Re-Organising the Balcony

I mentioned in my last post that I finally received Fern Richardson's Small-Space Container Gardens. In the book, she described how we can first design our container gardens by laying out a plan for where each plant goes. I followed her advice and tried applying some form of order for my rectangular-shaped balcony. The results were pretty amazing.

Previously, I had two sets of shelves on both and left and right ends of my balcony and a solo shelf in the middle facing the sliding doors. I then filled the empty space with a big bamboo plant to the left of that shelf in the middle and a big cactus and an aloe vera to the right of the same shelf. For some reason, I was obsessed with having a patio table out on the balcony and it had to be set right in the middle. The end result was a decent looking balcony with bits of plants all over. I believe I've shared some pictures of what the old layout was like in previous posts so I shall not repeat them here.

I re-arranged my shelves and now have three shelves in the middle of the balcony facing the sliding doors, and my bamboo over to the left end of the balcony. It looks like this:

Big Bamboo plant now occupies left end of balcony & neighbours my Indian Rubber plant

 After the move, I realised that not only do I now have access to drainage, I have more space to move about and enough to keep my ladder and other bulky items in the corner, out of sight. Also, by having three shelves in the middle of the balcony, I've immediately gained some privacy.

The row of 3 shelves that now occupy center place

This time, I was determined to use plants as a shield from the traffic and from the prying eyes (I assume they are prying) of our next-block neighbours. I wanted to build a wall of plants and so got myself a pot of white bleeding hearts vine and ivy to go in a long planter. The planter goes smack in the middle of the three shelves and is placed a little higher up where the plants can get most sun.

What the "wall" looks like - can't wait for the vines to grow!

I also got several small pots of fern (they were on sale at the nursery near me) as well as flowers that need partial shade to go on the lower racks of the shelves. My existing plants and herbs now occupy all the other spots and have gained centerpiece status.

My husband watched me do the move on Sunday and asked me, "Why didn't we think of this sooner?" Yeah, I am also amazed at how little tips from another person or a book can help transform the space so much. I still have my patio table; it's no longer placed in the middle but to the left of the balcony, in a little corner where I can sit surrounded by plants and sunshine, but still have a little privacy if I choose. I now have a space which looks so much neater and so much bigger. It made me realise that I was cluttering up my balcony before!

Perhaps you are not quite satisfied with how your garden looks right now. Maybe you can consider a little "reformation" too. Cheers and hope you have a good gardening day~

The 2nd quarter of 2012 already??

I cannot believe how quickly time just flew by.  Since the last post on New Year's, I've been remiss online. However, the gardening hasn't paused.

I've been waiting for Fern Richardson's book on Small Space Container Gardens and finally got a copy of it last week. So over the past weekend, I followed some of her tips and redesigned my balcony. The effects were so wonderful, even my husband commented: "Why didn't we think of this sooner?" I haven't quite filled it out with the plants I have in mind yet but I do believe it's been a good start!

Will be sharing pictures of the new layout soon. Hope you'll return to this space for my updates and meanwhile, happy planting!

Re-organising, re-uses

Evidence of destruction. 

Since my return to a near fully-wrecked garden, I've been thinking of ways to reorganize my plants and also to 'pet-proof' them. Part of my thoughts on these were on husband-proofing them and I believe I might have found a partial solution.

I have to admit a friend of mine gave me the idea - creating terrariums, which are basically enclosed mini-gardens. They are particularly helpful for the busy and forgetful (not to mention, my husband) - because they are mostly enclosed, moisture is kept within the terrarium so we don't have to water it very often.

My attempt at creating a terrarium.

There are obviously a wide selection of plants to choose from when building our terrarium and I will share more on this in my next post. Today I just want to share photos of my latest potting attempts. I've placed them all around the house and they are heavy enough to stop the kitten from turning them over.

Having a mix of different plants in shallow dish.

I realized the key in this is having small stones in your container to weigh it down. In my top picture, you may have noticed that one of my earlier attempts at planting in a shallow glass dish had been overturned by the kitten. I've noticed that he hasn't succeeded with the stone-weighted one. Fingers crossed but I hope he continues to leave them alone.  

Putting the vase to use as plant pot.

I add charcoal in the mix because I find that they not only act as a nice filter for excess water, they help with water retention. I also like using charcoal because an NEA officer once told me that water that's been filtered by charcoal is less favored by breeding mosquitoes. So far, it's worked.

I think I particularly like the mini terrarium I've built using my vase for cut-flowers. I don't usually get cut flowers now that I have my own garden so the vase had been sitting on my shelf for a while. I think having the plants in it make it look great and these are just some ideas we can consider as we start decorating our homes for year-end festivities and the new year.

The great thing about having our home-built terrariums as decoration is the fact that it is totally green! It's living and will stay with you for a long time. Hope you will check in again for my next post on how to build our own terrariums and the kinds of plants that will fit this kind of environment.

Ideas from Taipei

In my last entry, I said that I would share a couple ideas I got from my short trip to Taipei. I was surprised to see how "green" that city was. Most of the corners I turned, I could see houses and shops with potted plants. Many of the apartments also had plant-decorated balconies, although the plants were primarily placed on shelves and in the usual plant pots we see here. 

A metal cat sits at the doorway to a teahouse. Love the plants that surround it. 

There were some places were the usage of green really popped and caught my attention. I didn't manage to catch all of these examples but here are some... 

Pruned bamboos.

On our trip up to one of the mountains and getting thoroughly lost while trying to find a lake, I spotted this building with its stunning bamboo plants. Made me wonder how they pruned the bamboo such that it has this shape. 

Another day trip to one of the popular touristy locations brought me to a public washroom, where I was pleasantly surprised. They have obviously tried to maintain a wall of greens within the washroom. 

Although you'll have noticed that most of the plants are missing and it doesn't appear that the plants are getting much sunlight, the remaining plants look quite healthy and happy.  This layout of plants is one of the ones I've been working on lately. Remember one of my posts where I shared a picture of plants in frames? 

The other thing I noticed from this trip lies in the selection of plants. I've done a bit of homework since and I suppose most of you may already know this - some plants are just more suited for the low lighting indoors. Those might be the plants to consider if you're also planning to have plants as indoor decorations. 

A wall of plants in a public washroom.

That being said, I've been taking a long break, what with the dreadful cold and cough I developed during the trip. And my mind hasn't been idle. With various festivities coming up, I guess decorating our house to receive guests may be top on our minds. I'll be sharing some of the ways I've transformed the containers lying around my house and how discuss how you might want to consider using them to decorate your house for the rest of the year and the next year.