The Garden Community for Garden Lovers

Balcony gearing up for summer

balcony

By balcony

6 comments


Balcony gearing up for summer

Have you enjoyed the week or so of warm weather we have had? I’ve been able to get the balcony cleaned up & started some preparations for the summer planting season. You wouldn’t believe the amount of work a small balcony causes!

The last of my Daffs are now practically finished & at the end of the month I shall take them out of the pots on the balcony railings & put the Begonias I saved from last year in their place.

These are growing well now on the balcony but now I have a problem of what to do with so many plants that I have! I have managed to keep the Fuchsias from last year, for the most part, alive as well as lots of Geraniums.

In the white troughs on the balcony floor the Dahlias from last year are also sprouting! I thought they would die over the winter as I didn’t take them out, but they have survived.

Last year all these plants (except the Geraniums)were small plug plants but this year the majority are bigger plants in 5" pots! That means I need to dig bigger, deeper holes in the troughs to put them in again but if I do that I will damage the Daffodil & Hyacinth bulbs that are currently growing there not to mention the Dahlias that are sprouting again!

More blog posts by balcony

Previous post: Daffodils on balcony (railings)

Next post: Christmas & Easter Cacti flowering at the same time in June 2016!



Comments

 

You've been a busy man Balcony

12 May, 2016

 

Decisions, decisions.... Do you keep your daffodil bulbs over the summer, perhaps heeling them in at the allotment?

12 May, 2016

 

It will be spectacular and full of colour as usual.

13 May, 2016

 

How on earth you manage to get so many plants in amazes me! I think you need to upgrade to a larger balcony lol :O)

14 May, 2016

 

I was a "busy" man that particular day! LOL! Not usually so busy, though the months of May & October tend to be busy months with the change overs for winter to summer bedding & vice versa in the autumn!

@Stera, I do keep the bulbs from year to year as I hate to throw away anything that is still living, especially bulbs! No, I don't take them down to the allotment, the ones in the troughs now generally stay where they are only the ones in the terracotta pots in the rings on the balcony railings have to come out as I need the pots for the summer flowers. They just spend the summer in a plastic bag with some compost in it to keep them a little humid till its time to plant them out again in October!

That's what I'm aiming for, Paul! LOL!

@Oliveoil: I learnt many years ago when I first starting to grow plants on a balcony in Spain that I had to use all the possible space available!

In Spain rings for pots are very common as few people have gardens but most flats have a balcony. People put pots on their balcony railings & I learnt to do the same! I brought the rings back to the UK &, as they are aluminium, have used them ever since - now 15 years in the UK as well as I can't remember how many years I used them in Spain! They are virtually indestructible!

I also grow climbing plants like Morning Glory & Sweet Peas or Climbing Nasturtiums or even runner beans, up strings along the front of the balcony. I have hanging baskets there as well & plants growing on the two end walls as well as a great many pots on the floor & on the bars around the balcony railings.

I even squeeze in a few tomato plants every year!

For my birthday a few days ago my son & daughter-in-law gave me a small greenhouse to put on the balcony! Then my daughter gave me a few small seedling tomato plants without knowing her brother had given me the greenhouse!

17 May, 2016

 

love it!!

18 May, 2016

Add a comment

Recent posts by balcony

Members who like this blog

  • bjs
    Bjs

    Gardening with friends since
    13 Apr, 2009

  • Gardening with friends since
    8 Apr, 2016

  • Gardening with friends since
    25 Feb, 2011

  • Gardening with friends since
    17 Nov, 2014

  • Gardening with friends since
    2 Nov, 2009