How to Transform your Balcony into a Garden

Small balcony garden ideas are an interesting way to introduce a garden space in your home without the need for a much larger area. Here are some beautiful balcony garden ideas that you can use to enhance the space around you.

Plan your space
The first step to making any space utilitarian and beautiful is to plan it well. The notion of wanting a large space is preceded by using the space you have optimally. Hence, it is imperative to plan what goes where before you start working on your balcony garden.

Divide your balcony into three areas – the garden area, the seating, and the utility space. Reserve the hottest and the sunniest part for the garden area and the cooler area for seating. Chalk out a small area where you will store the essentials that you would need for a well-maintained garden. This can either be open or you can use containers or multi-utility items to store gardening equipment.

Choose the right furniture
This is one of the key factors that you have to keep in mind while designing a small balcony garden. Use furniture that is light, weatherproof, and foldable. Introducing very large or heavy furniture is not only inconvenient but will make your space look smaller. It would be ideal to first determine if you want it to be your reading area, hang-out space, or multi-utility space. You could even add a small dining table instead of lounging furniture and make your balcony garden an outdoor dining area that is great to also accommodate guests for an evening outside.

Choose the right lighting
While a balcony wouldn’t need lighting during the day, choosing the right lighting for the night is very important. You may or may not use your balcony garden after sunset, but good and functional lighting is a must. However, what would really be ideal to make your balcony more dream-like is the addition of unique and creative lighting ideas. Use fairylights, LEDs, or table-mounted lights to make your balcony dreamy and magical.

Choose the right colours
While your balcony garden is going to be predominantly green, adding the right colour to the other parts of the design will determine how your balcony will look in the end. While bright colours are a great addition, adding too many of these will make your space look small and cluttered. Adding too much wood texture and darker shades will also have similar effects. If you have a small balcony using light colours with subtle shades of blues and yellows is a great way to make your space look large and airy. To this, you can add a pop of colour to make the space livelier and more vibrant.

Choose the right plants
Plants are the most important part of your balcony garden. Depending on how much time you can dedicate to tending to your garden, you can pick plants that are easy to maintain, or that need a lot of care. The rate of growth, the size that they achieve on complete growth, and the kind of care they need are the most important factors to keep in mind while selecting your plants. Some plants are more prone to infection than others, and this can be risky as they can contaminate the other plants too. Opting for something hardy is the safest option that one can resort to.

If you are short of space do not opt for plants that have a large radius and grow rapidly. You can also opt for vegetable and herb planters as they are not just a great addition to your garden, but will keep your kitchen stocked with fresh and organic herbs. You can also opt for hanging pots, and planter boxes along the railing and vertical garden as they are beautiful to look at and save space too.