Planting the Balcony

Hi everyone,
We’ve finally brought our flower boxes to life. It looks really cozy, and when the sun gets too hot, we pull out our little umbrella.

I had no idea there were so many different kinds of plants. I never needed them before,
but it was fun.

Wow, Andrea, you have a beautiful garden on your balcony. It definitely feels much cozier now. We also have lots of plants on our balcony, including vegetables.

Andrea, that looks so colorful.

Personally, I prefer it when it’s not quite so colorful (unlike my shop)
... these are my first little flowers for the new patio. Once everything’s ready, I’ll post again.

Petra, yours looks great, too. The color combination is really something—I like it, too.

Dear Andrea, thank you for the inspiring photos. Yes, shopping at the garden center was surely something special for you. In Norway, they probably had fewer and different plants, since the summers there are much shorter. 

I’m just wondering why you put the flowers in pots into the balcony planter. The plants would have much more soil and nutrients if you planted them directly in the balcony planters. 

Best regards, Ina

I was in the mood for red this year:

Good morning, my dear little fluffballs!

Thank you so much for your feedback.

@Petra and Veronika, your balconies look beautifully planted, too. You even have artificial grass. We’ve thought about that as well. Does it dry quickly after it rains? Or is it more like plastic?

@Ina, thank you so much for your kind words. You’re right, but that was intentional with the individual pots. We saw that on a balcony across the street, too.
I often have the problem that the potting soil starts to get moldy if I leave it sitting for too long.

Your balcony plants are amazing. In my flower boxes, I have 


my two cats. Nothing grows there anymore. In a corner on the floor, I have chives and peppermint. Not much sun 🌞 gets there

Our lawn is more like plastic—it feels like grass when you walk on it barefoot, but it’s washable and dries in a flash. Usually, a vacuum cleaner is all it takes to clean the balcony, since we have another balcony above us, which keeps us pretty well protected.
With these types of surfaces, you just have to make sure they have enough drainage holes so water doesn’t pool.
Our flooring is now 11 years old, and in the first picture you can see a few “running paths” where the grass is a bit flatter, but otherwise it’s still like new. It came in various designs, including very lifelike ones with withered or yellow spots. :-))
I’d choose it again in a heartbeat—it looks pretty and is absolutely low-maintenance.

What you’ve planted looks great. I find your two “plants” especially interesting, Gabi. Not everyone has something like that… lol.

I’ve let my little garden corner grow over again. Unfortunately, there’s no point in planting anything because all the cats in the neighborhood are using that very corner as a litter box. My neighbor tried it, but gave up pretty quickly. Now it’s overgrown again and just needs to be mowed.

Thanks, Veronika, for this info.

Let’s see what we decide.

Years ago, I used artificial grass in the kitchen. It had special drainage nubs on the bottom and lasted forever.