Get Creative with Your Balcony Garden

If you have a balcony or small terrace, it can be the ideal way to bring some colour to your outside space. However, some homeowners believe that it costs a lot of money to really make the most of your balcony space. This is simply not the case, and with a bit of creative thinking, even a small budget can help to transform your decking area or balcony balustrades into something wonderful.

There's no need to be a gardening expert or have a potful of money to help you create your ideal balcony garden. There are many small projects that you can tackle over a weekend that will still have a fantastic effect. You can easily recycle existing products to save yourself some money and add a unique edge to your space.

Kitchen Garden

Even if you don't have much space, you can still grow some useful herbs and salads that are perfect for eating and cooking with throughout the year. Transforming an old wine crate or other box makes a cheap container, and the slats at the bottom are ideal for drainage. Before you start, you should line the bottom to secure the potting mix and then position it in a sunny spot.

Attract Wildlife

Certain varieties of flowers will attract wildlife, such as bees and butterflies, to your garden. These can also be planted in an old crate, you you can use colourful and fragrant species, including lavender, sweet williams and foxgloves.

Hanging Baskets

You can also utilise your balcony balustrades as a way of displaying plants and flowers. This is a great use of space on a compact balcony and means you have more floor space for the furniture. Rather than using standard hanging baskets, there is a range of containers you could put to use that would give your balcony a personalised look. For instance, old wellies or cloth bags can quickly and easily be transformed into flower baskets, and you can guarantee no one else will have the same ones.

Make an Aquatic Garden

If you want something a bit colourful and different to place on tables or shelves, then you can make your own aquatic garden. All you'll need is an old jar with a lid, some pretty pebbles from a trip to the beach and water plants. The pebbles are used to weigh the plants down, and then you just add water.