Here are some tips on how to proceed if you want to put together an easy-care balcony planting:
When is a plant actually easy to care for?
Whether a plant that is advertised as being particularly easy to care for will also be particularly easy to care for on your balcony depends on a number of factors. Therefore, you may z. B. do not necessarily rely on the term “easy care” to appear on the label of the plant. When easy-care plants are in demand, a lot of plants suddenly become easy-care, almost like the breakfast cereals, which are all suddenly labeled as “healthy” and “with less sugar”.
The optimally cared for plant in the right location is easy to care for
A plant is only ever easy to care for if you meet its species-specific location requirements, and the better you do that, the easier it will be to care for this plant. The light conditions, the composition and the nutrient content of the substrate, its moisture content and pH value are of fundamental importance for a plant to thrive.
Then it is also important that you do not place plants next to or put in front of each other that would compete with each other or would take away each other's light if they grew really tall. The competitions are about some plants just not growing well when placed next to each other and that you don't have a plant that spreads very strongly next to a rather weak one Little plants
Consideration for the lighting conditions is with one Balcony planting only required if you plant different plants in front of each other in very deep boxes. With a view to these requirements, there is a certain optimal distance for each plant, which is maintained between the individual plants when planting should, and some plants like to stand in larger groups, some work best as solitaires (this is called the sociability level of a plant, it goes from 1 to 5). If you want to combine plants with different care requirements, you should group plants with similar fertilizer and water requirements.
With regard to the effect, it depends on the times when the individual plants bloom and on a harmonious combination of the flower colors and leaf colors. Once you have considered the location requirements your balcony can meet, you can select plants that are labeled on the label that they like these locations.
Perennial plants make maintenance easier in the long run
Now, if you follow all of these tips and choose your favorite plants, you should find a wide range of those on offer Pay special attention to plants if you want your balcony to be really easy to care for: the ones typically found in stores offered Balcony plants. Because what you
need, are perennial plants, not plants that will mess around after the first season and quickly give you a lot of work again. Most of the balcony plants offered are, however, either really only annual or, in principle, perennial, but intended by the trade for only annual use. It is mainly hybrid breeds that z. B. have been optimized for particularly large flowers, but their persistence properties usually leave something to be desired, and propagation by seeds is usually impossible with hybrids anyway.If you buy “real” perennial plants, they will not only survive “real” for several years, but you you can also let the flowers mature into seeds at any time and use them to grow the next generation. Is that troublesome? This is gardening, everything else is just seasonal decorating! In addition, you have already saved a lot of time before your first attempts at breeding, you then had to do a few Years don't empty the window boxes in autumn and buy, haul and carry new soil and plants in spring plant.
Winter hardy is not just winter hardy
If you perennial plants you have to make sure that these - in your home, on your balcony - are really hardy. Because only these plants are then also perennial with you, and similar to what can be observed with the term “easy to care for” is, many plants are referred to as winter hardy in the trade, which do not always do justice to this designation.
- It may be true that this plant can be hardy in Germany, so the label doesn't lie. Unfortunately, this plant is only hardy in climate zone 8b, in which the average determined minimum temperature is between minus 6.7 and a maximum of minus 9.4 degrees. Few places on German islands are assigned to this climate zone, that's true, but unfortunately the majority of our residents have to live with the Take the climate of climate zone 7, and the winter temperatures are on average between minus 12.3 and minus 17.7 Degree.
- Knowing about the climatic zone of your own place of residence and a look at the hardiness zone information on the label doesn't do any harm if it says “9” (minus 1.2 to minus 6.6 degrees), you really don't need to try this plant on your balcony if you live in a small town in the country near Rosenheim (climate zone 6a, minus 20.6 to minus 23.3 Degree).
- But of course this information is only a guideline: urban areas have a climate that is around half a climate zone milder than the surrounding area, and the microclimate on your balcony ultimately decides. A sheltered, completely enclosed and south-facing terrace at the angle of two warm House walls allow you to experiment very differently than the exposed one exposed to wind and rain North balcony. On the other hand, a plant that is actually sensitive to frost, which is ecological and thus from domestic seeds, can be robust and was grown healthy, in a nutrient-rich soil without peat and with a winter protection made of brushwood. Amazing survive ...
Local perennials are your guarantee of success
After reading this article, you will surely better understand why the indication “easy-care” on a label is not the absolute guarantee of success. It's not that you can't find very many plants in stores that can prove to be downright easy to care for on your balcony. All you need is more information than that label alone, and whether or not you can find that information, also tells you something about whether you are working for a real horticultural company or a plant discounter shop.
If you like to spend a little time choosing the plants for your balcony and their needs, In the long run, you will certainly have the least work to do with a balcony that is planted with native wild perennials is. It is common for native plants to survive the winter here. That perennials live for several years as well.
With an organic gardener, you can also be sure that you are buying “real plants” that you own can continue to multiply and also for the preservation of the biodiversity of native insects care for. If you don't have the time or inclination to become a “serious” balcony gardener, your balcony could be without it Create annual new planting as a carefree package by placing on hardy climbing plants in the tub set.
