Balcony Gardening Ideas for an apartment in India

We have to warn you, some of these balcony gardening ideas are for pro-DIYers. Just look at this crazy list of balcony gardening ideas that are not just innovative but also make your balcony look like it was a part of those reality real estate makeover shows.

We do suggest taking it slow and easy if you’re feeling ambitious enough to go all the way and complete all these makeover ideas for your balcony garden. Enough talking, let’s get into how you can set up an amazing balcony garden in India.

Also Read: Balcony Garden Ideas

1. Set up a blueprint and take note of the weather conditions

If you’re here on this blog, you either have a few plants that are already thriving in your balcony garden. Or at least you wish you did. But don’t worry, we have the solution for you. It’s not you, it’s your balcony. 

Not every plant will be able to survive on your balcony. Some due to space, some due to the weather conditions. So before you go on to add as many planters as you can to your terrace, let’s do some recon. Take some measurements and figure out how much space you have on your balcony to create a beautiful garden. 

Having a rough blueprint of how you want to design your balcony is an added step but it will definitely work in your favour to create a well-flowing space. In addition to the space, you also need to note down the number of hours your balcony gets sunlight and the type of sunlight it gets.

2. Plants that’ll love to live on your balcony

Depending on whether your balcony gets direct or indirect sunlight, some plants might perform better than others. There’s a long list of plants that can make your balcony garden look great but here are a few edibles that’ll do the same:

1. Leafy greens are a great addition to any garden. These are low maintenance sustenance providing edibles that truly require minimal space. Also, have you had a salad with fresh kale? It’s a life-changer.

2. Vegetables like tomatoes and peppers perform really well in a pot as well. Even strawberries are great bush veggies that will thrive on your balcony.

3. Vines of squash and bottle gourd are great to plop over a railing too, you might have to pollinate them yourself if you don’t have a lot of bees in your neighbourhood, but it’s not nearly as complicated as it sounds.

3. Create a privacy screen with vines

That last point about vines gives us an amazing segue into this point. 

Having privacy screens for balconies isn’t really a new concept. Especially in India, where balconies are way closer than we’d like, people tend to find really restricting ways to cover their balconies up. 

If you’ve been looking for a privacy screen or thinking of covering up your balcony, try using mesh cages and vines to do so. If you can find a mesh cage strong enough to hold a vine vegetable, good for you, you can hit two birds with one stone. However, if you can’t, simply use a creeper like a money plant, bougainvillaea, star jasmine or any other vine you like for this purpose.

4. Make shelves or plant a vertical garden

This is an addition to the privacy screen. You can have a privacy screen all along your railings, but what about that one balcony wall you share with a neighbour? Putting up a wall, or a water feature is a great way to get privacy on a vertical level. 

Want to know what’s even better? A vertical garden. Create shelves or simply find a wall stand with pots. For a vertical or wall garden, we suggest smaller plants like succulents, baby tears, pothos, or small ferns; these plants don’t grow to be too large.

One thing to keep in mind when creating a vertical garden is to have a proper watering and drainage system to ensure water isn’t constantly dripping from your wall all day.

Also Read: Eco Gardening Tips

5. Create a proper watering and drainage system

It’s necessary that the water you give your balcony garden gets properly absorbed by the plants and the rest drains as well. Any water retained by the pots in your balcony garden, that doesn’t get absorbed by the soil, can bring in disease. 

Nobody wants that. So make sure you add drainage holes in your pots and water your plants the right amount to avoid the same. Here are a few starter tips for you:

1. Water the soil and avoid watering the foliage of the plant.

2. Use decorative gravel, stones, bark, wood chips etc. to adopt the practice of mulching.

3. Know exactly how to water each plant.

4. Buy self-watering pots and planters.

6. Add mosquito repellent plants

As an extension to the previous step, to stop harbouring disease by retaining water, you can add some mosquito repellent plants to your balcony garden as well. Adding them would substantially reduce the bugs and reptiles that would give your little balcony garden a visit. 

Here is a list of some great mosquito repellent plants:

1. Basil

2. Bee Balm

3. Citronella Grass

4. Floss Flower

5. Garlic

6. Lavender

7. Marigolds

8. Mint

9. Rosemary

10. Sage

7. Composting is key

Moving on from the hazardous part of balcony gardening to the smelly part. Just kidding! Composting isn’t as smelly as people make it out to be. At least not if you do it right.

The first step you need to take as a beginner composter is to invest in a composting bin. This is crucial to building a good working composting farm that keeps away the flies but functions well in the small space of your balcony.

Adding worms to your composting bin can help you speed up the process especially considering smaller composting bins tend to not get hot enough to compost. Before starting the process, make sure you know which items can go into your compost bin and which items are forbidden.

8. Whimsical fairy gardens

Once all the crucial steps to having a great balcony garden are complete, we can move on to creating a vibe.

Take some time out on a weekend and create a beautiful whimsical fairy planter for your garden. Follow these simple steps:

1. Choose a pot that has been broken from one side. Or break a pot on one side carefully, keeping bigger pieces secure.

2. Now add your planting soil to the bottom of the broken pot. 

3. Add a smaller pot with your favourite miniature plant on top of the planting soil.

4. Add more planting soil to cover up the small pot you just added.

5. Use the bigger pieces of the shattered pot you saved at the beginning of this process to create a staircase in the solid around the small pot.

6. Add fairy accessories that you like.

See, it was that simple, now you have a beautiful and whimsical fairy garden. You can create any kind of fairy garden now, your creativity has an outlet in your balcony garden.

9. Add some seating

Your balcony garden isn’t just there for others or you to enjoy for the few minutes you stand on your balcony before getting tired and going to sit inside.

To ensure you can truly enjoy your balcony garden, add seating you find comfortable. You can simply add a bench to your balcony or go all out with an outdoor couch. Whatever you choose, make sure you add a small side table to keep any drinks or gadgets you might like to carry outside with you.

If you have a big balcony with enough space for workouts like yoga and pilates, adding a yoga mat would also be a good idea. Even if you just end up sitting, or lying down, on the mat and adoring your amazing balcony garden, it will be well worth it.

10. Balcony Koi Ponds

This is a massive project, however, it’s not that difficult.it is just more labour intensive. 

A lot of people, pre-covid, made balcony koi ponds popular. Some of these people went all out and created a waterproof section in their balcony using construction procedures used in creating swimming pools’ waterproof membranes. But the ones we loved were the budget versions with a waterproof tarp.

If you’re feeling crafty, log on to youtube and go through a DIY balcony koi pond tutorial to give your balcony that extra oomph.

Also Read: Balcony Design Ideas

Now that we have filled you with inspiration, we hope you’re ready to take the next step which is, of course, to put this inspiration to use and create a praiseworthy balcony garden. Actually, let’s drop the idea of getting validation from others and create a balcony garden that fills your heart with pride. 

You don’t have to follow all of these steps. But if you’re feeling ambitious and do end up following these 11 steps, you have to share pictures with us on Instagram @clicbrics_in.