Creating an Apartment Garden
Even the tiniest of urban flats has enough space to accommodate a pocket-sized garden. Apartment dwellers of the world, cast off your shackles. It’s time for a Green Revolution – without leaving the confines of your urban condominium. Obviously, a 1,000 sq. ft flat in a congested metro doesn’t leave too much space for a garden. But with imagination, patience and a green thumb, people have stretched this space to its limits.
The most under-used space in a flat is perhaps the balcony, and it is this space that is most precious for wannabe gardeners. While those living on top floors of apartments with almost exclusive access to the rooftop have more than adequate space to give their imagination a free run, those on lower floors often have to make do with the little squares and rectangles that make up the balcony area.
Yet, this space is adequate to support a huge number of potted plants, trellises and creepers. In flats with a long balcony running across the front half of the house, there’s quite a bit of horizontal space available that can accommodate a number of pots and planters strewn around. A balcony like this can also have a climber such as a bougainvillea creeper draped over the railing. But there should be some order in the way the planters are arranged, or the overall space could end up looking cluttered. One could also hang a few pots from the balcony roof and walls, but don’t go overboard and make the balcony look like a tropical jungle.
In big balconies, the ‘garden’ can also double up as a seating area. With a few chairs and cushions thrown about, it’s the perfect place to relax after a day at work or to lounge in the sun in winter. Just remember to keep the furniture light – otherwise moving it around when it rains will be a backbreaking task. Bamboo and cane chairs and tables are the best options, though some people do go in for wrought iron.
For small spaces, it’s advisable to have a good mix of seasonal and perennial plants. A few hardy palms such as areca, china and pritchardia are a must. Hangers and creepers are a good option to add volume to your little balcony garden. Huge vines of bougainvillea, motia (a jasmine variety), night queen or quisqualis (madhulatai) can actually be rooted in a mid-sized tub or planter. And when these flowering shrubs are in bloom (some, like the bougainvillea, are perennial), they add that much-needed splash of colour to your garden.
Even if your house doesn’t boast an extended front balcony, there’s nothing to worry about. When it comes to gardens, size doesn’t really seem to matter and even a small square one can support a mini-kitchen garden. One can grow everything from tomatoes, aubergines and cucumbers to oranges in pots-this is admittedly more challenging than having a few ferns and crotons. For those not willing to work quite so hard, having a herb garden is die best option. Herbs such as basil, coriander, mint, thyme and fenugreek can be easily grown in planters- all they need is some sunlight
On a small balcony, exploiting the vertical space is definitely recommended. While hanging pots with cascading leafy plants such as jade will effectively make use of the ceiling space, a trellis of bamboo or wood covered with a creeper like money plant could also act as a cool screen for the balcony.
If you still feel the balcony isn’t big enough there’s one more option. A small change in the house plan can make the balcony look larger than it is. This can be achieved by having the room adjoining the balcony run into it as far as possible in order to give an illusion of spaciousness. A glass partition between the room and the balcony along with continuous flooring between the two spaces could well achieve this. It isn’t the wide-open spaces.
The first thing that will strike you about my room is the interplay between white and several vibrant colours.
