Even if you live in an apartment without access to a traditional backyard, it is still possible to grow your own mini garden. A beautifully designed balcony space can provide as much joy and sense of calm as much larger outdoor areas. With a little creativity and the right plants, you can transform your balcony into a verdant green escape, no matter how small the space. Here are 10 of the best balcony garden ideas to help you design your own urban oasis.
Mini Culinary Garden
This design by Elizabeth Tulipana shows how to grow an array of herbs in container gardens. She included more than a dozen of her favorite culinary herbs like mint, rosemary and basil. A mini herb garden is perfect for small spaces as it allows home cooks and cocktail enthusiasts to always have fresh ingredients on hand. The portable planters also make it easy to move the garden out of direct sunlight.
Textural Combinations
Artist Danielle Lindsary brought texture and visual interest to her New Orleans balcony with wispy grass-like plants, round bushy foliage and vibrant flowers. She chose a variety of species that can handle the intense heat such as elephant ears, snake plants and ixora. The mix of shapes and colors created harmony while making the best of the limited space.
Bold Flooring Choice
Vivienne transformed her Singapore balcony into a tropical oasis using glossy checkerboard flooring. The high contrasting pattern made a daring statement and reflected her love of travel. She paired it with wicker furniture and hanging plants to give the space a vacation feel. An unexpected flooring choice can take a small balcony to the next design level.
Alfresco Dining Nook
Divya created a dreamy dining area in the center of her New Delhi balcony garden using hanging pots and a vertical wall shelf. Framed by exotic plants, the charming bistro set provides the ideal spot for meals with views of lush greenery. Additional potted topiaries and flowers served as a festive centerpiece. With clever manipulation of vertical space, even tiny balconies can host outdoor entertainment.
Grow What You Love
Even serious gardeners like Svenja can grow gorgeous produce on their balconies. Through trial and error, she discovered which fruits and vegetables thrive in containers and smaller plots. While the harvest may be modest, homegrown favorites like tomatoes and herbs that are snacks straight from the garden bring immense joy. Determination and the right plant choices ensure balcony gardens can satisfy any green thumb.
Embrace Hygge Outdoor Living
Anna designed her Hamburg balcony as the ultimate chill space with extra seating surrounded by greenery. A vine-covered trellis provided privacy while integrated planters and concealed storage kept things tidy. String lights and cozy pillows and blankets embraced hygge, transforming the nook into a place where work stress melts away. Attending to comfort details allowed the small space to serve as an extension of living indoors.
Create a Mini Secret Garden
Molly Mullane squeezed English countryside cottage charm into a small balcony. Wisteria spilled over the tresllised entrance while trailing plants, shrubs and flowers in miniature pots created an impression of sprawling nature. Without overcrowding, she artfully concealed the view of the outside world, transporting occupants to a private lush oasis hidden high above the streets. Imaginative landscaping blurred lines between interior and exterior spaces.
Employ a Vertical Garden Ladder
Justyna utilized vertical wall space with a ladder-style plant shelf that provided structure for vines and pots of greenery. Distributing the garden vertically maintained open floor area and kept plants at eye level for close appreciation. Her combination of tall hanging pots and trailing plants that spilled over the edges gave an illusion of more plant life than physically possible. Vertical staging maximized the sensory experience of a small balcony.
Living Wall as Statement Piece
While not for every climate, a lush living wall like Egil Farstad's transformed a small balcony into a private tropical hideaway. With sod panels instead of pots, maintenance was low while the effect was high impact. Guests felt instantly transported while relaxing with views of this modern indoor-outdoor feature. A living wall requires some investment but serves as a jaw-dropping garden installation for those with limited square footage to spare.
Mix up Containers and Placements
Brian from Leaf Stone Water demonstrated how just a few selective containers and plants, arranged in a graphic composition, could imbue a balcony with verdant energy. By varying heights, spreading pots across surface areas and mingling textures of foliage, he achieved dimension, visual flow and balance even with minimal greenery. Precise curation led to high garden style impact from a parred-back palette.
