My parents' balcony
Articulating goals
Sister: interested to learn. Will be the main keeper of the place
Dad: not welcoming, reluctant to adding new features or containers
Personal goals: Rapid prototyping, learning from my mistakes, get it done then get it good.
Assessment:
The balcony is a rectangle shape facing east Used for: drying laundry, Dad does meditation daily, and play area for grandchildren
Area available for planting: the far end corner 70 x 140 cm:
Exposure to sun: starting from half an hour after sun rise till midday, and in summer for one hour before sunset from west side
Wind: moderate since west and north, where wind comes mostly, are blocked
Climate zone: Mediterranean, hot dry summer, cold and wet winter
Constrains on using the site
- Leaving enough space for the various uses said above
- All insects, including ants, and are not welcome at all.
- Keeping plants out of the reach of children so floor can't be used
- Dad against adding any new feature to expand growing area
Existing features:
Few containers, two plastic shelves, the balcony shelve and metal fence
Design / implementation
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Veggies |
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Cucumber |
Planted as seed in small pot for sapling then moved to smallpot |
Grew and climbed on the metal fence, blossomed then dried completely by autumn. |
Grew and flowered then dried because of heat and did not give fruit |
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cherry tomatoes (seed) |
Planted in small pot to grow alone |
Same with cucumber: Grew and climbed on the metal fence, blossomed then dried completely by autumn |
Grew and flowered then dried because of heat and did not give fruit |
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Pepper (saplings) |
Planted three saplings in one container. Covered the container with mulch |
They did great and produced so far 3 pieces with three more to be picked soon. The taste was great. |
Gave fruit with great success |
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Eggplants (saplings) |
planted three saplings together in one container. |
After they’ve grown to about 50 cm high, they started to suffer and get yellow . moved to a neighbor’s garden. |
Failed because of small area and not enough depth |
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Herbs & flowers |
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Pelargonium |
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Growing well |
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Coriander (seed) |
Planted alone is a small pot |
Planted in May. Partially successful. One harvest then went dry |
Affected by the heat wave in June |
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Parsley (seed) |
Planted alone is a small pot |
Planted in May. Partially successful. One harvest then went dry |
Affected by the heat wave in June |
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Tarragon (seed) |
Planted alone is a small pot |
Failed |
Too much water |
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Rocket (seed) (Eruca sativa) |
Planted alone is a small pot |
Few leafs grow then turned yellow quickly |
Affected by the heat wave in June |
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Basil (seed) |
Planted alone is a small pot |
Did well. We collect leafs for the kitchen |
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Melissa officinalis |
Bought as mature plant |
Growing well, flowered in September |
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pea flower |
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Planted as seed in November |
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Wall flower |
grown by my sister since last year |
Lived for around a year then dried completely |
Annual plant |
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My house
Articulating goals
- Continue the learning
- Engage my little girl in this activity
- Beautification of the house
- Provide part of the house needs of herbs
- increase privacy
Assessment:
places where I can add containers include:
- 4 windows sized : 2 facing south, and 2 west oriented overlooking the next building. All are ready for adding containers. Area available is 135 cm * 20 per window.
- Sunny areas in the kitchen (south oriented): needs adding additional features for placing containers
- The building roof: ruled out for the moment because my husband is against the idea, also not sure if the neighbors will agree (the roof is common property).
Plant selection: based on the above needs, and the small area available, my plant choices included perennial flowers, ornamentals and culinary herbs. My choices of veggies are limited for the moment due to small area available, and will expand when I can use the roof.
Bought the following plants: coleus, Asparagus fern (Asparagus densiflorus), and two others that I don’t know their latin names, common names are Nada, and colonga.
What I intend to add: pepper, strawberry, tomatoes, mint
Nada: placed on the bedroom window which faces west. The window was provided with horizontal metal bars which provide place for the plant to climb. By this I hide part of the ugly bars, attract birds, and increase privacy in the room since the window is only few meters away from the opposite building.
(Before we moved in here, I used to tell my little girl things about the new house to make the change easy for her, so I promised her that there will be windows with roses and birds.)
The other plants were put on another window facing west because they don’t need so much sun.
Planted the following seeds: parsley, coriander, carnations, Vinca Rosea Little, Phlox, Begonia
Additional seeds I will grow in time: Pomtulaca, sweet pea, spring onions
Nada’s Garden
Articulating goals
To have a good looking, even stunning and impressive garden, while reducing the need for professional assistance to the minimum
To grow food for kitchen use or to be given away people (not for money)
So it’s 1) beauty 2) functionality 3) production
Assessment:
- The beds are already established. Their dimensions and locations cannot be changed
- The garden is being established from scratch. The beds are established over a compacted old soil, most probably mixed with construction material like cement and stone. Top soil will be purchased and implemented.
- The big bed will be allocated for other uses later we it can be used for planting non-perennials like herbs and flowers which can be removed later.
- Water supply is available with ease from public network.
- Rainwater harvesting in urban areas is not common, almost sounds impractical.
- Husband has enough time to allocate for the garden work..
- Privacy is not a big concern for the family
- Nearby public areas can be easily accessed and utilized.
Design
Public areas can be accessed and utilized, however we might put that till later stage and work for the moment on the garden only.
Existing plants
2 small cypress trees, 1 Yucca in small container, and 1 small tree of Japanese spindle.
Plant types suggestions
These suggestion are based on types we’ve seen growing in the area, and types we thought would be nice to grow. I am adding comments from Dima on these choices
Trees, fruit trees
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Mulberry |
Not recommended - need large area for their roots |
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Fig |
Not recommended - Requires extra care |
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Melia azedarach, commonly known as bead-tree orCapelilac |
already planted in nearby public areas |
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Mediterranean Cypress Cupressus sempervirens |
Cypress increase soil salinity |
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Cinchona or Quina |
Not recommended need large area for their roots |
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Olive tree |
Commonly planted. Very drought resistant |
Other recommendations:
- loquat Eriobotrya japonica (Japanese plum): commonly planted in urban gardens
- Laurel (laurus nobilis)
Bushes / natural fence/ climbing plants
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Yucca |
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Japanese Spindle (Euonymus jabonicus) |
usually good for fencing big gardens. here It will consume big space and will prevent access to the garden beds |
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Ivy (Hedra helix) |
attracts insects and pests |
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Jasmine |
Native types |
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Bougainvillea |
Good choice |
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Lavender |
Good choice |
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Pyracantha coccinea |
Good choice |
Vegetables
Tomatoes, Zucchini , Cucumber , Garlic, Pepper, Onions, Carrots , Parsley , Coriander , Mint , Lettuce , Spinach, Chickpeas, Broccoli
Herbs
Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), Basil, Rosemary, Fennel, Oregano
Flowers
Dianthus (Carnations), Rosa damascene, Local Violets , Lantana camara , Spring daisies , wallflower. Other suggestions from Virginia : Hyacinths, Hibiscus