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6 balcony vegetable gardening tips every new gardener needs

Rebecca Wolken
By

You’ve likely seen photos of gorgeous raised garden beds with rows and rows of beautiful vegetable plants. Or a luscious and full flower garden with new blooms all year round. As someone who lives in an apartment, these photos can be discouraging. It can feel like you can’t achieve those beautiful green spaces with what you have, but we’re here to tell you that you can!

Creating a balcony garden can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. Whether you have a walk-out patio with space for tables and chairs or just a small space to stand, you can transform these spaces into garden sanctuaries. So stop feeling like you have to wait until you have a backyard or more acres; beautiful gardens can come from small spaces too, and here’s how you do it.

balcony garden

Why you should have a balcony garden

Maybe you want a balcony garden to grow flowers, herbs, or some fruits and veggies, but there are some other reasons you should consider as well.

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Good for your health

It’s been a long-standing fact that gardening is good for your health. It gets you up and moving, bending, kneeling, reaching, lifting, and other light activities that are excellent for your body. However, what isn’t talked about as often is its effect on the mind. Gardening is often spending time in nature, working with your hands, and caring for a living thing other than yourself. All of these come together to reduce stress, release dopamine, and lower anxiety. So whether you care for 40 plants or just 1, you’re doing your mind and body a good service.

Fresh home-grown food

If you decide to grow some fruits, veggies, or herbs on your balcony, you’ll get the added benefit of fresh home-grown produce. This is not just healthier than purchasing from a store; it’s also immensely satisfying.

Aesthetics

There’s nothing more depressing than walking into a home that doesn’t have any plants. Whether they’re fake or not, seeing a bit of green in a space makes it feel more open and inviting. Living in an apartment can exacerbate this feeling since there are often fewer windows than in a home, and it’s a further walk to get outdoors. You can combat these feelings with a balcony garden. Feeling overwhelmed and cramped in your home? Walk out onto a balcony filled with lush and thriving plants, and we promise you’ll be feeling better soon. Plus, you’ll have lots of photo opportunities for Instagram!

balcony garden containers

How to optimize your balcony garden

Since we’re working with a smaller space, we’ll have to get creative, but figuring out how to optimize your balcony garden can be part of the fun. We aren’t working with a backyard or acres of land, so each inch is precious space that we don’t want to waste. Luckily, with the rising popularity of balcony gardens, many container gardens are designed to take up little space while still holding many plants. Here are some of the ways you can fit a plant into every corner of your balcony.

Assess your space

Before you go buying anything, you’ll first want to take a moment to assess your available space. Take note of the length of the railing, the height of the walls on either side (if you have them), the floor space, and any other items you’ll want to include, such as chairs or tables. Once you have a good understanding of what you can fit, take a look at the types of planters you can use.

Hanging planters

Hanging planters are excellent options for indoor and outdoor use. For example, if your balcony sits below someone else’s, you can use that “roof” to hang plants. They also come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and designs, so you can find one to suit your needs.

Railing planters

You’ve probably seen those planters that sit on a railing. Often homeowners use them to plant flowers on a front porch, but they work just as well on a balcony for whatever plant you want. These are great options for herbs! With railing planters, you could line your whole railing and cover it with stunning greenery. Try a hanging or vining plant, and you could even block out nosey neighbors.

Stacking planters

These types of planters come in a wide range of styles, heights, and purposes. You’ll be able to find one that works exactly how you need it to and save a lot of space doing it. For example, instead of lining pots on the ground, you can sometimes plant up to 50 plants within one of these planters. Many gardeners use them for lettuce or even strawberries.

Wall-mounted planters

If you have a wall separating your balcony from your neighbors, you might benefit from investing in a wall-mounted planter. These can be a single pot or a whole wall of pots like this one here by Richoose Store. Purchase as many as you need and turn an ugly wall into a lush green forest.

Planting benches

While all these nifty planters are well designed and suit many needs, some plants need a more traditional growing space. If you have the space for it, planting benches like this one is self-watering and allows you to grow a broader range of plants.

So don’t get discouraged when you see those hashtag garden goals on Instagram. You can start your own on your balcony and flex that green thumb even without a backyard.

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Check out these small outdoor kitchen ideas to turn your limited space into a chef’s paradise
HappySprout Contributor
By HappySprout Contributor
July 1, 2022
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Outdoor kitchens have become popular these days, especially when everyone wants to enjoy the beautiful evening weather outside. Many families appreciate outside dining, especially during the summer months, whether it's a full-scale family barbecue, a picnic with friends, or just a relaxing drink after a long day at work.

But what happens if you're limited on space? Good news! An outdoor kitchen (and that oh-so-necessary barbecue stand) can be fitted for a small space. Developing outdoor kitchen ideas for small spaces sometimes takes time because there are a lot of important aspects like available space, budget, and needs to consider. But once you have your own kitchen outdoors, you'll realize that the time, effort, and money you put into planning, designing, and developing your outdoor kitchen ideas were well worth it.

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3 of the best solar garden lights for a bright and eco-friendly yard
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By Rebecca Wolken
February 26, 2022
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It's important to decorate your garden with stunning flowers and veggies, but it's also vital that your garden be well lit. Whether for parties, late-night harvesting, or quiet nights reading in the warm summer air, solar lights make a fantastic addition to any garden. They can transform a backyard into a cozy after-dinner area, light up a walkway for safe navigation, or bring attention to a favorite tree. Here we'll be going over the essential considerations to keep in mind while shopping for solar garden lights. We'll also include a few of our favorites you might want to add to your landscaping.

What to consider when buying a solar garden light
Not all solar garden lights are created equal; there are a few things you'll want to keep in mind.
Cost
The cost is one of the most important aspects of purchasing a new item for almost everyone. Although solar garden lights are very similar in price, it's still crucial to consider how much you're willing to spend on lights before you go looking. Having a better idea of your budget will help you find the ideal solution.
Ease of install
If you need something easy to put up for a party this weekend, you won't want to buy a setup that'll take hours to put together. Instead, finding a solar light that's easy to install will make life easier and allow you to get back to doing other things like gardening!
Lifespan
Outdoor products never last as long as their indoor cousins, so it's not surprising to find that solar garden lights have a shorter shelf life than other indoor lights. However, this doesn't mean you should have to replace your garden lights every year or bring them in during the winter. Instead, look for a light that can withstand the types of weather you often see and be sure to care for the light properly so it can last a long time.
Aesthetic
Of course, you should like the way your new lights look! If they don't suit the aesthetic of your garden, you'll likely be disappointed and tempted to go looking for other options. So be sure you're looking for a light that's going to suit the rest of your garden, or at least blend in and not take away from your garden ornaments.
MAGGIFT Solar Pathway Lights
These pathway lights by MAGGIFT are ideal for lighting the way during the darker hours of the day. Whether it's the path from the driveway to the house or the deck to the flower garden, these lights will soak up sun rays and provide you with plenty of light to see your way.

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When and how to transplant tomato plants for the best results
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February 9, 2022
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There's a time in every gardener's life when they try to grow their own veggie plants from seed. This is a gratifying process, and there are many benefits to growing your own seed starts. One of those benefits is bigger and healthier plants. By growing your own baby tomato plants, you can ensure that the plants are well cared for, never given anything you don't want them to have, and transplanted in just the right way at just the right time for optimal plant health. So how do you transplant tomato plants to ensure they're happy and healthy and live to produce lots of yummy tomatoes for your home?

How do you transplant a grown tomato plant?
If you've never transplanted tomatoes before, the idea can be intimidating. You have all these tiny plants that you've cared for over the last several weeks, and now it's time to pluck them out of their nursery pots and plop them into the outside soil where they're exposed to sun, weather, and critters. Luckily, you've cared for them so well that they're healthy and robust plants that will be able to handle anything nature throws at them.
Step one: Harden the plants
Hardening the plants is a term gardeners use when talking about the process of acclimating a greenhouse-grown plant to outside conditions. Typically it refers to sunlight, but it could also refer to wind and other weather that could harm the plant. About a week before you're ready to transplant, you'll want to harden your baby tomato plants by exposing them to sunlight at increasing increments each day. For example, day one should be about 30 minutes, then 45, then 50, and so on until the day of transplanting. If you don't do this, you'll risk your plant being burnt and killed when you transplant it outside.
Step two: Don't water the plants
Before you start pulling little plants out of their pots, you mustn't water the plants a few days before transplanting. Wet soil can make the transplanting process much harder on you and the plant. Dry soil falls away easier and is less likely to break off roots as you move the plants to their new home.
Step three: Prepare the new soil
The new location for your tomato plants will need to be prepped before you get all those babies out of their homes. Whether you are planting into the ground, a raised bed, or a pot, you'll want to amend the soil to guarantee that the plant has many nutrients to soak up. It also is easier if you dampen the soil right before transplanting. Damp soil is much more manageable and more easily manipulated around the plant.
Step four: Plant deeply
As you gently pull out the baby tomato plants, you'll want to shake off the old soil to expose the roots. This will ensure the plant has access to the new soil and nutrients you're about to provide it with. 

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