Inspiration
A downtown Toronto north-facing balcony.
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Look what can grow in a small and sunless space! Note the mirror to catch the evening sunlight. An exotic passion flower vine grows on a wire strung around the balcony. The gloriosa or glory lily is also a climbing vine grown from a tuber each year. You would never guess that both are super easy to grow!
(Thank you Paul Winsor)
A West-end Toronto balcony, north-facing, 22nd floor
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I've been a balcony gardener for about 10 years, and every year I find just how much more I've still got to learn.
Here is my little piece of heaven on the 22nd floor... shady little sucker, never any direct sunlight, yet, every summer, I discover another little flowering plant said to require "full sun" that somehow manages to thrive in the shade.
I hope it can be an inspiration for somebody else living on the north side and perhaps being afraid of gardening in the shade.
Thank you, Sanja
A downtown Toronto, west-facing balcony, 5th floor
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The sun comes on my balcony at about 1:30 p.m. until about 8:30 p.m. At around 6 p.m. my balcony is shadowed by another building for one hour, and then the sunshine returns.
I have had success with flowers over the years, as you can see from the photos, but I wanted to try vegetables.
The first year I started with lettuce, radishes, Swiss chard and herbs. Everything grew great.
The second year I tried bush beans, pole beans, peppers and all the veggies and herbs from the previous year. I had such success with all of these that I took the plunge and tried tomatoes. Tomatoes need at least 6 hours of direct sun, so I tried even though the amount of sunlight on my balcony was right on the border. I started about a dozen plants and 6 different varieties. By trying different varieties I was hoping for some to do better than others. What a surprise to see all the tomatoes did well or better than expected - a bumper crop of heirloom tomatoes all summer and fall! More sun would definitely have produced more tomatoes, but I was very happy with the results.
My advice: Try purchasing recycled pots from yard sales and only use organic soil and compost from your local garden centre. Please don't throw your old soil down the garbage chute. You just need to add one third of good compost to bring it back to life. Don't waste money buying new soil each year and dragging it home.
As a rule, sheep manure is good for flowers and cattle manure is good for vegetables. Also, eggshells are the best thing you can give your tomatoes. Just wash, dry and crumble them into the soil and you will have great tomatoes, guaranteed. I could go on and on about tomato plants, but everyone can gather information off the Internet. Do your research, take notes and document your successes. Do what works for you!
This year (2009) I started all my plants in April from seed, in a greenhouse on my balcony. The greenhouse was on sale at Canadian Tire for $30 (regular $85) - 3' wide by 5' high and 6' long. What a deal! I started 300 seedlings and 23 varieties of heirloom tomatoes. I kept one of each variety for my balcony and gave the rest to friends and family. I should mention that I have an allotment garden plot at the Leslie Street spit. Some of the tomatoes have been planted there. A disease called Blight, which can be devastating for tomatoes, killed many of my plants at the allotment garden last July, but none of my balcony tomatoes were affected. I am hoping for a better year for tomatoes at the allotment garden - fingers crossed!
I hope everyone takes advantage of the sun they get on their balcony. You'll be surprised what you can grow. All it takes is a little initiative on your part. Don't hesitate to ask a friend, family member or neighbour to help. Gardeners are never far away and are always eager to share their knowledge. What are you waiting for? "There's nothing like fresh picked from the balcony goodness".
The photos of blooming small spaces that I have seen on my travels through the city are to say: don't let the size of your space limit your imagination.
Note the photo of a hummingbird visiting my balcony planter 2 years ago. Who would have thought this sweet creature would bless my space with her presence in downtown Toronto!
Pictures for 2009 are on their way.
(Thank you, Michael)
A downtown,10th floor, west-facing balcony
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“The first three images reflect my 2007 experience. In spite of moving into the apartment on June 1, I had a nice “show” of blooms and plants by early August. I harvested enough fresh basil to produce over 25 lbs of fresh pesto. I also had a rose bush that did surprisingly well, called “Sea Foam”. I’m planning on framing in my balcony this year (the sun is horrific in the afternoon) but intend to plant more, particularly herbs and perhaps some more of the rare types of begonias. Vinca also does extremely well and I’m very fond of it.”
“The next four shots were taken from June to August 2008. It's been a good season; my passionflower vine has three separate vines each at least 18 feet long. Often I had as many as 10 blooms out at once.”
(Thank you Reiner Kjell Hansen)
A downtown, south-facing balcony, 5th floor
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I've been gardening only since about 2005, but I have a few tips to share:
- Try to use more native plants of local provenance to attract and support local bees, butterflies, and other insects.
- Plant the same seeds/plants in different areas of your balcony to see where the plant grows best.
- Start each season by setting up the planters first. Then decide what you want in each of those planters.
- Make your balcony cozy to sit around.
- Use larger planters (most of mine have a diameter of ~ 40 cm) so that you don't have to water as often.
- Consider making a balcony composter. (See my suggested guidelines on www.torontobalconiesbloom.ca/DIYideas...)
(Thank you Marco Pagliarulo)
A downtown Toronto shady, 2nd floor balcony
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I’m a Master Gardener in Training with the Toronto Master Gardeners. Here are a few pictures from a project incorporating light (the hanging candles) and sound (wind chimes), as well as some herbs – bronze fennel, parsley, and rosemary. We used ferns, a variety of coleus for interesting foliage, sweet potato vine and Obsidian heuchera for contrast.
Thank you Maureen Hulbert
A north Toronto, south-facing balcony, 10th floor
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From a balcony bonsai artist:
I am 10 floors up, so the air is less humid and the wind is stronger. Some plants I keep wind-sheltered so they get dappled sunlight. I built an adjustable sun shade lattice, made all out of "garbage" -- a single bed with drawers under it, now on its side with the drawers relocated and reworked, the chrome legs of a thrown out kitchen chair and some cedar mattress slats from another discarded bed. Cost about $8 for a bit of wood, outside corner mouldings and pine 1x2. Provides handy storage and work space, although now it is filled with plants. I have added a second level higher up, about 60% of its length, for shorter trees.
My orange "throne" gives an excellent view. The chair sits on a stand some 18-20 inches off the floor. I was sick of not being able to see over my safety height solid concrete railing. Most of the materials were scavenged from our buildings throw-aways. To get up in the chair, I built a little 3-step portable staircase, primarily a plastic milk carton, that fits under the shelving. (Caution: elevated furniture is not a concept suitable for families with children) . Other than the pots and plants, I've spent less than $50. There's a short nap orange carpet on the floor. I did not pick orange, it is just what was discarded - lucky they match!
As you can see, space is at a premium. When I took these photos, I had a common juniper bonsai catching the sunlight on the chair's seat. For perspective, note the pail lined with a plastic bag for garbage in the foreground. The bottom of the pail shows where the floor is.
Thank you Gene Hanson
A south Etobicoke, south-facing balcony, 3rd floor
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I'm an avid balcony gardener, have been for the past couple of years. I've got one hanging tomato plant, four types of heirloom tomatoes (two to a pot), a huge storage bin that has a bundle of different herbs, green onions, several types of mint, some flowers for the bees, lavender, a hanging ivy and catnip on the floor for my cat. The tomatoes are only just starting to ripen (August 2009) but they were all started from seed and shot straight up almost to the ceiling! All the rain and cooler temps made my garden so lush, particularly the ivy.
For materials, I have used several types of containers - some small conventional plastic pots, mostly for the herbs and two of the tomato plants. The herbs were put into a large storage bin. To encourage good drainage and adequate water reaching the roots, I inserted a plastic water bottle with the end cut off into the middle of the bin and buried it in soil just to the top rim. When I water the herbs, I pour water directly into the water bottle top, which enables the entire soil to be properly watered, rather than just the top portion. I found this to be incredibly useful, though this year the need for intensive watering was minimal. It's a similar idea to the glass water bulbs that you stick into the soil. I also purchased the metal pot holder from Ikea, which is great for balconies that have a railing but very little ground area for tables and stands. Having so much greenery is an excellent way to provide shade from the burning afternoon sun.
I had an attack of aphids on some kale back in July, which unfortunately spread to one of my tomato plants. The kale had to be discarded, soil and all, but the tomato plant I saved by spraying it with a solution of natural dish soap and water in a spray bottle and wiping off all the little creatures before they sucked the plant dry. Though I had to amputate the poor plant, just last week I spotted new little tomatoes budding on the one surviving branch - the plant is called the Whippersnapper, a hardy little variety, as I'm finding out! The bugs seem to dislike citronella as well, so I placed my potted citronella amongst the Whippersnapper and other tomatoes near it, just in case.
Next year, I'd like to make more use of the vertical space along the wall to plant peas, since I already have a trellis hanging up. Other than the general lack of adequate sunshine for the tomatoes and the aphid episode, it's been a very productive summer!
Thank you Colette Slone
A midtown Toronto southwest-facing balcony, 7th floor
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Thank you Krysanne Klassen. Read Krysanne's reflections on her balcony garden under Inspiration! Articles.
A downtown Toronto, east-facing balcony, 20th floor
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Every summer I start my little balcony project, and this year the flowers are better than ever. The balcony is facing east, that's why I plant Petunias and Geraniums at the edge and hang Impatiens where there is less sunshine. This is a lesson learned from last year, when I planted many Impatiens and was less successful due to too much sun.
All the flowers mentioned above are cheap and easy to grow on a balcony - just water and timely fertilization will ensure a long bloom. Apart from the pots and hanging sets which can be re-used every year, all the flowers cost less than $40 in total when I buy them in packs around mother's day. Then you can enjoy non-stop bloom all summer. Since Petunias and Geraniums can also be cut flowers, this balcony also provides me fresh flowers for vases indoors.
For people live in high-rise buildings, hanging baskets can be dangerous due to the height and potential risk of the dangling basket. If anyone has trouble finding hanging flower boxes, I would recommend hanging bags which can be attached to the wall or the screen that divides two balconies. This way the bags can be secured. And you don't need to buy the garden bags sold in stores, any bag strong enough to hold the soil and water will do (just make sure it drains). Mine is $1 bag in purple and white. bought at Dollarama - it looked very cute.
Thank you Clala Cheng
A Toronto 'Beach' Community, east-facing terrace, 3rd floor
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Our patio garden becomes our oasis away from the summer crowds of the Beach. It is a fabulous place to read, soak up the sun, and entertain.
Since we are starving students and foodies in the making, we focus solely on food gardening. In our first summer, we concentrated on the traditional tomatoes, peppers, green onions, pole beans and herbs (basil, rosemary, mint). Last summer, the summer of 2009, we expanded our horizons and branched out to add beets, snap peas, eggplant, celery, carrots, lettuce, spinach and edible flower nasturtium. As much as possible, we use heirloom seed varieties. Our herb and vegetable transplants are purchased at a fabulous farm/store/tea room near Aylmer, Ontario called Heritage Line Herbs.
Last summer, I grew, with relative success, two of our four tomato varieties from seed in front of our patio door. I planted the seeds in old clementine boxes lined with plastic bags, which was both cheap and easy.
In terms of planting containers, we use some standard terracotta, but have also experimented with garbage cans, wine buckets, old VHS tape storage holders from Ikea, as well as kids’ sand castle pails.
All in all, I consider our gardening adventures to be very successful. Sure, we have limited yield with some plants (we harvested 6 carrots, 2 eggplants, and no celery at all this year), but we have fun, the produce dominates many of our spring, summer and fall meals, and we create a beautiful green space for us to enjoy.
(Thank you, Alexis and Tim)
A downtown Toronto, South/South-west balcony, 24th floor
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I have enthusiastically embraced creating a green space to escape the noise of downtown Toronto. Isn't half the fun of balcony gardening its similarity to redecorating the interior of your home?
My balcony has its own mini-climate which is always much warmer than my friends' who have ground gardens. They think I'm crazy to plant as early as I do, but I've not lost anything to frost yet!
The fountain works and provides an incredibly pleasant patter of water - the perfect foil to the traffic far below me. My friends have suggested additions over the years and I have named each after them - hence the Myers pit (barbecue), the Leroux fountain and the Elkin wall. People vie for an invitation to the "balcony of the gods"!
Thank you, Bud Harvey
A north Toronto north-facing balcony, 22nd floor
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Our Blossoming Home (on the shadow side of life)
Many people reject a nice apartment because of what they consider to be a problem: the apartment has only one, but north-facing, balcony! The excuse for not gardening a north balcony is always the same: plants need light. But many flowers prosper without direct solar irradiation, which is good news for all the shady ones!
A city-dweller who wants to enjoy a personal little spot with living green and colour, and who has within them an inclination to nurture their pleasure in nature on their own turf, should not feel defeated by their north balcony. Even a balcony in the shade can become a blossoming paradise. While the dream of oleander, roses, diamond lilies and angel's trumpet must be buried, there are astonishingly many plants that renounce the sun and still blossom wonderfully. Much that prospers in garden shade or half-shade will succeed in a balcony container. The central issue is that the vessel has a suitable volume: better larger than too small!
Our high-rise apartment is built on a very large property surrounded by a large green area with a lot of healthy trees. The charming valley of the 'Little Don', surrounded by primeval forest, is like an untouched wilderness. We have an unobstructed view far to the north, which provides a feeling of nearly unlimited freedom.
This is a small homage to our wonderful environment in an urban area with more than 5.5 million people. We consider ourselves more than happy and ever so grateful for a small, almost private, paradise.
Thank you, Barbara and Willy
What else is growing...
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Landscape Ontario award winners
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Landscape Ontario's 2009 Casey van Maris Award winner
Environmental Design Landscaping Contractors Ltd. won this award for unique and innovative execution of design in landscaping, transforming a carport into a beautiful balcony space. The site challenge was to change a nondescript garden into a modern garden one with a strong aesthetic. A tired 20'x 20' inner city garden bounded by wood fencing and a picket fence looked over the parking area. The carport roof was used to visually increase the size of the garden. The carport garden area was designed using an intensive green roof approach.