Decorating a balcony with flowers: ideas and useful tips
City apartments can be well equipped, but without a green area they look faceless and empty. At least that's what plant lovers think. The culture of decorating balconies and loggias with flower arrangements and green plants is gaining momentum. We will tell you and show you how you can beautifully decorate your balcony, taking into account the location and size of the balcony.
Before you buy or plant plants for your balcony or loggia with your own hands, you should consider:
- How to organize space;
- What container will be used for flowers?
- Which flowers are suitable for your conditions;
- How to ensure watering of plants.
First you need to remove everything unnecessary from the balcony. For many people, the balcony is a place for storing various unnecessary things. The combination of beautiful flowers and a junk warehouse is not the best solution. The beautiful appearance of the flower garden will be ruined, so the first thing you need to do on the balcony is to do a general cleaning.
Then you need to make sure that the parapet is secure if you place flowers on it. Considering the space of your balcony, you can determine exactly how much area you are willing to allocate for flowers.
The next step is to choose the type of landscaping :
- On large balconies you can arrange mini-oases of flowers. In addition to combined flower arrangements, you can place large single plants. You can also decorate the composition with various decorative elements.
- On medium-sized balconies, horizontal compositions located in a narrow row along the walls and parapet would be appropriate. You can hang light flower pots on the railing; compact stands for plants are also suitable.
- On small balconies you can save space by installing vertical compositions.
Important: There should be room on the balcony for free movement and access to the plants, because you will have to water them often.
When choosing plants for landscaping a balcony, it is important to consider whether the balcony is heated in winter. On the balcony you can plant the following types of plants :
- Annuals
- Two-year-olds
- Perennial
If the balcony is not heated in winter, it is better to acquire annuals that will delight you with their beauty only in the warm season. Biennial and perennial flowers are suitable for heated balconies. You can also plant perennials or biennials if you move the plants to an apartment or house in suitable climatic conditions for the winter.
How to decorate a balcony with flowers: useful tips
A few tips for creating a balcony flower garden
When choosing containers for planting plants, try to stick to the golden mean: in small pots the soil will dry out quickly, and in large containers the soil will become covered with mold from excess moisture, so a medium-sized planting container will be the most acceptable option.
When creating a cozy corner on the balcony, it is worth paying attention to the fact that the beauty of the composition is created not only by flowers, but also by the containers where they are planted. The scope for creativity here can be limitless, the main thing is that the flower pots do not interrupt the beauty of the plants with their appearance, but emphasize it favorably. If you do not want to focus attention on the planting containers, you can paint them in neutral shades of green, gray, black, brown - the green mass of foliage looks harmonious against such a background.
You can decorate a miniature balcony flower garden with additional means. Decorative elements can be small figures of birds, animals, gnomes. Small LED lanterns or a wind vane will be an attractive detail.
Decorating a balcony with flowers is an entertaining and creative process. We wish you original ideas in creating your own home flower garden. Let your balcony become the most attractive blooming oasis for a pleasant holiday.
The most unpretentious flowers for the balcony: names, photos
If you want to have a beautiful flowering balcony, but do not like or do not know how to care for plants, unpretentious flowers will suit you. Also, low-maintenance flowers are suitable for busy people who do not have time to care for capricious plants.
Important: There are many unpretentious flowers, the main care of which consists of watering.
Let's consider which plants are considered the most unpretentious for a balcony.
Petunia
These flowers are among the most popular to grow on the balcony. A variety of varieties, many colors, duration of flowering - these factors allow you to create an original design of petunias on your balcony.
Petunias are either ampelous or bushy. Based on the size of the flowers, they are divided into large-flowered, medium-flowered and small-flowered. You can buy ready-made petunias in pots or plant them yourself as seedlings.
Petunias love the summer heat, but need regular watering. It is necessary to water the flowers at the root so as not to damage the delicate flowers. If you periodically loosen the soil so that there is no crust, petunia will thank you with its lush and blooming appearance.
Petunia on the balcony
If you decide to plant petunias in long boxes, you can do a single-row or double-row planting .
- When planting in a single row, alternate several suitable colors, so the flower garden will look more impressive.
- When planting in two rows, it is worth planting upright varieties in the background, and hanging varieties in the foreground.
Planting scheme for petunias
Marigolds
Unpretentious flowers with double or semi-double heads in bright colors. Marigolds come in different colors: yellow, orange, red and yellow, orange and brown.
You can plant marigolds in oblong boxes or pots on the balcony when the temperature outside at night is at least +5°C. This is true for unglazed balconies. Under good temperature conditions, marigolds will sprout within a week or even earlier. Marigolds are short-growing and large, upright.
Caring for marigolds involves daily watering during the hot summer, as well as removing faded buds. If you notice that the marigolds have begun to bloom sparsely, trim them a little. A haircut will provoke new abundant growth and lush flowering.
Marigold variety
Calendula
People call this flower marigold. Calendula is undemanding to soil and grows in the shade and sun. In order for calendula to bloom for a long time, it is necessary to pick off the faded inflorescences. Low-growing varieties up to 30 cm are suitable for balconies. To get early flowering, calendula is planted as seedlings in February.
Important: In addition to flowering unpretentious plants, you can plant healthy herbs on the balcony: parsley, lettuce, dill. Thus, the balcony will be beautiful and the plants will benefit.
Unpretentious calendula flower
What flowers should I plant on the balcony on the sunny side?
A balcony facing the sunny side is not uncommon. But there are also a lot of plants that love the sun and warmth. Therefore, decorating a sunny balcony is not very difficult. From a microclimate point of view, a sunny balcony is a mini-garden. Sun and air are the natural environment for plants.
The only disadvantage of growing flowers on an unglazed balcony is the possible wind. In a garden, flowers are protected by trees and tall plantings, but on an open balcony they are open and can be damaged by the wind. If on the lower floors this problem is practically imperceptible, then on the upper floors the wind is felt more strongly.
Often a balcony located on the south side is decorated with the following flowers:
- Snapdragon . Dwarf varieties of snapdragons, in addition to their beautiful appearance, exude a pleasant aroma. The plant blooms in the second half of summer, flowering continues until October.
- Pansy or viola . The plant loves good lighting, so it is suitable for the sunny side. However, the scorching direct rays of the sun can burn the viola, and already in the middle of summer it may lose its appearance. Therefore, you should create a shadow for it: this could be curtains or white paint on the windows.
- Pelargonium or geranium . Many people grow geranium as a houseplant. But it is great for landscaping balconies and loggias. Geranium will bloom in conditions of good sunlight, but scorching rays should not be allowed. Even when the geranium fades, the bushes look neat in pots or boxes.
- Nasturtium . An excellent option for the south side. The plant is planted with seeds directly into pots. Nasturtium blooms all summer. There are many varieties of nasturtium: ampelous, bushy, vines.
- Verbena . The main advantage of verbena is that even in direct sunlight the plant does not wither for a long time. Verbena is not afraid of frost, so you can plant the plant in a permanent place on a balcony or loggia in May. Abundant flowering is achieved through moderate watering, removal of faded inflorescences and good lighting.
Important: Most flowers love good lighting, so they are suitable for southern balconies. However, direct scorching rays of the sun can destroy almost any plant. Therefore, the south side needs to be shaded.
For shading, you can buy a special net or hang curtains.
Pansies in a flowerpot
Blooming geranium on the balcony
Flowers for the sunny side: verbena
Lobelia
Lobelia Crystal Palace / ontheedgegardening.wordpress.com
- Where to put: on a bright northern, eastern or western balcony; and on the south side, shade the plant and do not leave it under the scorching sun.
- When it blooms: from early summer to autumn.
- How long does it live: Usually grown as an annual.
On the balcony you can plant both bush and hanging lobelia. It blooms profusely and magnificently. The buds themselves are small, blue, blue, violet or purple.
Water the lobelia moderately, once every two to three days. More often during hot periods, especially on glazed balconies. The earth should neither dry out nor become swampy.
Place it on the windowsill
