The contents
Beautifully decorated with flowers balcony in our cities yet, unfortunately, the exception rather than the rule. You can refer to the climatic conditions of most parts of the country. Or to argue that the culture of flower of the balcony is not characteristic of us and that for us accustomed to grow on the balconies of green onions and other vegetable greens. In the Soviet era, every citizen had to participate in the construction «garden city», and not to engage in petty-bourgeois cultivation of flowers on a personal balcony, and even in a strange order. And this page in the history of the country we turned a quarter of a century ago. But how nice, he raised his head to admire from the street floral oases on balconies of houses model building! And be glad that there’s someone just decorated the balcony for yourself, but also gives the beauty all around.
Where to start? ↑
As in any business, horticulture has its professional secrets. What flowers to choose for the flower garden? What song to make for a winter garden? On what colors to choose for the decoration of balcony, South-facing?
Start with improvement «balcony areas». It could be redecorating, which will be limited to only painting railings and replacing the flooring. The wall paint will not work, so I advise you to choose flowers such shades which will not merge with the color of the walls.
Then I advise you to decide which area on the balcony you select for the flowers. We give you everything under the flower garden or leave part of the area for household needs or recreation area? Boxes fixed on the outer side of the balcony railings, do not take into account – they take place in. You want to plant flowers just for you, or will try to make the balcony so that your progress could admire all the passers-by?
When you answer these questions, it will be the turn geometry. Not the subject of the high school program, and the geometry of the flower boxes, containers, pots and planters. In the design of balcony with flowers suggest to be guided by known rules:
- On the big balconies you can safely combine all types of landscaping: horizontal, vertical and overhead. Look great songs that involve large single flowers (lilies, camellias, peonies). Decorate your flower bed, the lawn, the floor of pebble, decorative fountain or pond, Alpine garden, evergreen shrubs or special varieties of fruit trees. In short, create! The large balcony it is advisable to use all its elements: walls, fencing, floor.
- For small balconies usually use the horizontal planting. This lightweight plastic containers are suspended from the external side of the balcony railings, heavier pots and boxes are placed along the walls and railings. For this kind of flower gardens are perfect marigold and carnation China. The height of the dwarf varieties of marigolds is about 20 cm, flowering, they cease only with the advent of frost. Carnation Chinese feels good in the flower beds on the balconies. Carnation Chinese usually grows to 30 cm tall, blooms all summer. This requires that you do the pruning at the end of July. Frequent dressing is required. Does not tolerate excess water in containers. Often horizontal landscaping combined with a ceiling at which pots are hung to the ceiling of the balcony. Do not forget to provide convenient access to the flowers for watering and care.
- On the little balconies, the emphasis is on vertical flower beds. The containers are placed in the walls and the ceiling pulls the rope, of slats mounted «ladder» or installed a grid trellis. Lifting on them, vines will quickly turn your balcony into a Paradise. Take for planting in a vertical garden cobey, sweet peas, beans. Of climbing plants looks great parthenocissus.
For planting flowers, use all the features: boxes, pots, planters. Containers are selected in such a way that the colors have enough space and soil.
Lightweight but durable, plastic boxes are best used for placing on the external side of the balcony railing. It is recommended not to plant flowers in a long box – when watering, the weight of the structure will increase and the mount can not cope. In such cases, use a few relatively small boxes with a length of one meter.
It is believed that in clay boxes plants «live» more comfortable in them flowers «breathe», and the moisture lasts longer. But these boxes are of considerable weight, and better use them for outdoor placement.
Buy only boxes with small holes on the bottom. So excessive moisture won’t accumulate in them.
The best option is the use of boxes with pallets. «Extra» water will leave the box to accumulate on the pallet and create in the sun is a greenhouse effect. And leak down will not. Frustrating because instead of words of admiration to hear from people on which water drips from your boxes, something offensive: «Porazveshali here!».
Great for flower beds, pots. Krepit them it is necessary to the ceiling or from the back of the balcony. Pots fixed from the outside, can suffer from wind gusts.
Feel free to buy strong boxes and pots of the most wishy-washy colors. They must possess the important quality – strength. Decorate them with your own hands, you can in any style.
It is very important to choose the right soil for flowers. The soil can be purchased at the store or make your own. To do this, in equal proportions is used, coarse sand, turf, soil and humus (peat). In the flower boxes fit made of elastic cloths for washing dishes or a piece of Mat layer that can store water and then gradually give her in the ground. Then pour a layer of sand is the drainage, the peat layer and the top is filled with turf ground, from which removed the weeds.
The level of the soil should be below the edge of the box a couple of inches. If you put too much land, irrigation water will wash.
Choose flowers ↑
The most critical part of preparing a flower garden. Immediately pay attention to the height of the plants – it is listed on the packaging. Otherwise, high and powerful plants «strangle» weaker. Nothing can be done, the struggle for survival.
Don’t try to put one box into the soil a lot of seeds. Grow they will grow, but frail and weak. In the meter box is optimally planted in two rows up to 10 colors. However, we must consider what flowers you planted. Can be combined to plant a row drop-down, and for the second choose higher plants.
Given the height of the flowers, we must not forget about color combination. Too much diversity of the flower garden, your balcony will not decorate. View these possible combinations:
- Ageratum with Lobelia Erinus
- With calendula nasturtium.
Pick color combinations that you like, without losing sight of the difference in flowering time of plants. With time and experience you will learn to make floral arrangements that are in season will vary, for example, tulips with crocuses and daffodils,
which are replaced by begonias.
After planting flowers in boxes and pots, do not rush to send them out on the balcony under direct sunlight. Sunbathing most of the colors do not like to take, in addition, it is necessary to give them time to get strong first. And for this purpose let a little stand in the shadows. Water the plants early in the morning or after sunset when the heat subsides.
Flowers for a balcony facing the Sunny side ↑
For the flower garden on a Sunny balcony perfect sun-loving daisies,
gazania,
Phlox,
cobia,
verbena,
Wallflowers,
calendula.
Love the sun purslane, morning glory, mignonette, heliotrope (the name speaks for itself!), sweet peas, ornamental beans.
Planted in early may, viola (pansies)
and Daisy, your flower garden on the balcony will delight you with early flowering.
Agapanthus Africanus
and the Indian Canna, are planted in large beautiful pots will decorate your flower garden on a Sunny balcony.
Flowers for shady balcony ↑
For the flower garden on the shaded balcony select fuchsia,
cloves,
tobacco,
forget-me-nots,
alyssum,
tradescantia,
mignonette.
For flower beds on the balconies, located on the upper floors, where the wind is stronger, make a choice in favor of begonia, ageratum, marigolds undersized, sedums.
On small balconies mostly with vertical gardening planting petunias,
pelargonium,
amp varieties of Lobelia,
thumbergia cruise.
Plant evergreen boxwood, and it’ll put in spring Senecio (cineraria) or violets. Believe me, the song you will get the original and very beautiful.
If you enjoy this experience, next year try to do a more complicated composition:
- The main plant of the family of coniferous (Juniperus, thuja).
- To him sits the host astilba.
- As a groundcover to complete the song, select periwinkle or ivy.
The success of you, no doubt, will inspire, you will want to immediately develop it. Then comes the stage «the wise gardener», who knows the sense of proportion and can control your impulses. First and foremost, for the benefit of all flowers and the flower garden. You on the balcony a little, but still the wildlife area. But in nature, everything is arranged very reasonable, though we often do not understand and believe ill the existing rules under which the survival of the fittest. So use a sense of proportion and do not rush to plant flowers once the whole balcony. And don’t be afraid of failures, they are inevitable in such a complex matter as the cultivation of flowers. Failures will be forgotten and the reward in the form of direct communication with flowers, the joy of this fellowship and the joy that your loved ones will be with you always. And it may well be that absent-minded passer-by accidentally lifts his head, stops in his tracks, seeing your balcony and say: «What a beauty!».
