We are incredibly lucky to have a large balcony for a 1 bedroom rented flat (approximately 18 foot wide and 6 foot deep). Having said that, when we first moved in 7 years ago and at 21 years old, we weren't that bothered by utilising the outdoor space that we had. Neither of us at the time were particularly into gardening. In fact, my other half didn't even have an outdoor space at his previous home. We both agreed that "at some point" we would do something with it and our attention was focused solely on making the inside of our flat look nice.
Years passed and the weeds got bigger; we bought a cheap metal table and chairs for the balcony, but that was the extent of what we did with it.
The turning point for me came when I developed extremely bad anxiety at the beginning of last year. I struggled to leave the house or even venture out very far beyond my "safe zone" which was my home town. One day my parents asked if I wanted to come with them to a National Trust property called Batemans in East Sussex. I really had to force myself to go with them which was very difficult at the time for me (travelling over an hour away was incredibly daunting). Whilst walking around I was hit by an overwhelming feeling of calm- the first time I had felt like that for months. I realised that I felt so at ease in the countryside and being surrounded by flowers and nature, and I knew that I really wanted to re-create my own "calm space" back at home.
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| Overlooking the chicken coop at Batemans |
We started off with just 2 plants. One was "Silver Carpet" and the other was a bronze-coloured grass which unfortunately I can't remember the name of now. Both were crammed into the same pot and I was so excited to actually have some foliage (other than weeds) on the balcony!
From there I acquired 2 other plants- a "Red Robin" and a "Rubella" shrub, both of which were given to me from small shoots. These absolutely thrived (and still are now!) on the balcony. Spurred on by their success, we bought more and more.
We now have a pink "Anniversary" Rose, pink Hydrangea, "Lambs Ear", "Rubella" shrub, "Little Heath", "Ascot Rainbow", "Red Robin", a "Trachycarpus" palm, a "Pheonix Canariensis" palm, "Sundance" shrub, "Little Lottie" Lavender, French Lavender, "Royal Purple" shrub and a "Coleus" shrub...I'm sure there's others that I've missed!
We decided on a mixture of ceramic and terracotta pots. Most of the ceramic pots are the "Heritage Garden Pottery" brand which you can get information on here. I just love the different colours, shapes and sizes they sell.
I'd love to get to the stage where the balcony is crammed full of plants. We have a lot, but there are still multiple spaces to fill.
We decided to scrap the table and chairs as they were so rusty and a real eyesore. Instead I wanted to get a wooden bench which would withstand the weather better and in my opinion looks a bit "softer" as a material than metal. Most of the benches I had seen were either way out of my price range or were cheap but totally flimsy.
I came across a lovely bench at a small garden centre near to where I live and it was a steal at £99.99. It is such a solid bench and another positive for me was that it hadn't been treated like most benches are, meaning that I didn't need to sand it all down before I painted it. I decided to use Cuprinol paint in the shade "Willow" available here. This is a gorgeous pale green which really compliments the greenery on the balcony.
Recently my other half decided to dedicate an empty corner of the balcony to herbs. We had been given some rocks from my parent's garden which he used to form a kind of rockery and then he planted up some small terracotta pots and spread them amongst the rocks. I really like how it has turned out, and its so nice to be able to go out and pick my own herbs when I'm cooking!
The final touches are some solar powered fairy lights woven around the railings. I would like to get some faux topiary balls to hang either side of the bench and also a small solar powered water feature to tuck in between some plants. I find the sound of trickling water so relaxing.
Here are various stages of the balcony or the "veranda" as we jokingly call it! Throughout the last few years.
It really is nice to have my own piece of tranquil outdoor space and the best part is, if we ever move we can literally pick everything up and take it all with us!
Generally now, if I'm feeling a bit anxious, I can sit outside surrounded by plants and I start to feel more calm. I really do believe that gardening has helped my anxiety.
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