The balcony box planting is of great importance in the creative design of house and garden. Numerous imaginative options transform your flower box into a miniature plant paradise. You can find out here how to properly plant your balcony boxes throughout all seasons.

The balcony box can be planted well into autumn

Ideas for summer balcony box planting

To ensure that your balcony shows its best side in summer, the starting signal will be given in mid-May. After the ice saints, the time to plant summer flowers and perennials in the flower box begins. (16.99 €) Now, long-lasting bloomers are very popular, which immerse the balcony in a sea of blossoms from May to late summer. The following two planting suggestions for the south-facing balcony in full sun and the west/east-facing balcony in partial shade may serve as your inspiration:

Flower box for sunny locations

  • Little Tickseed 'Robin' (Coreopsis lanceolata 'Robin'), yellow flowers with red-brown eye
  • Ornamental sage 'Blue Hill' (Salvia nemorosa), blue spikes of flowers
  • Mosquito grass (Bouteloua gracilis), horizontal, brownish flower spikes
  • Carpathian bellflower (Campanula carpatica 'Blaue Clips'), sky blue cup-shaped flowers
  • Carpet phlox 'White Admiral' (Phlox douglasii), purple flowers
  • Stonecrop 'Carl' (Sedum spectabile), pink flowers

Flower box for partially shaded locations

  • 1 White Candytuft 'White Dwarf' (Iberis sempervirens), white flowers
  • 2 Purple bells 'Frosted Violett' (Heuchera micrantha), white flowers
  • 2 Blue periwinkle (Vinca minor), blue flowers
  • 2 mountain sedges (Carex montana), yellow spike flowers
  • 1 'Rubin' (Primula denticulata), ruby-red flowers
  • 1 Globe primula 'Alba' (Primula denticulata), white flowers
  • 2 Cranesbill 'Samobor' (Geranium phaeum), purplish-brown flowers

Instead of planting a flower box uniformly with red geraniums or white hanging petunias, these two planting suggestions are recommended as varied alternatives.

Planting suggestions for autumn and winter on the balcony

When the beauty of geraniums, petunias, daisies and carnations fades in late summer, another window opens for creative window box planting. The summer perennials are now handing over the floral baton to hardy survivors with a very special mission. To prevent melancholy from spreading on the balcony during the dark season, the following plants are perfect:

  • Winter heather (Erica carnea 'Whisky') with orange-bronze-yellow needle leaves and ruby red flowers from February; 15-20cm
  • Cylindrical spurge (Euphorbia myrsinites) delights with cylindrical shoots with gray-green-blue ornamental leaves; 15-20cm
  • Red carpet berry (Gaultheria procumbens) with oval, smooth-edged leaflets and bright red berries; 10-20cm
  • Purple bells (Heuchera), colourful, beautifully marked leaves with a silvery sheen; 20-30cm

With filigree, small ornamental grasses you loosen up the window box planting for the winter. Fall back on wintergreen species and varieties, such as Japanese golden sedge (Carex oshimensis 'Evergold') or dwarf blue fescue (Festuca cinerea hybrid 'Zwergenkönig').

Christmas rose as winter window box planting

The Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) enchants us with pure white to crimson flowers in the middle of winter. By nature, the native perennial is site-faithful. Once planted, it would like to remain at the location for up to 25 years. Nevertheless, the winter queen tolerates a short tryst in the wintry flower box. So plant the snow rose in a large balcony box in autumn, enjoy the beautiful winter blooms and place the perennial in the garden bed in spring.

Herbs in the balcony box - planting suggestions for the mini herb garden

With herbs as balcony box planting, you benefit in two ways. Numerous species bloom in glorious colors in the summertime and give an aromatic harvest. Prime examples of herbs are sage (Salvia officinalis), lemon thyme 'Variegatus' (Thymus citriodorus), marjoram (Origanum dictamnus) and lavender 'Dwarf Blue' (Lavandula angustifolia). On the sunny, warm balcony, with your roots stretched out in herbal soil, you can elicit the optimum from the herbal plants.

Professional tips for planting technology - you should pay attention to this

Before you put these planting suggestions into practice, please prepare the flower box properly. If there are no openings in the floor for water drainage, drill them yourself. Then spread out a drainage system consisting of inorganic materials such as broken pottery or pebbles. Only then do you fill in a high-quality, peat-free potting soil as a substrate, which is ideally enriched with Perlite (37.51€) breathing flakes for perfect permeability.

Before you put a plant in the flower box, immerse the potted root ball in water until no more air bubbles rise. Ideally, use collected rainwater or stagnant tap water. Young plants that are well supplied with water take root quickly and do not suffer from drought stress. Experience has shown that it is easier to remove a pot from the damp root ball anyway.

When measuring the planting distances, please consider that the plants will increase in height and width. Therefore, do not give in to the temptation to place the flowers and perennials close together so that the arrangement looks decorative from the start. After a short time, the plants will crowd each other and hinder growth. In order to plant a flower box correctly, the rule of thumb is a hand's width between plants.

tips

It's amazing how many delicious vegetables are suitable for planting in balcony boxes. Sweet peas, crunchy snack cucumbers, delicious mini pumpkins and tempting red marble tomatoes thrive in the flower box with climbing support. Lamb's lettuce rich in vitamins and American lettuce grow just as luxuriantly and vigorously in balcony boxes as juicy strawberries. As a substrate, we recommend organic vegetable soil with sheep's wool, such as Compo Bio Universal soil.

Category:

Indoor plants