For me, gardening / horticulture is pure therapeutic joy … communing with nature / the Universe. It’s like creating colourful exterior rooms.
Once an apartment dweller, many people couldn’t believe I had an extensive garden on my balcony—I called it ‘my vast country estate’. When shown photos they were amazed.
Yellow day-lilies everywhere
A gnome guards
my big bonsai oak
1 Calibrachoas and Petunias in abundance
2 A Peruvian Pepper trees (Schinus molle)
3 Chestnut tree (Castanea sativa)
4 Fuji Apple tree espaliaded with
10 apples ripening
Here are a few pointers—learnt from Burnley Horticultural College—to help with your own gardening in a small space :
1 Take note of the light conditions your plants will get. My balcony faced due west and got the scorching heat and hot winds of summer. Through experimentation I put in drought loving plants and those from the tropics to survive the heat.
2 A few summers ago some survived, others didn’t. In fact, the ones that enjoyed a 46 °C weekend was a Mango tree (aiseedling dug from the compost) and various Bougainvillea.
3 Stack hanging baskets under each other with similar habits and needs—watering one waters the others.
In this way, I had 21 baskets on my balcony, all creating ajflourish of eternal colour and aromas.
4 Some plants in hanging baskets are meant for growing in
the earth proper. But because they attract birds and bees, Iireckon they could be grown in containers for a few years. For instance, a Correa, left, was visited by a honey-eater each year.
5 When planting in pots, avoid ‘crocking’ and placing the pot in a saucer. See the importance of feet.
