My Balcony last year. 2012

Welcome to GOY Mariamasom, You make excellent use of a small space, does it get good light?

I just love being out on my balcony. Yes I get a lot of light out there.

I look forward to see it over the coming year. Looking at your other photos its wider than I first thought, do you have good views?

I am facing a grave-yard. Yes it is a nice view.

My parents overlooked a graveyard and quiet liked it as they said it makes for quiet neighbours.

That is so true. I am lucky I live in a quiet road; and have nice neighbours.

Welcome Mariamasom :)
Lovely balcony

Thank you.

Sorry,I've only just found this.A belated welcome to you!You certainly put on a great show in a small space.I'm sure the neighbours love it!

Thank you. I just love being out there, yes my neighbours are very happy. I'm also a member of a community food garden.

I would love to hear about the community food garden - new to me.

Hi Mariamasom & welcome to GoY! :-))

I'm a balcony gardener & have been for most of my life. If you go to my profile you can read more about me there & where I've gardened.

Unlike your balcony, from what I can see in the photo, we don't have a common area where our balconies are but they are independent of one another. If you look at my photos you will find a few of our balcony seen from the street & also from the inside.

Looking forward to seeing more of your photos during the coming year! :-))

The garden was started in April 2009 with a meeting of local people. Permission was obtained from Tower Hamlets Council to use the derelict playground as a community food garden. A grant of £800 from Capital Growth a larger grant from Tower Hamlets “You make a Difference” fund enabled them to buy a shed, greenhouses and lay the patio and path. Everything is grown communal, so we can grow as wide a variety as possible. This gives local people the opportunity to buy organic produce at a cheap price. A small donation is asked, to bring in money for seeds. I joined last year; everyone is very friendly and helpful. Local people often pop in for a cup of tea and a chat. I will put some photos of the garden.

SURPRISE!! HI maria, your balcony garden looks great! I've joined this lovely site: check out 'cranbrook'

That sounds a great idea Mariamasom, nothing better than growing what you eat.

I have a "balcony" of sorts on my staircase and it & the stairs are great places for flowers.Yours is lovely,great to see and a day brightener in urban areas...Looks like one of your neighbours likes gardening too...

Your steps look great, just shows you what you can do, with a little bit of imagination. I love my balcony I have just come in from the balcony. I’m getting it ready to start planting out there. I couldn’t do anything out there last year; we had scaffolding up. I really missed it I’m looking forward to the summer, all my seeds are coming along nicely on my windowsills. I am really lucky; all my neighbours are lovely, and like gardening.

Great to see you posting on GoY once again, Mariamasom! :-))

Great to hear your balcony will soon be full of flowers again! :-))

My balcony is filling up every day with more bulbs coming into flower! :-)) My winter flowering Pansies have, in their majority, survived the winter & are now begging to flower very nicely again.

It’s been a lovely day. I have been out on my balcony for most of the day. I couldn’t get out there last year; we had scaffolding up; so I couldn’t do any gardening, I really missed it and can’t wait to get started planting out there. We have a new neighbour, Charlie he moved into the block last year. He asked me if I would help him to grow some herbs and vegetables. I started seeding in February; I have no more room on my windowsills. I have runner beans, peas, tomatoes, onions, dill, chive, sage, coriander, peppers, basil and more. I have got to stop now, well until I get some planed out. Thank you, It’s good to be back.

My runner beans are ready to plant out; my tomatoes, peas, basil, coriander, beetroot, parsley, dill and dwarf French beans are coming along nicely. I’m not having much luck with chives; they don’t seem to be germinating I will keep trying. I did read that they take longer than most herb seeds to start to germinated. I’ve been thinking about having a little water feature on my balcony. My daughter bought me one for my birthday; it’s a floating solar pound pump. I can’t wait to get out there and get it setup. Charley’s back from his holiday, Charley is our new neighbour I did mention that charley asked me if I would help him to grow vegetable and herbs. I am going to show him how to sow seeds next week. The weathers been so nice I have got lots done on my balcony, Charley’s vegetable and herb plot is up, and ready to start planting.

Great to hear some updates on your balcony garden! Most of the bulbs I mentioned growing on our balcony a few posts higher up have now finished flowering or are about to. Next month will sound the change over to summer bedding. I've thought of getting some hanging Begonias to grow in my 5 hanging baskets this year, they look fantastic in other peoples gardens! Some years ago my wife bought me a pot of them already in flower. The following year I got them to flower again but I don't remember having grown them a 3rd year.

My Lilies are up & growing very fast. These I grew from seeds sent to me by a lady gardener in the USA. We post on another gardening forum of which we are both members. My daughter also gave me a pot of white Lilies for my birthday last year. I later planted them out in a tub on the balcony & now they are growing very strongly! :-)) I'm looking forward to a great display from all of them again! :-))

You can also see a few photos of our balcony taken a couple of weeks ago in my photos page.

I have just been looking at your photos, lots of colour. I see you use a lot of lobelia, lobelia is one of my favourites plants I like the dark blue. Do you seed it yourself? I’m trying bulbs this year, your balcony look lovely. I hope mine look as good as yours. Begonias do look nice in hanging baskets and you can get some lovely colours. My little water feature is up and running, I haven’t finished it yet. I have started planting in Charley’s vegetable and herb plot I put some runner beans and peas in last week; I know I’m a bit early, they seem ok.

Yes I do use a lot of Lobelia. They flower almost continuously for about 5 months & they add a lot of cheer. They can be cut back quite hard & will flower a 2nd time! :-)) I always buy trays of plug plants & they have always given me great results. They also self-seed & end up sprouting in my other pots as well as outside in the grass! They have also survived this winter in several pots on the balcony.

I got some Begonias a couple of days ago but they are not the hanging type. I will plant them in the pots on the balcony railings this year instead of Petunias.

Have you taken any photos of your water feature?

Yes, I have put some photos of the water feature on I will put some more on. Are you thinking of having, a water feature on your balcony? I haven’t been out on the balcony too much this week; it’s been too windy. I have got lots of plants waiting to be planted out.

I've seen your water feature & made a couple of comments. :-))

No, I'm not going to add a water feature to our balcony - space is already in very short supply for my plants!

As my surname is King I've been joking recently making a play on it & saying to my son: "My kingdom for more space!" Ha,ha,ha :-D) You really can't get a good idea of our balcony without seeing it! Talking about the measurements & the number of plants/pots doesn't give justice to the amount of space occupied or needed!