A great decoration for a country garden or balcony is the ampelous flower. Located on a decorative lattice or in a hanging basket in the form of a blooming waterfall, placed in colorful compositions, it cannot but attract the eye.
Ampel flowers
The word "ampel" is translated from German as "hanging vase of flowers." All kinds of flower pots, baskets and hanging flowerpots with greenhouses and ordinary indoor flowers adorn many terraces and balconies today.
Creating whole flowering waterfalls with their variety of colors, they give a special mood and original design to the garden, as well as to any buildings. Hanging
flower arrangements are always admirable, no matter how they are arranged. Even the most luxurious flowerbed cannot compete in the beauty and variety of colors with these shoots hanging down or creeping along the surface, strewn with many flowers.
Benefits of ampelous plants
Unlike traditional flowerbed crops, the ampelous flower has a longer flowering period. Using these plants, you can decorate a large garden area and make a cozy and beautiful terrace or balcony. The ability to move hanging flowerpots and baskets allows you to periodically create a sense of novelty.
Thanks to ampelous plants, you can emphasize certain sections of the garden and, conversely, decorate its nondescript elements. It’s quite simple to take care of these flowers - it’s quite enough to water them on time and feed them. A few weeks after planting, you can enjoy the result.
Where ampel flowers are used
For a balcony, veranda or loggia, flowers planted in hanging baskets or special containers are most suitable. They can also decorate windows, walls and even entrance doors.
In the garden, ampelous plants are usually used to create hedges. They are decorated with gazebos, lanterns and terraces. And on city streets today you can often find ampel flowers. The names of some of them have long been familiar - these are nasturtium, fuchsia, petunia, etc. They are planted in hanging baskets and pots at the entrance groups, along sidewalks, in squares and parks.
Types of ampelous plants
There are several forms of ampelous plants. The most basic ones are curly, creeping, climbing and multi-outlet. Plants that can easily rise, clinging to a grid or trellis, and having a tendril or airy root system, are called vines. These are curly and climbing species. They are not only blooming. Often planted for landscaping plants with ornamental leaves, as well as shrubby and herbaceous species.
The most popular among gardeners are flowering climbing ampelous plants. Flowers that freely flow down from hanging flowerpots and planters are called creeping.
Every year the market presents new varieties of ampel colors. Among them, the most demanding varieties are resistant to diseases and weather conditions, shade-tolerant and, conversely, those that tolerate direct sunlight.
Popular varieties
It is necessary to study in more detail the features of at least the most popular varieties, choosing ampelous flowers for the garden. Their names are very numerous, so studying everything at once is quite difficult.
Begonia is a sun-loving plant, prefers slightly acidic soils enriched with humus. It requires watering in the morning and evening.
Nasturtium is a photophilous plant that needs sandy loam or loamy, well-drained soil and periodic feeding of phosphorus.
Verbena is a rather unpretentious ampelous flower, has a long flowering period. It grows well in sunlit places and well-fertilized soil.
Surfinia is a beautiful vigorous flower whose shoots can reach a length of more than 1 meter. Needs regular watering and top dressing.
Diasia - the most suitable ampelous flowers for the balcony. They love sunlight very much, are resistant to drought, but in hot weather they need abundant watering.
They can grow well both in the sun and in the shade of lobelia. This is a street plant. Perennial varieties need shelter for the winter.
Petunia is a plant familiar to many gardeners. A variety of compositions, thanks to their various colors, allow you to create these flowers. Ampoule petunia is characterized by rather long flowering. She is able to delight her with beauty from the beginning of summer until October. The ability to choose a plant with flowers of various sizes allows you to create a variety of compositions.
Ampel flowers for a balcony
For the purpose of decorative landscaping of the balcony, you can use indoor ampel flowers, such as chlorophytum, geranium, fuchsia, balsam. For them, the absence of drafts and direct sunlight is important.
When choosing suitable varieties of flowers, you must consider the height at which the balcony is located. Tall plants are not recommended to be planted above 6 floors. It is difficult for them to survive because of strong winds that can break them, dry out the soil, leading to a rapid loss of moisture by the leaves. Such flowers can be used on the balcony only if it is glazed.
On open balconies located on the upper floors, daisies, nasturtium, marigolds, pansies and other stunted flowers grow well.
How to arrange flowers on the balcony
When designing a balcony landscaping project, it is imperative to consider what capacity to plant each ampelous flower in and where to place it. The correct arrangement of plants, taking into account color, shape and size, will allow you to create a truly unique and amazingly beautiful corner. It must be foreseen that the plants cannot block the light of one another.
Vines look best against a wall or along a dividing wall. Kadki with large plants set in the corners. The most common plant placement option is specially installed shelves on the sides of the balcony. They can be made from the most ordinary boards and decorated with acrylic paint or mosaic. The pots are hung at different levels along the wall at different levels.
Composition
A very beautiful decision to design a balcony or garden can be obtained by creating various compositions of flowers, selecting them in a variety of color combinations. At the same time, it is important to observe the cascade principle - tall plants are located in the background, and lower ones are planted in the foreground. With a symmetrical composition, a tall plant is located in the center, while others are in the flowing from it.
A combination of orange tones from dimorphotheque, planted on the sides of the drawer, sanvitalia, located in the center, and milkweed is uplifting. Petunia, geranium, verbena and a string planted together look beautiful.
An interesting composition is obtained from flowers of different varieties belonging to the same species. For example, from winding, ampelous and carpet nasturtium.
Almost all ampelous plants combine well with each other. The main thing is that when drawing up such ensembles it is necessary to take into account that the growth rate of the colors included in the composition of the composition is the same.
Care Features
Although ampelous plants are not too capricious, nevertheless they need more regular watering and top dressing than others. Moreover, the larger the capacity with the flower, the more often you need to water it. For most types of ampelous plants, this is required to be done twice a day - in the morning and in the evening.
The presence of a drainage layer in the pot is another necessary condition for the content of these flowers. Clay shards or expanded clay can perform the drainage function. Regardless of which ampelous flowers will be planted, the container is filled with a substrate consisting of peat, sand and humus.
Top dressing is best done with a special complex fertilizer designed for flowering plants in pots. They are usually added to water when watering. To protect plants from pests, it is advisable to periodically spray them with insecticidal solutions.
Caring for ampelous flowers growing in the apartment is almost the same. It is important to pay attention to plants located above the rest - at this level of moisture contains less, which means that more frequent watering is needed. You can spray flowers from the spray gun or install nearby water containers, especially for the heating season.
Ampel flowers can be a wonderful decoration for your garden or balcony. If you show imagination and a little patience, the result can amaze with its magnificence and solemnity.