If you rent you may need permission? or check any covenants in case you cannot put certain things on it? Also you may need to check weight allowance on your balcony as container plants can be very heavy? Lastly how are you going to organize drainage yet no leakage on those below? Then enjoy choosing some plants.

we do not know if it reinforced or any thing to help you ,your best bet is to talk to the owners of the building,because they will be held responcable for what ever they allow you to do, and they will know about the ledge were we I am afraid do not.sorry

As there's pedestrian traffic coming and going under this concrete ledge, whatever you place as planters on the ledge will need to be very, very secure to minimize the risk of accident. The point about the strength of the ledge is also a good one - it may not be particularly weightbearing, and planting troughs or containers get very heavy when they're wet. If you discover the ledge is perfectly capable of bearing the weight, and find a way of securing the planters well, the next problem is access for watering, which you will need to do most of the time - containers need watering even in the rain, because the foliage of any plants keeps out the rain water. Assuming you can find a way round that, you'd then need to select plants that will grow in low light levels - east facing means early sun, hopefully, but then shade for the rest of the time. Small evergreens spring to mind, but no point in giving you a list really until you've worked out whether its actually possible to have planters out there and water them regularly. If you can fulfil all the requirements, let us know what size planters you can place there and then we'll work out what you can actually plant.

Thank you for all your responses. I've posted a few photos to save me the thousand words. We are the owners, and have approval to do whatever we wish by strata. I do believe they would like to see some improvements too. We have a tap on the balcony for watering, and a hose will reach the entire area. We are east facing. In the summer we have light from 7am until noon and in the winter, although it is still bright, direct sun is very limited. It rains often, but we are out of the wind. Azaleas, Rhodo, Honey Suckle were recommended by family.

the ledge is part of the floor and will be reenforced , so will take a lot of weight'I can advise from a structual point of view, and also I would advise that your containers are made very secure if you are to put anything in them that the wind can get hold of,now it is up to the ladyes who will be better than me in the plant department .because you will want colour,unless you wont to grow beens or somthing. lol

i have seen on a gardening program special blinds for outside in like outside parts of the balcony on a flat .they let the sun and light through but stop people seeing in.you can like a normal flat roller blind lift them up partialy or fully if you want to .you could grow just a few choice plants then without compramising weight,drainage but keep your privacy.they are quite pricy i guess but if your staying there a long time it will probably be cleaner and classier than lots of plants that block out your light and possibly wont cost much more in the long run . just a thaught .ive no doubt you could have a print of your choice on them to .

Here's a list to look at, if you decide on plants rather than blinds (quite like Nosey's suggestion above myself!).
Evergreen shrubs: Acer, Pieris, Skimmia, Viburnum (V. davidii, V. tinus, V. 'Eve Price'), Fatshedera lizei, Fatsia japonica, Camellia (if you can keep it out of early morning sun in winter), Buxus, Euonymus.
Deciduous/broad leaved shrubs: Hydrangea, Hypericum, Viburnum (V. bodnantense, V. opulus) Spiraea varieties (though yellow leaved ones might not colour well)
All of these are fine in containers in Zone 8, but all will need containers minimum size 12 inches deep by 10/12 inches across, with some of the larger shrubs (like Fatsia, etc.) requiring 2 feet deep x 16 inches wide or more if possible. There are perennial things you can use which will be fine in Zone 8 and in lower light conditions too, but these require a little more upkeep, meaning you'll have to fiddle about outside in the tubs more often - things like Primula, Ajuga reptans, Campanulas, Heucheras, Hellebores, Hemerocallis, Iris, Lamium, Hosta, Bergenia, Geranium, Astilbe, Pulmonaria.

If you want to use plants, the most important thing is to get the right containers so you don't end up with a ragbag of different ones (which will not look good).

thank you bamboo hope your well the snow is comming down again now so back to hybernation lol .anyway take care bye for now .
ps i wasnt quite sure of your situation but now you have photos the blinds would be perfect if you chose that route . i think the gardening show was about small london gardens and lasted about half an hour .they also made wooden planters with smaller plants in for a bit of colour as it was basicly your egsact kind of situation . i dont like putting soil next to wood so i would be inclined to use terra cotta pots but put the plastic trays underneath .the thing with terracotta is the pots are only fired to about 850 degrees whih leaves them still poursas and suseptable to cracking in winter .if you get some thompsan water seal this will cure that. ofcourse only if you take that option. i hope weve helped good luck and happy gardening notsogreen...

Snowing here too, Nosey, but I bet its worse in BC! Am hibernating too, but am just about to venture out on foot - feel the need for chocolate (again!)

i had to get some milk but im in for good now lol