Lay out a bed of herbs on the balcony

"Just" a balcony? Because of "only"!

The balcony is generally regarded as a minimalist substitute garden - and accordingly also has a somewhat ungrateful compromise character. It certainly doesn't offer as many possibilities as a large garden, both in terms of relaxation and in terms of horticultural design. Nevertheless, it also has some advantages, also from a horticultural point of view, which you may not be aware of so quickly:

• The balcony has a manageable size - that means less potential for chaos!
• With side walls, it can offer a protected microclimate
• A lot of stone as a frame material serves as a heat store
• It can be accessed quickly and directly from the house - no long distances to the crop!

So if you only have a balcony or terrace available as outdoor living space, you don't need to add on To avoid delicacies that enrich the kitchen - herbs in particular are ideal for cultivation on the balcony and terrace the reasons mentioned! Because many of them do not need a lot of space and a lot of warmth - you are certainly more willing to harvest them for cooking every day if you are only a stone's throw away from them ...

Grow herbs on balconies and patios

Creating a bed is of course not really possible on a balcony - above all there is usually a lack of space and, of course, soil. If you still want to create a bed of different herbs together, for example, the following clever alternatives are available:

• Mini raised bed
• Group of beds made of wooden boxes

Mini raised bed

If you build a mini raised bed yourself, you can optimally adapt it to your balcony architecture in terms of size and shape. In addition, you have all your favorite herbs in one place, which can be reached for care and harvest without having to bend down. You can also provide them with a deep substrate. In this respect, a balcony raised bed is particularly suitable for herbs that require nutrients such as chives and wild garlic, lovage, basil or mint.

Bed group

Another idea is to put together a “bed group” from several wooden boxes. You can group them all close together to form an optically large bed or arrange them individually. The advantage here is that you can cultivate herbs with different location and substrate requirements separately from one another. For example, you can plant a mini box bed with local herbs such as parsley, chervil or chamomile and one with Mediterranean herbs such as thyme, rosemary or oregano.

Location

When it comes to the location, the possibilities for variation on the balcony and terrace are of course limited - above all, you depend on the orientation of your mini-garden. Of course, the best option is a southern orientation. Because most herbs need a lot of sun to thrive.

The relatively small, mostly stone material also has a positive effect on a balcony or terrace facing south surrounding micro-space - especially Mediterranean herbs offer ideal conditions with lots of warmth and protection Weather conditions.

If your balcony faces north, growing southern herbs is of course rather difficult. On the other hand, you can also find varieties with wonderful aromas and flavors that are less sun-drenched various possible uses: These include typical forest herbs such as wild garlic and woodruff or mint.

Refined and decorative alternatives to beds

Instead of working with a functional herb bed, you can of course work differently - and get a lot of decorative value out of your herb culture. In general, the alternative is planting in pots - but there are many different options:

• Window boxes
• Individual flower pots
• Combi pots

Window boxes

They are the somewhat more profane and inexpensive variant. They are easy to fix on the balcony railing, lie at a stoop-free height and thus also function as small raised beds, but with less substrate volume. The disadvantage is that you are more or less fixed on one location - so the choice of herbs has to be largely adapted to the conditions there. Also have Window boxes(€ 7.99 at Amazon *) of course only a moderate aesthetic value.

Individual flower pots

On the other hand, you can get something more decorative out of a herb culture in several flower pots - before especially if you have classic terracotta pots, perhaps in different sizes and designs, use. A varied placement with pots on the balcony wall, others on the floor and others on the balcony table can loosen up the little herb oasis even more. From a practical, harvest-oriented point of view, such arrangements naturally give you full freedom in choosing a location.

Combi pots

What is also very pretty and compact at the same time are combination pots. With its large main pot and attached side troughs, you can cultivate different herbs in one place and still offer them different substrates - The large main pot with its pot volume is ideal for varieties that require humus, while the typical Mediterranean herbs can be found in the side troughs snuggle up.