Make your own edible balcony
It’s the ultimate escape from the urban buzz. Imagine sitting high off the ground in a Mediterranean-style idyll surrounded by tomatoes, lemons and salad so fresh that it squeaks while the traffic roars far below.
From a few pots on the balcony to an entire orchard on a roof terrace, the possibilities for growing fruit and vegetables off the ground are endless – even if you live in the heart of the city. Not having a garden doesn’t mean you can’t be eating delicious, organic salad, herbs, vegetables and fruit every day of the year.
2. Plants in large containers need to be watered less frequently than those in smaller pots 3. Hanging baskets bring life and colour into a balcony space and also produce a surprising amount of food
From bijou balconies to sleek, decked roof terraces with a view of the city skyline, your own little bit of outdoor space in the city has always been something to covet, but now more than ever we’re embracing the chance to green up our environment. In London alone, more than 60 per cent of new apartments now have outside space – three times the figure of 10 years ago. These budding balcony gardens are not just for growing flowers, either – after all, why fill the space with geraniums when you can grow fruit, vegetables, herbs and salads and benefit from delicious fresh organic food at your fingertips?
4. Over a weekend you could transform your balcony from a bare, grey space to an emerging wonderland of shoots and fruits 5. & 6. Grow your own carrots and you can pick them young, sweet and crunchy
Balconies are ideal places for growing edible crops, as they are often very sunny and out of reach of pests such as slugs and snails. Many crops grow happily in containers and a surprising number are beautiful too – from lush fig trees to silver thyme, yellow climbing beans and frilly lettuces. You can gather strawberries when they’re properly ripe, not picked hard for transport on a lorry for several days. You can eat peas and carrots before their sugars have turned to starch, and tomatoes still warm from the sun.
Grow things yourself and you can fill your space with unusual crops you can’t easily buy in the shops – stripy tomatoes, beautiful flecked borlotti beans or tangy buckler’s leaf sorrel.
Whatever space you have, here are some ideas to turn your balcony or roof terrace into a sky garden packed with gourmet pleasures.
7. Retro containers from bread bins to teapots make quirky planters 8. An example of a vertical garden that could fit into a small balcony space and provide fresh crops all year round. All you would have to do is plant up your modular wall, turn on the automatic watering and feeding system, then stand back and watch the plants grow
The Edible Balcony: Growing Fresh Produce In The Heart Of The City by Alex Mitchell (Kyle Cathie Ltd, £16.99).
TIP Go for grow bags Grow bags are fantastic for growing crops in, since they retain water really well and come with fertiliser already in the compost. They’re light to carry up stairs and are so slim that they fit neatly against a wall – so even the narrowest balcony can manage a few and still leave space for a table and chairs. Potatoes, tomatoes, sweet peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, chillies and lettuce will all thrive in grow bags.
9. Herbs can be the most beautiful – and useful – among the edible plants you grow 10. Balconies and roofs can be windy, so keep the soil levels low and go for crops such as dwarf runner and French beans
ANOTHER TIP Balconies as outdoor rooms With a floor, three walls and often even a roof, balconies really have more in common with indoor rooms than they do traditional gardens. This can make them great fun to design, as well as less intimidating to first-time gardeners who would baulk at the thought of planning an expanse of lawn and flower beds. If you think of your balcony as another room, it frees you up to dress it in your own style.
From a few pots on the balcony to an entire orchard on a roof terrace, the possibilities for growing fruit and vegetables off the ground are endless – even if you live in the heart of the city. Not having a garden doesn’t mean you can’t be eating delicious, organic salad, herbs, vegetables and fruit every day of the year.
2. Plants in large containers need to be watered less frequently than those in smaller pots 3. Hanging baskets bring life and colour into a balcony space and also produce a surprising amount of food From bijou balconies to sleek, decked roof terraces with a view of the city skyline, your own little bit of outdoor space in the city has always been something to covet, but now more than ever we’re embracing the chance to green up our environment. In London alone, more than 60 per cent of new apartments now have outside space – three times the figure of 10 years ago. These budding balcony gardens are not just for growing flowers, either – after all, why fill the space with geraniums when you can grow fruit, vegetables, herbs and salads and benefit from delicious fresh organic food at your fingertips?
4. Over a weekend you could transform your balcony from a bare, grey space to an emerging wonderland of shoots and fruits 5. & 6. Grow your own carrots and you can pick them young, sweet and crunchy Balconies are ideal places for growing edible crops, as they are often very sunny and out of reach of pests such as slugs and snails. Many crops grow happily in containers and a surprising number are beautiful too – from lush fig trees to silver thyme, yellow climbing beans and frilly lettuces. You can gather strawberries when they’re properly ripe, not picked hard for transport on a lorry for several days. You can eat peas and carrots before their sugars have turned to starch, and tomatoes still warm from the sun.
Grow things yourself and you can fill your space with unusual crops you can’t easily buy in the shops – stripy tomatoes, beautiful flecked borlotti beans or tangy buckler’s leaf sorrel.
Whatever space you have, here are some ideas to turn your balcony or roof terrace into a sky garden packed with gourmet pleasures.
7. Retro containers from bread bins to teapots make quirky planters 8. An example of a vertical garden that could fit into a small balcony space and provide fresh crops all year round. All you would have to do is plant up your modular wall, turn on the automatic watering and feeding system, then stand back and watch the plants grow The Edible Balcony: Growing Fresh Produce In The Heart Of The City by Alex Mitchell (Kyle Cathie Ltd, £16.99).
TIP Go for grow bags Grow bags are fantastic for growing crops in, since they retain water really well and come with fertiliser already in the compost. They’re light to carry up stairs and are so slim that they fit neatly against a wall – so even the narrowest balcony can manage a few and still leave space for a table and chairs. Potatoes, tomatoes, sweet peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, chillies and lettuce will all thrive in grow bags.
9. Herbs can be the most beautiful – and useful – among the edible plants you grow 10. Balconies and roofs can be windy, so keep the soil levels low and go for crops such as dwarf runner and French beans ANOTHER TIP Balconies as outdoor rooms With a floor, three walls and often even a roof, balconies really have more in common with indoor rooms than they do traditional gardens. This can make them great fun to design, as well as less intimidating to first-time gardeners who would baulk at the thought of planning an expanse of lawn and flower beds. If you think of your balcony as another room, it frees you up to dress it in your own style.