Before setting about transforming your garden or rooftop you need to think about style, whether you will be entertaining there and if you want to grow flowers or vegetables. One of the most important factors to consider is how much time you will have to maintain your balcony or rooftop garden. Here are some great ways in which you can transform your balcony or rooftop.
Colour Palette
When selecting furniture and plants think about the colour palette. Too many colours will make your space feel overcrowded. Therefore choose two and stick to the colour scheme. You may choose to select colours based on the colour palette of the room that leads directly off your balcony to create a flow of colours through your apartment. Utilise your colour palette though plant pots, furniture, accessories and plants.
Be Selective
When transforming your balcony or rooftop garden it is easy to go overboard but you need to remember how little space you have to fill. When heading to the garden centre for planters consider how many you will need – it is better to have three large terracotta pots than 10 small because these will make your space look overcrowded.
It is important to recognise that there are other ways than growing plants or vegetables than in plant pots. Hanging baskets and window boxes don’t take up any floor space and are large enough to grow vegetables.
Available Light
Each and every plant requires different care, and by this I mean growing conditions. Some plants will grow in very poor light conditions and others require a long duration in the sun each day. Therefore when selecting plants think about how much natural light your rooftop or balcony has. Don’t just go for the plants that look attractive, take a look at their care requirements and how big they will grow, an adviser at your local garden centre will be able to help.
Furniture
Balcony’s and roof tops have restricted space, some may not even be big enough for a chair but if your outdoor area does have enough space for furniture then why not add it? It is vital that your furniture is carefully chosen. It needs to be suitable, comfortable and will need to be or correct size so it does not use up all of your outdoor space.
Article written by home improvement blogger Yasmin Holloway. For more of Yasmin’s articles and top tips follow her on twitter @YasminHolloway