Garden on the balcony - tropics in the city (29 photos)

Recently, the concept of “unity with nature” has been very popular in the interior design of city apartments. This is not only the use of natural finishing materials and color schemes in natural colors, but also the arrangement of summer and winter gardens in bay windows, on balconies and loggias. In such green areas you can place not only flowerpots and tubs with exotic plants, but also a relaxation area and even a workplace.

The first stage of arranging the garden on the balcony or loggia

Before you make a winter garden on the balcony, you need to decide on such questions:

• Will the green corner function year-round or only in the summer?
• the number and size of flowerpots;
• species composition of plants.

These three points are fundamental factors that shape the appearance of the garden on the loggia or balcony.

If plants are located on the balcony only in the summer, then it will be enough to equip the room with various stands, which will rationally arrange the maximum number of flowerpots. These can be ready-made multi-level structures made of wood, rattan, plastic or metal.

Supplies for flowers can also be made individually (individually or on order), taking into account the size and configuration of the room. For example, stepped floor stands, hinged shelves, custom-sized window sills, flowerpots, etc.

When installing a winter garden, you will need to take care of the insulation of the balcony or loggia, heating, energy-saving glazing and additional lighting for flowers.

Number and size of plants

The number and size of plants is an important criterion for arranging a garden in a small space. Flowerpots with flowers should not overload the room. They need to be placed so that each plant has free access for irrigation. Large flowers in heavy tubs should be placed on special mobile stands on roller bearings. Then they can be easily moved when cleaning the room.

In order for the winter garden to please the eye with lush greenery and bright flowering all year round, you need to pay attention to the selection of the species composition of plants. When choosing you need to consider:

• the size of the room;
• orientation of the balcony (loggia) in relation to the cardinal points;
• family lifestyle;
• the cost of heating and lighting the garden in winter.

Following a few simple principles, you can easily build a beautiful garden on the balcony without much hassle. Ideas for the selection and placement of plants open up great scope for creating original garden compositions.

How to choose plants for the garden on the balcony?

For small rooms, compact, slowly growing ornamental plants are ideal. These are indoor violets (Saintpaulia), azalea (Azalea), miniature citrus varieties, some types of orchids, etc. Such plants as Monstera, Dracaena, Zamioculcas, cissus will look good on large balconies or loggias. rhomboid (Cissus rhombifolia), some representatives of the palm family (Palmaceae) and others.

Illumination is one of the main factors that is taken into account when choosing the species composition of plants. Lack (and in some cases, excess) of sunlight can lead to slow growth, the cessation of flowering, yellowing of leaves.

Balconies that go south-east or south-west are suitable for almost all indoor plants. On the south side, cacti and succulents, palm trees, representatives of the family of euphorbiaceae (Euphorbiaceae), scorpion (Beaucarnea), adenium (Adenium) will grow beautifully. Ferns, representatives of the genus chlorophytum (Chlorophytum), aspidistra (Aspidistra), ivy (Hedera), hibiscus (Hibiscus), begonia (Begonia), and some ficuses are suitable for northern balconies.

Not everyone is willing to spend a lot of time caring for indoor plants. And in cases where the family’s lifestyle is associated with frequent travels, daily care of the home garden is simply not possible. But if you want to create a winter garden on the loggia, you need to pay attention to species that are undemanding to irrigation, soil quality and transplants. These are cacti and succulents that can withstand up to one month without water. By the way, in some types of cacti, a prolonged lack of moisture stimulates flowering. Not too demanding on watering and orchids Phalaenopsis (Phalaenopsis). It is enough to water them once a week. Unpretentious plants also include dracaena (Dracaena), sansevieria (Sansevieria), spathiphyllum (Spathiphyllum), ivy (Hedera).

In winter, the cost of heating and lighting the garden on the balcony will be a significant amount in the family budget. But these costs can be reduced if the species composition of plants is correctly selected.

Many representatives of the subtropical flora need a resting period with a low temperature. For lemon (Cítrus límon), Chinese rose (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis), ivy (Hedera), abutilon (Abutilon), oleander (Nerium oleander), fuchsia (Fuchsia), myrtle (Myrtus) in winter there will be enough temperature around +10 degrees. They will also not need additional lighting.

The summer garden on the balcony can be decorated using beautiful flowering garden annuals. Verbena, tagetes, petunia, snapdragon (Antirrhínum) will grow beautifully in pots and containers. These plants have a long flowering period: from June to the most frosts. They are undemanding in care, easily tolerate high temperatures, direct sunlight, lack of moisture. All these flowers can be grown independently from seeds through seedlings (sown in March-April) or purchased already grown plants in specialized stores.

Some ideas for decorating the garden on the balcony

You can find a place for plants even on the smallest balcony. In this case, it is not necessary to fill all possible space with flowerpots. In order to create a beautiful mini garden on the balcony, it is enough to place several pots or boxes with flowers.

On narrow balconies or loggias it is recommended to arrange the so-called vertical gardens. They are based on wooden or metal wall structures, to which boxes or flowerpots are attached. For a vertical garden, compact species and varieties of ornamental plants are selected.

These are many types of succulents, cacti, some varieties of adiantum (Adiantum) and peperomia (Peperomia), gloxinia (Gloxinia), indoor violet (Saintpaulia) and others. On the vertical constructions of the open balcony during the warm period of time, dwarf varieties of marigolds, snapdragons, cloves (Dianthus) can be grown.

In a vertical garden you can grow not only decorative, but also salad and spice-flavor plants. Leaf lettuce, parsley, miniature varieties of basil, thyme, savory perfectly grow on the balcony, supplying their owners with delicious aromatic greens. A spectacular completion of the composition of the home "garden" will be a pair of flowerpots with decorative cabbage. They can be placed on tall stands next to the wall. Rosettes of leaves of decorative cabbage in white, pink or purple colors (depending on the variety) are similar to large exotic flowers.

Another idea for landscaping a small balcony is miniature plant compositions in ceramic pots or glass containers.To create a composition, species are selected that are similar in requirements to the living conditions (soil composition, watering, lighting). Get along well with each other:

• cacti and succulents;
• Anthurium, arrowroot, calathea;
• netcreasia and tradescantia;
• ferns and spathiphyllum.

Another option is also possible. Several different colors in separate pots will interfere in one large ceramic bowl. In this case, you can take plants with different requirements for the irrigation regime. In the warm season, miniature compositions are placed on the balcony on stands, and with the onset of cooling, they are brought into the room.

What is needed to care for the garden on the balcony?

It is not at all difficult to create a garden on the balcony with your own hands, but to care for it, it is advisable to acquire at least a minimum set of equipment and tools. In winter, many tropical plants need additional lighting. For them, special lamps are installed, the spectrum of which is close to daylight. Such lighting devices can be used in spring growing seedlings. They prevent the extension of stems and stimulate the development of the root system of young plants.

To water the garden on the balcony, you will need containers for settling tap water, as well as a watering can with a thin long nose. Many indoor plants need frequent spraying for normal development. To do this, you should purchase a special spray gun for flowers. Unlike household sprayers, it gives very small drops of spray that evenly cover the leaves of plants. To transplant flowers, you need to get a small garden shovel.

A garden on the loggia or balcony is not just an interior decoration. This is an opportunity to communicate with wildlife and a fascinating hobby. With a little imagination, everyone can create a unique look for their green corner: a garden garden on the balcony, a piece of tropical forest or a bizarre desert world with cacti, agaves and “flowering stones” - lithops.