As I am writing this blogpost I am sitting in my favorite place of our apartment - the balcony. Every spring I can’t wait for it to be warm enough to start planting things and to take out the cushions for our DIY palette couch. I love how green all the plants are and that it makes me feel like I have at least a little bit of a garden. Talking to my friends I realized that over the years I’ve gathered a little bit of knowledge around balcony gardening and so I am summarizing it all into this blogpost! I hope it can be of help for your own balcony garden or even motivate you to start one!

First and most importantly: Don’t tell yourself, you don’t have a green thumb! Maybe a few of your plants died before or you see others blooming balconies and think you could never achieve that. Guess what! Every gardener has plants that die and have to be thrown out. Either because they were out of season, had a disease or a bug or simply didn’t do well. That’s normal. Don’t overthink it, throw it away and try again!

General rules when planting:

Don’t plant your plants during the hottest part of the day, especially in summer. Planting is stressful for the plant and the heat will have a toll on it. Do it in the morning or the late afternoon, when the sun is not as strong.
Loosen the soil before you plant. (If there is old soil in your pot) This helps the roots to weave though the dirt clumps.
Choose a bigger pot than the plastic pot you bought your plant in. This allows your plant to grow! Make sure the pot has a hole for the excess water to run out of the pot.
Break the cycle of the roots. Your plants have probably been growing in the small plastic pot from the store for a while. If you plant your plant just like that, it won’t grow outwards on the sides as much as it is used to the plastic walls of the pot. Sometimes the roots even grow in circles. Break the roots half in the middle and then plant.
Don’t forget to water after planting!

How to keep your plants alive:

First of all - I find outdoor plants much easier to keep alive! Indoor plants seem more fragile and picky. So if you’ve been unlucky with your indoor plants - try outdoors! The good part about owning a balcony is that there is no snails, and a lot less bugs you need to worry about!
A no brainer - water often, every day when it’s hot. When I am unsure if the plants need water, I stick my finger into the soil to check if it is still moist. It’s not bad if your plants are hanging for a bit, because they need water - it actually challenges the plants roots to reach out for more water aka stimulates root growth. When watering, try not to pour over the leaves, especially not when the sun is strong because the water drops act like a magnifying glass and burns the leaves.
As mentioned before, make sure your pot has a hole. Very few plants can deal with soil wetness.
Makes sure to fertilize your plants once a week during growth phase.
If you live in an area where it freezes, make sure to check temperatures, especially over night and if there is a danger of frost, take your plants close to the house wall or inside.
Lots of perennial plants need to be warm during winter. Here it barely gets below -10°C (14°F) so most of the time it is enough to pull the plants close to the wall and wrap them in a thick cloth. Don’t forget to water them. During that time I have a weekly reminder in my calendar to do so.

Here’s a list of plants that worked for me over the years and what I’ve learned about them:

Front to back: Thyme, Sage, Parsley, Peppermint

Herbs

I love having herbs on the balcony and using them for cooking!

Basil
Basil is by far my favorite herb, but it is a also a very wimpy plant. It doesn’t like to be in too much sun but also not too little. It doesn’t like temperatures below 15° C (60°F), which means on most spring nights you have to take it inside over night.
Sage
Sage is easy to take care of. It likes to be in the sun.
Peppermint
Peppermint needs a lot of water, likes partial shade or sun.
Lemon Balm
Partial shade especially durning hot days.
Parsley
Easy to take care of, grows well in the sun.
Thyme
Thyme and rosemary are plants used to heat and dry days. They don’t need a lot of water and like the sun.
Rosemary

Veggies, Fruit and Berries:

Tomatoes
Tomatoes are also a great plant to have on the balcony as they grow upwards. Make sure to tie them to a stick to keep it stable. Tomatoes love the sun but hate rain. If you can prevent it from raining onto the leaves, do so. They don’t like cold water. To make sure you get the highest fruit yield, you’ll want to prune some of the branches. When ever you have two branches coming out of the main branch, cut the middle one (see photo) This makes sure the plant puts most of it’s strength into the tomatoes.
Strawberries
Strawberries are by far my favorite berry. I’ve experimented with the small wild strawberries and normal sized ones. If you go to a gardening center, you’ll realize there is a hundred different kinds. I like the kind that’s a tad smaller than the normal size, as they tend to get very aromatic. Make sure your plant gets plenty of sun!
Snack Cucumbers
A great plant for your balcony as they grow upwards on a trellis or a stick which means more room for other plants! Last year we had so many of the cucumbers we got to eat several a week! They don’t like cold water and never pour over the leaves. They like the warmth so don’t put them outside until it stays above 10° C (50°F) at night. They don’t need full sun.
Kohlrabi
I have a big old laundry wash pot (a metal one they used to wash clothes in before we had laundry machines) and that’s where I plant my smaller veggies. Kohlrabi are easy plants to grow. You want to watch out for the caterpillar that likes to eat the leaves, so be sure to be on the look out for them, especially as you notice holes in the leaves.
Mini-Kiwi (perennial)
Mini-Kiwis grow horizontally as well and are very uncomplicated. Make sure you buy the kind that’s self-pollinating. The fruit is ripe in October/November.
Blueberries (perennial)
I love blueberries almost as much as strawberries. Blueberries need acidic soil such as turf. Make sure to mix in a lot with your normal soil to help the plant grow.
Lettuce
I’ve grown various kinds of lettuce in my big laundry pot. Some of it can even be grown over winter!
Kale
I love kale as it can be left outside over winter and the climate acts like an outdoor fridge. When the days get warmer I just cut it all off and freeze it for smoothies.
What didn’t work: I love fennel, and I would grow a hundred if I could but every time I planted it, they grew tall but no fennel… I also once had snack bell peppers and I felt like until they were almost ready to eat, summer was over and they were barely ripe. I think it simply isn’t hot for long enough in Switzerland.

Flowers

I love making our outdoor space pretty as well as functional and depending on the season I choose different flowers. Here’s what worked well for me having a balcony where we get a lot of sun in the morning but not in the later afternoon:

Spring: Pansy, Hyacinths
Summer: Dianthus, Petunia (not so good: Osteospernum (African Daisies) they are beautiful but don’t have that many flowers at a time)
Fall: Heather, Cushion Bush
Several years: Hydrangea (cut them back in spring and the new leaves will sprout)
Muehlenbekia (maindenhair) needs a lot of water

I usually fill my planters with a tall plant (such as rosemary), a hanging plant like ivy and then fill the rest with flowers. Putting herbs into the planters also gives you extra space to plant other plants.

Decorate: I like to use sisal fiber to decorate around my flowers. It covers up areas that are just dirt and creates a unified picture. Birds love it too! I’ve seen several birds steal it from my plants to build their nest! I also like to tie a ribbon around the pot to make it look prettier.

Spring Flowers for the balcony — Pansy, Dianthus, Rosemary

How to Garden on a small Balcony