h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've finally sorted my balcony out enough this year that I can think about actually putting some stuff on to it to grow... Sadly too late in the year this year to have gotten anything in and now well its winter I guess it must be too late...
but, thinking ahead, is this the case, is there any stuff I could do now?: I'm already thinking about raiding the gardening center at some point see if they've any offers on and get pots and suchlike in (including the halfmoon pots I plan on tputting on the wall).
I Plan, on having a mix of stuff, even though its not a big* area, with some herbs (for the kitchen), some roses in pots (just because I like roses), and some nature of climbing thing to entangle itself in the boring looking railings (possibly thinking of a climbing rose, to fit two into one thus saving space; or possibly for fun trying to grow a grape vine through the railings... but tha tmight be a bit adventures and prone to failure)
So, not too many fixed ideas on what I want to grow... oh, roses, and jasmine, because well I just like jasmine as well... oo does that climb...? The plan is to have some stuff going and growing as soon as I can in the spring so when I start sitting out there at the end of spring beginnign of summer, it might not exactly be established, but there is some evidence of plants and things growing on it <doh.

Herb-y things, in lots of cases, don't do so well over the winter in our latitudes. Some like thyme and rosemary should do fine (although they won't grow much), but I'd just sow most of them in spring myself. What you could sow now is some garlic, though, to plumpen up snuggled up in the soil through winter growing sweeter by the day and waiting for spring.

Sorry what was I saying? Oh yeah. You could sow some broad beans too, maybe with a cloche to keep the frost off them.

You could still get away with potting up lots of bulbs for spring and summer, too - and it's a good time to plant any kind of bare root shrubs like roses.

Is it a sunny wee spot?

When* its sunny, it gets good sun round about midday onwards until later afternoon, but it is also kinda exposed, especially to wind...

ahh... guess I'll need some soil then

I tried growing garlic many years ago when I were a kid, and it never grew so do you like just chuck a couple of big bulbs from siansburrys into some mud in a pot and leave it? garlic would be cool to grow...

Won't be enough room for a lot of edible stuff, and I'm near a very busy road so things like garlic would be good as you peel em before use... I think* I can fit maybe four or five halfmoon pots (of a decent size), onto the wall (it has a wall one side, glass the other, adn the third 'back' wall has a window in it and then a door (how I get out of kitchen on to balcony see).
maybe five to eight pots round the edge at the front and sides, and possibly if I can figure out/find a suitable thing, have like a long one fixed somehow to the top of the railings... if that makes sense Its not big and I need to keep room for the table and chairs out there as that is the main thing so I can sit out when* we get sun

Yep, the garlic's dead easy. Break the cloves apart and plant the cloves, and then just let them do their business. You can get special varieties in garden centres, but to be honest the bog standard off-the-Tesco-shelf ones do fine, too. Maybe later on you could grow some root veggies like carrots, too. You can really pack them in tight into a small space.

But yeah, vertical sounds like it might be the way to go! You could get all your climbers and wall shrubs in like honeysuckles, jasmines, roses - good smells might be a good way to go to make a change from exhaust fumes if the road's that busy. Ohhhh, and since you're using pots anyway and it won't get invasive, you could get a nice big bamboo to swish in the wind! That would add a bit of shelter/privacy too...

Ooo bamboo might be good... I could think of a few useful things that it could come in handy for too asides being a growy thing on the balcony
I'm particualrly interested in nice smelly things too, hence the jasmine and roses (if I can find a decent variety that actually has any scent to it...) Actually I wonder if I could get a cutting off of my Father's moss rose, very pretty pink flowers and it tends to climb quite well and has a good scent I seem to recall even if it is somewhat favoured by earwigs

If you've got a nice window ledge, you could plant rosemary, thyme and basil in small pots/trays first; and then plant them out in spring - meanwhile using them throughout the winter.

By the bye - you cannot; as far as I know, take cuttings from roses - you take layerings. Get a long stem and cut it in the right place, then peg it into the ground so that it takes root. You can then take the newly rooted rose bush away. Do take better advice matey.

oo That thing with roses sounds kind of famuliar, sure I've heard of it for other plants too perhaps I can look into it perhaps
Don't really have any window ledges in my house... The windows just don't have them (well OK a couple at the back do, but they're windows that never* see any light due to the shape of the building and surrounding things)...
I could, however, perhaps move the not in use weird table dresser thing, in the spare room, in front of the large window which looks out front (gets sun I think), and use that as a growing table for bringing stuff on inside (the spare room largely remains unused, cept for when I'm doing DIY and electrical stuff I use it as a kind of workshop... oh guests very occasionally inhabit it...)
Hmm... that actually might work quite well, so long as I remember to water em
would the little pots of herbs like taht, which you can buy from say the supermarket be any good?: Of course I'd plant em out into a bigger pot with some decent compost to help bring em on and get em established inside, then think about moveing them out onto the balcony come spring
How about chillies?; can they grow outside or would they end up a perminant resident of the spare room? mmmm... chilies... garlic... basil, rosemary, coriander, chives actually might not be any room for the rose on the balcony afterall ooo how about leeks? they grow kinda 'down', so I guess you could fit a fair few in a snall pot (deep obviously) bit like carrots I guess... how about spring onions No... I will grow things other* than things to eat

Well was doing some reading up on roses, on a couple of web-sites, including the RHS turns out Nov to dec is an ideal time to plant roses if you buy the bare root ones apparently* it gives them time to lay down a few roots and be 'in the ground' so they're ready to get going as soon as we hit the spring
Blimey... though... There are an awful lot of varietys... And no where could I find an answer to how the 'scoring' system they seem to use for the strength of scent (seems to be 1 to 5 scale), actually works (which end is strong smell which is weak? dunno....)

I think the one I refered to as a moss rose, with my Father has, can't* actually be a moss rose, as the descriptions of that I found describe somethign very* small up to no more than 12 inchs high whereas the one my Father has can be up to about 10 foot up the wall depending how good a growing season we've had So I may still have to take a cutting/whatever off that one if I want somethign the same unless I can identify what variety it is ; Will have to wait until spring to do that though, which seems the best time recommended for doing such things

So, maybe a trip to the garden store soon, get some suitable compost (think I've already got some suitable pots to start me off), and things, and maybe set up the herbs in the spare room, ready to plant out in spring, and get a few roses in to pots on the balcony in the next few weeks too

How exciting! I'm reading with interest, but hesitate to offer advice since I've never gardened in your climate.

If you do want to start any plants from cuttings see if you can find a product called Rootone. It is coarser than a powder but smoother than granular fertilizer, for example. You dip the cut end into it before you plant it. It helps the cutting take root.

I love Websailor's suggestion to grow some herbs on your window sill to set out in spring. Herbs are wonderful to grow. Most aren't that fussy about soil requirements, most do well with a half-day's sunlight, and they are very fragrant and ornamental as well as practical. Make sure you keep your perennial ones separate from the annual ones. That way you don't have to disturb the roots of the perennials. I have good luck getting them to overwinter, and my climate is colder than yours. I can't keep rosemary over unless we have a mild winter. It freezes out on me. I have to replant it each spring.

I have a friend who has... I think both rosemary and basil in his garden, and he says it grows wild so I'll probably try nabbing some off of him next time he trys to reduce its size
I've not got much space to work with on my balcony so I'm going to be quite limited.... I'm not sure the people on the street below would like my idea for a water feature
There's certainly a huge variety of roses so I'll have to try and just pick a few carefully as I'll not have room for too* many.... although it migh tbe nice to have a couple or more clibing roses in the same big pot, and then train them up the wall, or through the railings at the front of the balcony, so long as I don't pick colours that clash I think they'd probably be alright, as they'll need to be trimmed/pruned to prevent them getting too big, they shouldn't struggle both being in the same large pot, with some feed given every now and then obviously
Jasmine is the main one I want for scent... I just love the smell of jasmine and it oughta sit comfetable with any scent from the roses too I think I'll probably not try to plant out too much the first season, as I can see how that all goes and settles in a bit, then have room to decide on what to add in the year after I've never really done any gardening myself as I've always lived in places like this with no garden or outside wahtsoever Most I've done before is the more rough end of gardening... grass cutting, pruning, cutting down trees, lugging stuff about the garden for other people etc oh, and digging though I did help with growing veg when younger, and despite my best efforts have not yet managed to kill the two houseplants I inherated from the previous owner...

Roses: I think you would like Fragrant Cloud. It gets 9/10 for fragrance and isn't very thorny. http://www.classicroses.co.uk/products/roses/fragrant-cloud/

There's another called Fragrant Vision. 7/10 for fragrance and more throns.
http://www.classicroses.co.uk/products/roses/fragrant-vision/

You can search that site for the features you want and it come up with suggestions.

This year I have grown several things in pots. Rosemary, thyme and sage come up every year, no maitenance needed, and no problem with the frost or extreme weather at all. Strawberries I have every year too, I've just potted up the runners to give to friends in the spring. They would probably need to be protected or put in your spare room over the winter.

For the first time I've done tomatoes, chillis, peppers and courgettes. The tomatoes were amazing! Like little taste bombs in your mouth. My favourite way to serve was just halved, grilled and sprinkled with olive oil and cracked black pepper. I never want shop bought ones again. I believe you can get some to go in hanging baskets, so that might be ideal for a balcony. I grew them up sticks. I did see on Gardeners World last year that someone recommended getting a grow bag, cutting it in half and putting each half upright to get more depth for the roots. That would save space too.

Chillis and peppers very easy, I did these in a grow bag and they are still doing well. Courgettes were a bit of a flop, I did get a couple but I was doing something wrong somewhere.

Finally, I wouldn't recommend trying to plant up one of the potted herbs from the supermarket. They have been given lots of nitrogen feed to make them look so lush when you buy them. All that effort exhausts the plant I think.

I was wondering about the supermarket bought 'growing herbs' too; I've never managed to keep them alive for more than a day or two when I've bought them anyhow...
Oo chilies and garlic, and tomatos plus the rosemary and basil and jasmine and roses would be good I may try the chilies and a lot of it inside, I can probably fit a fair bit into the spare room, whislt still leaving some space for any guests

Oo I'll ahve a look at that site for the roses... there is one called 'dancing queen' which I'd like too... just because of the name really

Coely makes a good point about the potted transplants. I know loads of folks who try to find the largest potted tomato or basil or whatever only to have poor results later on. When you buy transplants, make sure they are seedlings in their first pot. The smaller ones transplant with less shock as well as being generally healthier. Better yet, grow your own from seed. That's what I do 90% of the time. I wind up with the varieties I want at the time I want them. There is a lot larger selection of varieties in seed catalogs than in nursery flats.

We have different varieties of roses and other shrubs over here, so I can't recommend any. I have no clue what is available there.

Hi 2legs! Try Tumbling Tom for tomatoes - they are really tasty and do well in either pots or hanging baskets as you do not have to cane them.

oo so some tomatos enjoy being caned? how odd... thought that was just me
I'm still a little dubious about eating stuff off of my balcony... We're not exactly a main road, but its pretty busy with traffic... Of course, quite how eating a few bits of veg with a little potential traffic dust/polution on could be any worse than the twenty fags I smoke a day is anohter question
I'll try get to teh garden centre in a week or two once I'm back home (away from this weekend), then can get stuff on the balcony sorted, pots and compost and the like, then think about getting the plants in that are suitable for planting this early (liek the roses) and maybe also the herb/chilies/whatever for the spare room growing table

just a little note of caution 2legs, How sturdy is your balcony? Do take care not to buy too many heavy pots and fill them with compost and plants, cos they are damned heavy, - and they need to be to stop them blowing over in the wind....


Apart from that it sounds a wonderful project!

I think this 'gutter gardening' idea might work

http://www.rutlandguttersupply.com/blog/2009/06/02/GutterGardenCopperGutterGarden.aspx


http://lifehacker.com/5229896/gutter-gardens-grow-produce-without-taking-up-space

Basically, just get some additional guttering from the Builder's Merchant store and attach in horizontal layers, fill with compost and grow whatever you fancy

The balcony is plenty strong, its all concrete and although its kind of hanging off the front of the house, as its a weird shaped house, its sort of not really... err hard to describe ; by the same tolken half of my house floats in mid air... the front room, and the kitchen, and above them is the main bedroom and the second bedroom, and so It oughta all be plenty strong enough

That gutter gardening looks really interesting. It would work great for annual flowers, salad greens and things like bush beans. And the guttering could be attached to your railings. I'm assuming you have railings.

Yeh, there are some railings at the front of the balcony... they're the most dangerous part of the whole bacony... well they are I think* secure... just a bit loose.... I vaguely recall people using down pipes from guttering to grow really* straight carrots and suchlike in, for when they've been entering flower and produce compeptitions I still want to try and grow a giant sunflower in the summer; as far towards the edge of the balcony (near the railings) as ai dare, just think it'd look kinda cool if I had a really* big kinda 12 ft high sunflower just looming over peoples heads on the pavement below ... on a simular note I did toy with the idea of growing an oak... seirously.... in a large* pot... but of course it'd be a bonsii (sp) but still get it as big as I could If/when I get the window/doors replaced and I can still figure out if it'll work; I plan to try* having a lawn on the bacony... seriously... I think it'd work (though it'd need some edging hence why waiting until window/door replaced, as I could put a small inch or two high retainer of some description all round the area to be turned into lawn, and also have a retainer round the drain cover bit where the guttering from above comes down too... )
OO and just thinking, it may be worth me thinking about cutting that guttering out and having it land into a collection device instead possibly though I'm not entirely sure from where it collects nor how much


So, roses, basil, jasmine, chilies, tomatos, garlic, coriander, an oak, grass, sunflower and maybe a giant carrot...