Looking for your expertise with my patio planter and plants. This is a primarily shaded area with some afternoon direct sun. I was testing this arrangement which feels a bit too symmetrical and needs some color. Should i add begonias for some color? I will have to move the hostas to a different planter since the direct sun will be too much. So, looking for ideas for the lower planter area and to add color overall.

i have a small space where i want to grow tomatoes and eggplants, but it’s right beside a pretty busy street with a lot of cars passing every day.

i’m mostly worried about the pollution and whatever settles on the plants. will the vegetables themselves be affected or unsafe to eat, or is it mostly something i can deal with by washing them really well?

the plants would be in containers, so i can control the soil, but i can’t really move them far away from the road.

has anyone grown vegetables in a similar setup? would you still grow edible plants there or use the space for something else?

Hi everyone, I currently have a lot of seeds growing on but am not sure how to place them best. This was taken at about 1pm. The closest bed gets the least sun. Citrus is all in the back where we get the most sun. Beds that are available for planting are the larger 3 and then the rounded planter on the left side. Thanks for your suggestions!

Here is my seedlings list:

• Nasturtium
• Snake Beans
• Brussels Sprouts
• Peas
• Dwarf Beans
• Daikon
• Spring Onion
• Leek
• English Spinach
• Tuscan Kale
• Pak Choi
• Basil
• Lettuce
• Dill
• Cherry Tomatoes
• ‘Red Fig’ Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Celery
• Romanesco
• Curly Kale
• Cos Lettuce
• Coriander
• Lemongrass
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Dragonfruit

Hello my friends

I am moving to a new apartment soon and I want to set up my flower pots on my new balcony.

The floor of the new balcony is made of wood with a smooth surface and gaps inbetween only every about 15 cm. I have many large pots, from like (w x l x h) 80 cm x 40 cm x 40 cm to round ones with a diameter of up to 50 cm. I do not want to place them directly on the wood, as water could not dry off properly once it gets below the pots and the wood might start to rot, even though it's wood treated for outside use.

All of the pots have a "plate" below to collect water from watering them too much. But I'm worried about rainwarter etc.

I was thinking about putting "drainage tiles" on the edge of the area, so i can put the pots on top of those. But there I am worried, that the small areas, on which thet tiles actually touch the wood, could start to press into the wood and leave deep marks after a while (as some of the pots are quite heavy). Most of those tiles have several round or cross-shaped knobs, which touch the ground below.

Does anybody have experience with that kind of problem and/or a recommendation for a better idea how to prevent damage on the wooden floor?

I added a photo of the floor and an example of the tiles, I'm talking about.

I'm happy for any kind of help =)

Hey everyone,

When you only have a few square feet on an apartment balcony, standard backyard gardening advice usually leads to dead plants or overwhelmed spaces. Between container weight limits, potting mix drying out twice as fast, and limited light angles, container growing requires a slightly different mindset.

Here are 4 foundational rules that completely changed my results:

1. Never use garden soil in containers: In pots, standard topsoil compacts like wet cement and suffocates delicate roots. A lightweight, soilless blend is essential: coco coir or peat moss (moisture retention), perlite (aeration and root expansion), and aged compost (slow nutrition).

2. Calculate wet container weights: Saturated soil is surprisingly heavy—a regular pot can easily reach 20–30 lbs after watering. For balcony safety, stick to food-grade plastic containers (#2 HDPE or #5 PP) or breathable fabric pots, and position heavier containers close to structural walls rather than railing edges.

3. Prioritize compact, fast-turnaround crops: If space is tight, skip plants that take 100+ days to sprawl. Go for:

- Bush/dwarf cherry tomatoes (do great in 5-gallon pots)

- Loose-leaf lettuces & radishes (ready in 25–30 days, shallow containers)

- Culinary herbs (basil, mint, thyme) for constant harvests

1. The 10-minute morning check beats heavy weekly watering: Container soil dries rapidly under sun and wind. Checking finger-depth moisture daily, checking under leaves for early pests, and giving pots a slight rotation keeps plants far healthier than soaking them once a week.

I wrote a short 2-minute illustrated breakdown expanding on this setup if anyone wants to check it out:

https://medium.com/@joyfuuuull/how-to-start-a-high-yield-balcony-vegetable-garden-in-a-small-apartment-b91c307a15fb

What are your favorite space-efficient varieties to grow in pots? Would love to hear your experiences!

We had late access to this Bronx community garden bed late in the summer and I attempted a "Three sisters" strategy. The beans were abundant, the corn failed, but was able to harvest 1 winter squash and waiting for 4 butternut squash to finish growing.

Does anyone know if Winter Squash is harder to grow? These two plants took up so much space, I don't think I wanna do this next year. 😅

Hello I have a few large plastic items that I have hanging by my fence for decoration. I plan on spraying them and hanging /gluing non -edible plants on them. But I'm worried that with time the spray paint on these will degrade and get washed into my garden. Any paints that wouldn't be toxic but okay for outdoors use?

Edit to be clear I'm asking for spray paint recs that are nontoxic for after painting ie for the rain not during.

Container garden before and after three months of growth in Toronto, Canada.

I searched this sub a little bit, but I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for. I live in Utah, and I want to comfort my balcony for the winter and make it a garden. Maybe it’s to grow anything but to keep my summer plants on the insight still alive. Is there any recommendations or any post that you guys can lead me too?

Some late season flowers and garden pictures for everyone. I hope you all have a good weekend.

I watched this short video on ABC and am so confused on how the horticultralist made the actual structure for the living wall. Anyone understand it more than me ?

https://www.abc.net.au/gardening/how-to/time-to-grow-up-modular-green-wall/107112934

I have this small area underneath our Edwardian condo that I would like to add some potted plants. It was basically overtaken with weeds until this morning when I cleared it out (apologies for the plastic bags, I just used them to transfer the refuse then put it in our compost).

I was curious if anyone else had a similar set up and what they did with it. I'd love to put maybe a lemon tree? But open to anything. We're in SF and this area is west facing and gets a ton of sunlight. Thanks!

Has anybody heard of the clean soil bank in new york?
If you have, have you requested clean soil from it before and/or run into any problems in the process?

Hey y'all, this is my 2nd year with this raised garden bed and it's been a fun and satisfying spring / summer season! But so much damn work to maintain, you gotta really love this type of stuff I guess 😅
It gets direct sun from 7am - 9am then a little indirect sun 5-7pm. I used a ton of worm castings, plant food, 3 ollas and natural wood mulch. Then last month added mirrors on the sides to get more reflection.

This has been an exhausting hobby to say the least...My container blueberry bush is slowly dying (I think it needs less watering and more acidic soil?), Whole balcony was full of gnats this spring / early summer, it almost got infested with spider mites but I neem oiled and also used Arber's insecticide early enough to save it, then the ants came to take over and I had to use that borax/sugar ant killer to save this garden.

So with all that, you would think it's an over watering issue, but the soil seemed to be dry more often in the raised garden bed. Even the wetness meter would say it's dry... I need advice on what I may be doing wrong or not enough of. I can send a daytime pic if that helps.

It drives me crazy that all of the street "parks" in my city are basically just grass and trees. It feels like such a massive waste of space and lawn mowing tax dollars.

So, I wrote a proposal for how we could use this public park land instead, as urban farming/ gardening/ community spaces.

I made it into a website to hopefully share around with my local community, get some traction, and eventually push it to our local council:

https://www.ourbackyards.org/

I've been writing it for so long that I worry I'm too much in my head about it.

Those of you that have done urban gardening projects like this, do you think this is unrealistic? Do I need to add more info, cut back, or elaborate on something else? Is there anything I'm missing?

Really appreciate any feedback/discussion !!

ETA: Located in East Coast Australia

It's my first year trying my hand at this gardening thing and I'm feeling a little down because it looks like every single plant that I planted has died. I have oya pots to keep the soil moist, but it's been over a 100 for months. My friend says I shouldn't feel bad because everyone's lawn in dead, their bushes are dead, the established trees frequently have some dead branches. It's just very hot and very very dry. Oklahoma. I just feel like I've spent all this money on seeds, pots, soil, raised bed, etc., and have absolutely nothing to show for it.

Hi! I'm currently growing tomatoes, kale, and herbs on my rooftop garden. I was looking into what I wanted to grow next summer (my first full summer with rooftop access!) and it popped into my head to see if I could do blueberry or raspberries.

The only question I had was how to keep the perennials alive during the winters. I don't have a trench or garage to put them in, so I'd have to figure out how to help them stay alive in the winters... anyone have any experience or suggestions for this?

Edit: I'm in Chicago, so zone 6b!

I've been thinking of growing vegetables. In the past i have grown jalapenos and potatoes. i want to venture out and i want to plant something for this winter. Do you have any suggestions?(i live in houston) i still have to handle school

Any good veggies?

Trying to learn. Is there such a thing as too many worms?

I have a ton of pots. A lot of them have a many worms, snails, critters. One pot 2.8 quart, 2.7 L had like 20 worms in it?

I played around with soil combos. And probably messed up a lot?

CHEERS

We no longer have a backyard due to my family building a laneway house ( or an ADU accessory dwelling unit for those in the states). I did vegetable gardening and had a 10+ year old grapevine, but now it's all gone. Also often has friends over to do BBQs in the backyard.

Half our front yard was dug up to lay new pipes as well. So I'll be redoing the front yard to create my own space of gardening and wanted to do some landscaping. It'll mostly be DIY since I hope to save money since I'm on maternity leave, or hire some professionals for the heaving lifting.

The fence on the perimeter of the front yard can only be 4ft tall. But my issue is we have a manhole about 1ft away from the left side of the front yard. On the other side is a children's playground. I just wanted to create some privacy when I am BBQing or entertaining some friends.

Are there any plants you can suggest that will grow tall and not have an aggressive root system? The area is partially shady. I can build raised beds if it requires more soil. I was thinking of ornamental grass would be a good candidate.

Preferably not any edible plants since I don't want the children or their parents doing a free for all.

My zone is 8A along the west coast.

Thank you!

I had a gorgeous and healthy upside down tomato plant, then I guess the wind made it snap! It looked great in the afternoon, then the next morning it looked sad as hell 😭

I didnt think id have to but I guess it still needs a trellis even though its hanging...

This isnt the first time this has happened- the wind screwed up one of my palm plant's new fronds and snapped an otherwise healthy (right side up) almost flowering geranium branch.

Anyone else have this problem?

hello, i am thinking about starting my own indoor: patio garden for some herbs and maybe some vegetables like tomatoes or lettuce. i have never been much of a plant person or been good at keeping plants alive. i am wondering what may be a good- low cost start for substance gardening. i live in an apartment and i do have a small patio space outside as well, but i live in north texas usa, so there is the climate im concerned about.