How can you transform your balcony?

Often essential for those living in town houses, a balcony can be a breath of fresh air, and the ideal place to sunbathe and read in summer. Indeed not everyone is fortunate enough to have a garden, especially in urban areas. For those who can’t afford to purchase a French country house, a balcony or terrace will be the nearest thing to a private patch of greenery! Now  with a little imagination, it is possible to convert your balcony into a pleasant area; hopefully without a satellite dish which would prevent any access to your balcony due to its bulky size…

A small garden:

–          “Creating a garden on my balcony means…”

A small garden is the first thing that directly springs to mind as young plants would grow rapidly in the sunlight. You can create your own garden retreat even though you are high above the ground. Balconies are often subjected to intense weather and strong winds, so special precautions have to be taken such as not planting tall plants, otherwise they risk breaking (to a maximum of 1 meter high). Do take this into account especially if your property is set in a windy region such as the Atlantic coast: Aquitaine, Pays-de-la-Loire or Brittany.

–          Here are some ideas to create a garden on your balcony:

Check out the balcony’s construction. In addition to the weight of the plants, it is important to consider the additional weight that will be needed for containers and soil. Before beginning, you must find out from the building specifications how much weight the balcony can safely support. Never exceed the safety recommendations for the building: your safety is at risk.

The quickest and simplest way to make your balcony look established with plants is to add larger shrubs. If a limited budget or access rules out moving in large plants, consider growing a hibiscus. They are reasonably priced and a small plant will grow rapidly and produce large, showy blooms every year.

In addition, decide whether you need to put down floor covering, as it’s possible to lay down a grass carpet. This enables your balcony to resemble a small garden even more, except you don’t need to mow! Putting your plants on the carpet will hide its edges and really gives the impression of a small garden as seen in the picture below:

The density of leaves will conceal the edge of the carpet. Here on the picture the grass carpet only takes up half of the balcony area, but it is possible to buy a grass carpet which covers the whole balcony. Now you can sunbathe as if you were in a country house garden!

An enclosed space:

If you don’t live at the top floor of a building and, thus, if there is another balcony belonging to the flat above yours, it is easy to create a further “room”. By using the “ceiling” above the balcony you can enjoy its shelter and could possible turn your balcony into a summer kitchen. Yet avoid putting a barbecue there as the smells might disturb your neighbours. Moreover, check if your building has rules about balconies. Make sure that your landlord isn’t going to make you take something down before you spend any money on it: using the ceiling to hang materials to create a “room” could be a fire code violation, which would nullify your lease. Be extremely cautious as French law could penalise you.

Thus a small garden appears to be the best solution to convert your balcony into a pleasant area…