Design and plant a balcony on a budget — it is possible!

Our tips for turning your balcony into an oasis of greenery on a tight budget.

Greening and arranging your balcony isn’t just about enjoying a little patch of nature in the city, but above all about creating a haven of coolness, especially in summer during spells of intense heat, or even heatwaves. Indeed, plants, whatever their size, have a positive impact on your well-being, literally and figuratively, by lowering temperatures. As for flowers, they are the antidote to the greyness associated with air pollution or winter.

To make the most of your balcony, you should first take into account certain parameters. Beginning with the exposure. Depending on your balcony’s exposure, you’ll need to choose drought-tolerant plants, or those suited to partial shade, or even full shade. The climate of your region is also an important criterion, especially if you want balcony greenery that lasts through the seasons. Of course, the time you can devote to gardening, as well as your enthusiasm, should be taken into account. Not forgetting the space you have. Always check the size and spread of a plant at maturity and choose from the outset the essential furniture (table and chairs for meals, a sun lounger, cushions…) you need.

Greening and planting your balcony helps create an oasis of greenery and flowers

To maximise space on your balcony, consider suspensions. They can be hung from the ceiling for covered balconies, or simply fixed to a wall. Planters or railing boxes placed against the railing, pots on a pedestal also help to save space. You can also use freestanding square raised beds. On a balcony, it’s also essential to take advantage of all options, such as vertical supports for climbing plants.

Finally, to make the most of your haven, install a privacy screen or windbreak that will shield you from the neighbours’ gazes. And one last tip: install mirrors on one side of your balcony to visually give it depth.

The choice of containers is essential. Terracotta pots are best suited for balconies. Granted, they are heavier, but also much more breathable than plastic.

To save money

It’s easy to find second-hand terracotta pots at flea markets and car boot sales in Britain. And if you want to add a bit of colour, paint them! Remember to choose pots large enough, as plants need space. Don’t hesitate to salvage pretty wooden crates, such as wine crates, to transform into planters. Just take care to make a few holes, line with a thin plastic sheet and lay a good layer of expanded clay pellets. If you like a rustic vibe, use old zinc containers (wash-tubs, milk churns, buckets, watering cans…) or large painted tins. A leftover bit of guttering can also become a pot, for example to grow a few strawberry plants.

To use verticals on a balcony, build a large freestanding planter and fit a tiler’s mesh panel (under £10) to let any plant climb. It’s also possible to plant slats or hazel branches, tied together with string or raffia, in the pot. You can also create pretty painted wooden shelves.

Upcycling on a balcony is simple

DIY to decorate your balcony

There are no miracles when it comes to saving money! You have to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in with hammer, nails and screws, a drill/driver, saw and spirit level. And above all, use what you have to hand, or, if necessary, source cheap materials from reuse centres, consignment shops, car boot sales, or dedicated websites. Thus, with a few pallets, the possibilities are endless. Provided you have time, a bit of elbow grease and the right equipment.

With pallets, it is feasible to build large pots and planters, a shelf, a privacy screen. You can also imagine a double-use chest: you will be able to sit on it and store the essential gardening tools, bags of potting compost, the watering can. Pallets covered with soft cushions make a pretty seating area. Similarly, simple crates, recovered from the market gardener or greengrocer and repainted in your colours, can be used as shelves or a side table… A nice painted ladder can be fixed to the wall, and you can then place pots on it, or any other decorative item.

Pallets are an endless source of inspiration (and inexpensive) for balcony design

With thinner wooden boards, you could also make bird feeders in winter or small insect shelters. Bamboo canes tied together with strings, suspended from the ceiling, become a mobile that sways in the wind. You can also make mobiles from different materials, from driftwood to beads, including varnished autumn leaves, pine cones… It’s a wonderful activity to do with children!

Four painted boards and a length of poultry mesh allow you to create a pretty frame for hanging soliflore vases filled with fresh flowers.

Which plants to grow on your balcony?

Plants! That’s the biggest part of the budget for decorating and greening your balcony. You will need to select plants or shrubs that are particularly hardy as they will be subjected to challenging growing conditions. Indeed, when grown in pots, a plant has less soil to draw on and must endure heat, cold, drought… Its root system is inevitably less developed, so growth is slower.

Depending on the space you have, the region you live in, the orientation of your balcony and your budget, you can green your balcony permanently with perennials, bulbs and shrubs, or in a more seasonal way by focusing on annuals, biennials and bulbs. Naturally, you should choose plants suited to your growing conditions and climate.

Annuals and biennials for a balcony flowering in summer and spring

The Annuals, planted in spring, wither at the first frosts. But they offer a profusion of blooms. Some are even perennial if they overwinter in warmth. One can cite the pelargonium and the zonal geranium, the begonias, the ‘impatiens, the petunia and Surfinia, the coleus, the ageratum, the Clarkia, the nemesia, the ‘marigold, the garden verbena, the phlox…

Also consider the biennials, sown in summer, planted in October and which will bloom from the end of autumn, but especially in spring of the following year: pansies and violas, forget-me-nots, daisies…

The Clarkias, nemeses, petunias, phlox and coleus come together to form a budget balcony planter

Finally, the spring bulbs or the summer flowering bulbs are perfect for brightening balconies. You plant them, you forget them and they come back every year.

To save money:

These annuals or biennials can be bought in plug plants or mini-plugs but, to keep costs down, you can always sow them yourself. All you need is a packet of seeds, some seed starting compost and a seed tray. All our tips here: Sowing annual seeds: how to do it well, in the ground or in trays and Repotting semi-hardy annuals.

Perennials for a balcony that stays green all year round

Again, perennials, prized for their spring or summer flowering, are very popular on balconies. They come back year after year, their foliage often dying back in winter only to reappear in spring. They blend easily with annuals or biennials, but also with shrubs and small conifers.

Spring-flowering perennials: spring anemone, spring aster, Aubrieta, bergenia, Iberis or Alyssum, poppy, phlox, primrose, saxifrage…

Spring and summer perennials for a balcony in summer and autumn: summer aster and autumn asters, campanula, helianthemum, Sempervivum (houseleek), stachys, Dianthus (pinks), sedum…

Perennials for a shaded balcony: Astilbe, dwarf Hosta, Lamium (dead-nettle), Lily of the valley, periwinkle… and the hellebore for winter flowering.

On a large pot on a balcony, spring anemones, a Pennisetum, candytuft and phlox

To save money

Most of these shrubs can be propagated by cuttings or division. It is also possible to obtain bare-root shrubs, significantly cheaper to buy, but they must be planted only in autumn–winter, between October–November and March, in the frost-free period.