because differences in day and night temperatures and changes in weather conditions can negatively affect their condition and viability.

Balcony green outside

One of the interesting ideas is decorating an open balcony with climbing plants. Lianas (both green and flowering) can be spread along the walls from the outside, and it is not necessary to secure structures with boxes or pots from the outside; you can place the containers on the floor near the walls, throwing the vines outside. As they grow, they will need to be secured and trimmed.

You can decorate the entire balcony with bindweed, including the walls of the house itself. The scope for imagination and implementation of ideas is enormous.

Landscaping with evergreen crops

On the open loggia you can plant plants that do not have to be removed when cold weather sets in. Organizing an evergreen corner is quite simple: you can purchase medium-sized coniferous seedlings and place them on the balcony in tubs or pots. Crops suitable for this purpose: thuja, spruce, pine, juniper.

Coniferous crops increase in length quite slowly; this should be taken into account when choosing seedlings. They require almost no maintenance, you just need to take care of watering during the dry season and periodically add soil.

What to plant on a shady balcony?

Balconies located on the north side of the building are called shadow balconies. Shade-tolerant annuals that tolerate cool air and cold winds are usually planted here. Sometimes balconies on the south or west side are also shaded, for example, if tall trees grow near the house. What to plant from flowers in this case?

Top 5 plants that will do well in the shade:

1. Lobelia. The culture can grow both in the sun (with shading) and in the shade. The plant easily tolerates high humidity, cold, and lack of fertilizing. This species belongs to the bellflower family and blooms with delicate small flowers of white, crimson cornflower blue color. There are bush and climbing varieties of lobelia. The flower is grown through seedlings, and at the end of May it is transplanted into balcony boxes. To stimulate a new wave of flowering, you need to trim the shoots of the bushes. For a balcony, blooming lobelias become a real decoration.
2. Nemophila. This flower is called the American forget-me-not. Nemophila compensates for its modest beauty by the absence of increased care requirements. Most often, the flowers are bluish in color with a white center. Their size in diameter is only 1 cm, the height of the annual can vary from 15 to 30 cm. Since nemophila is resistant to cold, it can be planted on the balcony in early May. The plant grows well in containers. Nemophila is demanding only when it comes to watering (it does not like either dryness or waterlogging). American forget-me-not blooms profusely from mid-July until the first frost.
3. Ageratum. The plant is suitable for shaded balconies where there are not too strong winds. The flower is thermophilic; it is better to plant it outdoors at a temperature of at least 20 °C. You can sow seeds in advance or plant purchased seedlings. This is a perennial plant and can be brought indoors for the winter. Flowering continues even in the cold season. Most often, the color of flowers is blue, lilac, and white. Ageratum blooms in dense caps. Depending on the variety, the height of the bushes ranges from 10 to 50 cm.
4. Begonia ever-blooming. This variety of begonia blooms for a long time, tolerates shading well, and loves moist air. She will like it on the northern balcony in shaded conditions. There won't be many flowers, but the opened buds look charming. Begonia is unpretentious in care.
5. Primrose. The plant is perennial; it is brought into the house for the winter if the balcony is not heated. Primrose flowers are very bright and delicate at the same time. The plant loves shade. Flowering continues until the end of summer. It is necessary to regularly loosen the soil in the pot and water the flower. Several times a season you can use complex fertilizers for feeding.

For normal development, it is enough for shade-loving plants to receive diffused color for 3–4 hours a day. In the bright sun, their petals often fade and the foliage becomes faded. This group also includes balsams, mimulus, calendula, and calceolaria.

DIY balcony landscaping

By spending minimal money, you can create a beautiful and cozy green corner. There is no need to turn to specialists for this; you can do landscaping yourself.

How to green a balcony

Limited space and temperature conditions may rule out some ideas, so the landscaping plan should be tailored specifically to your balcony.

Pay attention to the temperature - if the balcony is not insulated, remember that plants will only be on it from April to October. It is also worth taking into account which side (north or south) the windows face. The choice of crops that you will use for landscaping may depend on this.

How to green a balcony:

• to clean up;
• choose plants;
• make a layout plan and think through the compositions;
• purchase the necessary items and materials: pots, soil, seeds, equipment for care and watering;
• install pots and hanging loops, plant.

Landscaping the loggia is possible both inside and outside. Glazed balconies will be difficult to decorate with plants from the outside, but inside you can create a real small garden.

Plant selection

The selection of crops for planting should be made depending on what period of the year they will be there, and what conditions you can organize for their maintenance.

If you don’t want to wait a long time and waste time on planting seeds and caring for them, the best option is to purchase ready-made plants in specialized stores or supermarkets. You can immediately put them in the desired places, and if you are not happy with the pots, you can transplant them into your own.

Flowers for landscaping a balcony can also be found in the apartment: perhaps you already have those that can be added to the balcony. You can move unpretentious crops there: aloe, various succulents, geraniums and violets, ficus.

There are several design options, depending on personal tastes:

• plant only flowers;
• choose only green plants, without flowering or with inconspicuous flowers;
• combine flowering crops with non-flowering ones.

It's hard to imagine a green balcony without vines. It is better to plant them not in pots, but in narrow boxes, which are most conveniently placed on the floor. You will also need to build supports for the vines.

It is better to choose a variety of crops. Choose different textures and patterns on the leaves, combine plants of different colors and heights.

It is important to consider which side the balcony is on. It is optimal if the windows face west or east: the seedlings will receive enough light, while the risk of drying out the soil or getting the leaves burned is minimal. Landscaping a north-facing balcony should be done with unpretentious plants, preferably shade-loving ones.

Balcony landscaping on the south side

It is quite possible to plant a balcony on the south side with greenery; it is only important to choose the flowers correctly and thoughtfully and care for them accordingly.

Sun-loving and heat-loving crops are excellent for this purpose:

• purslane;
• lobelia;
• gatsaniya;
• daisies;
• viola;
• Surfinia.

They should be placed on southern windows so that the leaves are not too close to the glass, in particular after watering or spraying with water. On particularly sunny days, the glass can act like a magnifying glass and cause burns.

Flowering walls in hydroponics

On balconies you can also use various methods of growing plants not in the traditional way - not in soil, but in special substrates that hold nutrient solutions.

Growing without soil allows not only to make the process “cleaner” and reduce the actual load on the balcony structure, but also opens up new perspectives in care: after all, such plants, as a rule, do not require such complex care. On the balcony, hydroponics and self-watering containers are used both for ordinary plants and for finding new ideas in the design of vertical elements.

For vertical gardening of balconies, you can use several options for hydroponic “walls”:

• vertical walls made of moss with hanging gardens laid out on them;
• using a bag or hanging soft wall, “canvas” with sewn pockets in which plants are planted (usually their base is made of waterproof durable fabrics - tarpaulin, burlap with complex impregnation);
• planting plants in plastic pipes with holes;
• creating a vertical garden in pallets (pallets) converted into “walls”;
• planting plants in converted tubs, canisters and barrels with drilled holes for planting.

You can create a vertical garden using hydroponics using pallets (pallets) converted into “walls”. Aha

Organization of vertical structures in hydroponics

The most perfect type of flowering walls on balconies are structures that migrated to balconies from interiors (phytowalls). This is a special narrow structure with an automatic watering system, and often additional lighting, in which plants are planted in clean peat or an ion exchange substrate.

The essence of all such walls is the same: a base (structure) is selected or altered that will hold the moisture-intensive substrate in a vertical position, with holes or pockets for planting plants. Essentially, this is a balcony version of vertical beds and strawberry gardens. Sometimes the space is lined with film as an insulating layer.

Any base in which holes with a diameter of 4-5 cm are located at a distance of about 15-20 cm is suitable. A hole for water drainage should be provided at the bottom of the wall, container, or pipe. The structure is filled in the same way as any container - from the drainage layer at the bottom to completely filling the space with the selected filler substrate and installing capillaries, conductors for an aqueous nutrient solution - thin tubes or branches that will help maintain high water permeability. The addition of hydrogel and loosening impurities is welcome.

For vertical walls on the balcony, ionite soil, expanded clay, coconut fiber, and peat are used. But the best choice, especially for hot balconies, is still moss. As a filler, it not only provides much more effective moisture retention, but also protects plants from overheating. The main requirements for the filler are a combination of rough texture with large particles, the ability to retain water, resistance to any decomposition and rot, neutral reaction and non-toxicity.

It is possible to grow flowering walls according to the principle of hydroponic installations only by using nutrient solutions for hydroponic crops. Strictly following the manufacturer's instructions for concentration and frequency of treatments, solutions for hydroponics are applied less frequently than conventional crops are watered and fed.

To create flowering walls on the balcony using the hydroponics method, you can use both annual and perennial plants. The main thing is that the selected species bush bush densely, are able to grow, create a continuous cover, or develop in the form of compact but curly bushes. Periwinkles and anemones, marigolds, pansies, verbena, alyssum, begonias, hamolepis, carnations, godetia, ivies, lobelias, impatiens, armeria and all types of annual hanging plants are planted in such walls.

The most affordable ways to vertically garden a balcony

If you need some inspiration when choosing vertical gardening for your balcony, here are some interesting ideas.

Several shelves or flowerpots

The simplest and most convenient solution to have a vertical garden on your balcony or living room wall is to place as many shelves as possible and place flower pots on top. Another solution could be a planter with a trellis inside to plant a climbing plant that will become a real living wall.

Find out how to choose pots for balcony flowers:

What types of flower boxes are there for the balcony?

Vertical garden made from pallets

This type of vertical garden is very easy to make, all you need is a wooden pallet, a piece of anti-drill garden foil that you grab from the back of the pallet, and a piece of burlap that you grab inside the pallet from the front. The tray needs to be very well secured with staples or whatever system you have on hand to hold the soil you push inside.

In the front area, make small cuts in the bag using a cutter and insert the desired seeds or flower seedlings. Ideally, the tray should be in a horizontal position during seed germination or until the seedlings are established in the ground, so that the plants are well established in the ground when it is placed in a vertical position.

Vertical gardening with hanging pots

Depending on the garden model you choose, more rustic or more modern, you will need wooden, metal shelves or ropes to hang pots for flowering plants.

Additionally, plant pots can be ceramic, metal, or you can choose PET or other types of recycled containers that you will have to mount on the wall or even the ceiling.

Unusual ways to place plants on the balcony

In bags with pockets

You can place plants on the balcony wall in special bags with pockets. Of course, it is difficult to get such bags in our country, but if you know how to sew a little. You can make such a bag with pockets yourself. For it you need to choose a dense material that can withstand heavy weight and allow air to pass through, for example, from tarpaulin or canvas. You also need strong threads.

Pockets are sewn onto one piece of fabric so that small pots for plants or special plastic bags can be placed in them. Small, strong loops are made on top for mounting on the wall.

This is the so-called “Carpet” planting method, which involves the use of synthetic felt in which pockets are made. Plants “populate” them. But they do this only after the flower has taken root in an ordinary pot. It is better to use young flowers - their flexible root system breaks less easily, adapts more easily to new conditions and grows into felt more easily. This method is called hydroponics - an artificial environment without soil.

Of course, you can immediately pour soil into the pockets, but I think it will be inconvenient if you want to add something or change the plants.

30 unusual ways of vertical gardening