Not everyone has the opportunity to acquire a country house or a summer cottage, which can be decorated with flower beds and lawns with beautiful flowers. But this problem is easy to solve if you equip a small garden on the balcony or loggia. Read about the best flowers to plant on the balcony in the article.
The design of large balconies
All elements are involved in the design of the mini-garden: floor, fencing, walls. As gardening, all its types are used: vertical, horizontal, ceiling and combined. You can perform a composition with single flowers of large sizes: camellias, lilies, peonies.
It must be remembered that each element is important. For example, gender. So that he does not stand out as a spot on the general background, he needs to be covered with small pebbles, and only then flower beds, fountains, small ponds, ornamental shrubs and even fruit trees should be built on it.
The design of the middle balconies
There will not be such a scope, the flight of imagination is limited by area. Usually a horizontal type of landscaping is used. Lightweight plastic containers are hung behind a balcony railing. For heavy pots and drawers, place along the railing and walls of the building. Design can be developed using various plants, for example, Chinese carnations and marigolds. The height of these plants is different. Short marigolds grow up to 20 cm, and cloves - up to 30. The first bloom to frost, and the second - all summer.
A good solution would be combined landscaping: horizontal type and ceiling. The cache-pots, suspended from the ceiling, do not occupy the area, and they add beauty to the general appearance. Flowers on the balcony in drawers and auxiliary structures must be arranged so that there is access to plants, since they need to be looked after.
Decoration of small balconies
With small areas, the emphasis should be on the vertical type of landscaping. To do this, containers with flowers need to be installed along the wall and pull the ropes to the ceiling. Then mount the ladder from narrow rails or trellis. Since curly representatives of the flora will be used, they will quickly braid structures. Very soon, your little balcony will turn into a paradise. For such landscaping, sweet peas, kobe, beans, and girl's grapes are used. Flowers on balconies can grow different. On the packages in which their seeds are sold, a complete description of the plants is given. You need to carefully read everything and choose what is right for your balcony.
What to look for when choosing colors?
First of all, you should pay attention to the color of the wall of the building on which your balcony is located, and to the plants in the neighborhood. It is important that the flowers you choose are not “knocked out” of the overall design of the house. When decorating a balcony with flowers, the following criteria are followed:
- They choose fast-growing and unpretentious plants that can adapt to the conditions of the city.
- Leaves of flowers should have a pronounced decorative effect, which will emphasize the attractiveness of landscaping.
- It is desirable that curly representatives of the flora are present in the composition. This is necessary to hide unsightly places.
- It is better to choose flowers without a pungent odor, even if you do not really like them. It is important to remember that people live in the neighborhood. Many of them have different smells that cause allergies, and this must be reckoned with so that there are no conflicts in the future.
Layered gardening
When arranging a mini-garden on the balcony, the flowers can be arranged in different ways. If preference is given to the multi-tiered method, it is important to distribute the plants according to their growth: closer to the street - low, then - medium, near the wall - high. Based on this, the flowers on the balconies in height can be combined into groups:
- High varieties - these include dahlias, the reproduction of which is carried out by tubers, coreopsis, tall marigolds, snapdragons.
- Middle varieties - this group combines low-growing plants of snapdragon, individual varieties of asters, left-handed, dahlias that are grown from seeds, clove Shabo.
- Low varieties - daisies, alissum, viola, lubelia, marigolds of undersized varieties.
Flowers of different heights are used to create beautiful tiers. Group plantings are “diluted” with climbing plants: Turkish beans, lying fuchsia. Flowers on the balcony (photo presented for review) make tall growth ampelous, surround them with undersized specimens. As long as the plants only grow, boxes and other containers can be decorated with artificial flowers.
Flowers on the sunny balcony
A loggia located on the south side or a balcony is ideal for creating a green corner. First of all, preference is given to those colors for which direct sunlight and drought will not cause harm. It is important that they do not suffer from extreme heat. Below in the article are some plants that meet these requirements.
Succulents
So called plants that have unique properties: they retain moisture for a long time, are not afraid of the rays of the sun and rare watering. Representatives of flora with such characteristics are referred to as “unkillable” plants. Succulents such as haworthia, aloe, eheveria, zamioculcas and others are especially popular.
Geranium
These are just the flowers on the balconies that delight the eye all summer. They are photophilous, do not get burns from direct exposure to the rays of the sun on leaves and petals. Therefore, the southern balcony is best suited for zonal and ampelous varieties of geraniums.
Zinnia
Flowers on the balcony are planted different. A frequent guest of the peculiar gardens in the apartment is precisely zinnia. The reason for this popularity is simple - this annual is resistant to heat and blooms for a long time, before the onset of frost. Only in the case of a prolonged drought should a plant be watered.
What colors adorn the northern balconies?
The main requirement is shade tolerance, since not all plants grow normally, develop and bloom in low light conditions. In summer, flowers on the balcony on the north side grow most of the day in the shade, so you need to choose plants that it does not harm. The following flowers are suitable for this:
- Balsamine - feels great in shaded places. In the garden, a plot is allocated for them under the trees, the crowns of which give a big shadow. Therefore, the northern balcony is the most suitable place for such flowers.
- Calceolaria - looks very impressive. This flower is often included in the list of plants that are grown on the northern balcony. He is called the "ideal inhabitant" of partial shade. The flower resembles a shoe painted in bright colors. The owner water the flower on the balcony, focusing on the state of the soil. If it is dry, it is moisturized.
Flowers on the west or east balcony
Many indoor plants are suitable for decorating a mini-garden in an apartment:
- Verbena - this flower is popularly called cast-iron and pigeon grass, "tears of Juno." The plant is known as decorative and healing. Verbena among gardeners is popular, it is often grown on flower beds in open ground. But on the balcony, the flower feels great: it grows well, blooms for a long time.
- Marigolds are unpretentious plants with abundant and long flowering, so they became favorite flowers for growing not only in the garden, but also on the balcony. They are able to tolerate heat and wind. They feel comfortable in any weather conditions.
- Daisies - begin to bloom in the last month of spring and end with the onset of cold weather. Unpretentious plant for normal growth, shaded places are quite suitable. Therefore, flowers on balconies with insufficient lighting feel great.
- Heather - if you plant this flower, even in winter the balcony will look decorative. The bush has high frost resistance. It blooms in January, and this period lasts until April. Even if heather dies, its decorativeness is preserved.
Climbing plants for decorating balconies
Beautiful floral arrangements are hard to imagine if they are built without curly flowers. Graceful shoots wrap around a railing or the lattice established for this. This magnificence looks luxurious. What flowers on the balcony prefer to plant more often, read below.
- Calistegia is a bindweed with a long term growth. It is used as a balcony creeper. The plant is unpretentious, easy to care for. Flowering can not be called magnificent, but the buds themselves are very beautiful, they resemble delicate pink bells. But there are varieties with terry petals.
- Bougainvillea - bright purple flowers look especially impressive on long shoots. This plant is often used to decorate balconies and loggias with good lighting.
- Ipomoea - is a densely blooming vine, which looks magnificent due to a large number of bright flowers. In the case of curly flowers, it is important to set their shoots in the right direction and pull the ropes that they will braid. Ipomoea is considered an unpretentious plant, but it must be protected from the direct rays of the sun.
Beauty ampel colors
This is the name of the plants for the growth of which are used hanging pots.
- Fuchsia - this plant is evergreen, its flowers have an unusual shape: with the open part they “look” down. Due to this feature, fuchsia is grown on the principle of ampelous plants. This flower has many varieties, so there is plenty to choose from to decorate the balcony.
- Lobelia is a famous ampel plant. It looks like a cloud of bright blue, rich color. Lobelia prefers bright, but diffused light, she feels comfortable in partial shade. It is better to plant a flower on a balcony located on the east or west side.
- Petunia - this flower is a favorite among gardeners. In a hanging flowerpot or planter, it looks very impressive: numerous bright flowers showered shoots. Northern balconies are suitable for frost-resistant hybrids, while southern balconies are suitable for most varieties.
- Euphorbia is a succulent, as it has the ability to accumulate moisture. Therefore, it is often not necessary to water it. However, caution should be exercised with juice that will leak if a branch is broken. It is poisonous in milkweed. The plant has many varieties that are often grown outdoors and at home.
Indoor flowers for the balcony
Home plants need fresh air and sunlight just as much as humans do. Therefore, with the onset of spring, they are taken out to the balcony. It is necessary to focus on the weather. The air should warm up to 15 ° C. But not all flowers can be tolerated. For example, the senpolia and cacti of some species do not like such changes. They are easier to carry plants from the subtropical climate. These are shrubs whose leaves are very dense: myrtle, oleander, laurel, aralia. Indoor flowers that extend to the balcony include:
- Cyclamens - these flowers on the balcony (photo below) are popular due to their original appearance. Everything is beautiful in this plant: both flowers and patterned leaves. On the balcony in summer it grows well, but does not tolerate heat, so it is better to bring a flower into the room at this time.
- Geranium - perfectly tolerates the change of place of growth, blooms luxuriantly.
- Orchids - all flower growers adore them and grow them. These original flowers on the balcony feel good. They are indifferent to temperature changes.
- Fuchsia - This elegant flower is always beautiful. It does not lose its advantages when changing the place of growth.
Balcony design
You can decorate the mini-garden according to your preferences. But if something doesn’t go as you would like, good advice will always come in handy. For example, if the plants are supposed to be planted in one row, you can plant petunias: alternate three pink flowers with two purple plants. If, moreover, the wall of the balcony is in tone with the buds, it will look very tender and bright.
With a two-row planting method, boxes with flowers that differ in erect stems are placed closer to the wall of the building - in the background, and plants of ampelous varieties - in the front. A good combination is given by flowers such as ageratum and lobelia, nasturtium and calendula, tulips and daffodils or crocuses. When choosing plants, it is important to consider the color scheme, sizes, flowering periods, and most importantly - your preferences.