The Best Plants to Liven Up Your Balcony Garden This Summer
With spring here, it's time to start planting and looking ahead to summer. This season change makes the perfect opportunity to showcase your gardening skills in your own space. A part of the home that many people leave untouched is the balcony—however, no matter how big or small the space, plants are the perfect way to spice things up and show off your green thumb. As experienced gardeners working with compact gardening, we're providing the best tips for balcony gardens this season.
Add Flavor to Your Balcony Garden With Herbs
Spice Up Your Food AND Living Space
With a balcony garden, it's possible to create your own personal spice rack right outside your sliding glass door. This can be accomplished on various scales—whether you're looking for small window boxes for the occasional harvest or a Garden Tower® for herbs all season long, every balcony allows for some scale of gardening. With our vertical vegetable garden being the ultimate container system for growing basil, you'll never be without your favorite herbs when growing on your balcony.
If you're unfamiliar with buying seeds or are unsure which herbs you want to grow, letting the experts pick is an option, too. Our organic and non-GMO seed collection gives you many high-quality options that fit any meal or palette. Not only this, but they pair perfectly with vegetables and flowers as companion plants, allowing you to get larger, more nutritionally dense harvests.
Create Your Own Personal Vegetable Aisle
Skip the Lines at the Store by Growing Your Own
Tired of waiting in the checkout line at the grocery store? We were, too—that's why we began growing our own food. Not only will you save time and money, but you'll also be lessening your carbon footprint by taking fewer trips to the store. This is where the Garden Tower® comes into play—it's compact for small balconies, rotates to improve sun exposure, and allows for easy companion planting due to an ample amount of slots. Not only this, but it's also sturdy enough to avoid being knocked down by wind and can create privacy from neighbors because of the height.
Due to a large number of slots, your vertical vegetable garden can supply multiple salads a week. Additionally, its flexibility to grow a large variety of vegetables, herbs, and flowers allows you to customize your garden to what YOU like to eat.
Brighten Up Your Outdoor Space With Colorful Flowers
Make Your Balcony Garden Stand Out
If you're also growing vegetables or herbs in the same space, flowers can be an outstanding pest control solution to keep bugs away from your balcony garden. Not only this, but flowers can make your garden smell good and look beautiful. Also, you're supporting local bees! Picking pollinating flowers that don't get very tall, such as marigolds or daisies, can provide extra support for bees. There are other ways that your balcony can support local bees, too—our native bee houses include a large number of nesting tubes and are made sustainably by local woodworkers.
When your flowers are properly pollinated, they can turn a bland balcony into a personal oasis that you will actually enjoy spending time in. While aesthetics are important, it's also crucial that you pick the correct types of flowers. First, consider which direction your balcony faces and how much sunlight it gets. From there, purchasing hearty flowers that complement your balcony's conditions and won't be affected by winds will leave you with a colorful and vibrant garden.
Add a Pop of Green With Regular Houseplants
Bring Your Houseplants Outside to Soak Up the Sun
If you don't have the time for more plants than you already have, bringing houseplants outdoors that typically stay indoors during the winter months is an excellent way for them to receive more sunlight while adding some color to your balcony. The best part? It's cost-effective—if you already have house plants, the only thing you'll be spending is time bringing them outdoors. Depending on the size and height of plants, these can create privacy from neighbors, too. Again, it's important to consider your balcony's sun and wind conditions before bringing your plants outdoors.
No matter your tastes or the size of your balcony, there's a way for everyone to breathe life into their space by adding plants. Whether you're looking to grow your own vegetables and herbs or simply looking for aesthetically pleasing flowers and houseplants, you can create your own outdoor oasis. If you're looking to turn your balcony into a personal vegetable garden, we've got you covered—visit our website today to learn more about how the Garden Tower® can transform your outdoor space into a balcony garden.