Small-Space Container Gardens: Transform Your Balcony, Porch, or Patio with Fruits, Flowers, Foliage, and Herbs

189 Pages·2012·31.64 MB·English

by  Richardson, Fern

SMALL-SPACE
CONTAINER
GARDENS
SMALL-SPACE
CONTAINER
GARDENS
Transform Your
Balcony, Porch, or Patio
with Fruits, Flowers,
Foliage & Herbs
FERN RICHARDSON
TIMBER PRESS
Portland · London
Copyright © 2012 Library of Congress Cataloging-
by Fern Richardson. in-Publication Data
All rights reserved. Richardson, Fern.
Photography credits Small-space container gardens:
appear on page 180. transform your balcony, porch, or
Published in 2012 patio with fruits, flowers, foliage
by Timber Press, Inc. & herbs / Fern Richardson. —1st
edition.
The Haseltine Building p. cm.
133 S.W. Second Avenue, Includes bibliographical
Suite 450 references and index.
Portland, Oregon ISBN-13: 978-1-60469-241-9
97204-3527 1. Container gardening.
timberpress.com 2. Small gardens.
I. Title.
2 The Quadrant SB418.R53 2012
135 Salusbury Road 635.9’86— dc23
London NW6 6RJ 2011029272
timberpress.co.uk
A catalog record for this
Design by Omnivore book is also available from
Printed in China the British Library.
Contents
Foreword by
Debra Lee Baldwin
7
Preface
11 Small and Sassy The Elements The Birds and the Bees
Choosing Colors, Containers, Working with Weather Attracting Wildlife to
Furniture, and Lighting and Climate Your Garden
15 41 57
Potager Succulents The Secret Garden Verdant and Vertical
with a Twist and Scents Path Planning and Creating an
Growing Gorgeous Food Loving a Long and Narrow Space Planting for Privacy Upward, Tropical Oasis
73 95 113 129
Conversion Tables
and Plant Hardiness
Zones
174
Resources and References
176
Acknowledgments
178

Photography Credits
Green Thumb Crash Course The Uninvited Guests 180
Learning the Troubleshooting
Essentials for Success Pests and Diseases Index
145 163 181
Foreword
By DEBRA LEE BALDWIN
THE APARTMENT FERN RICHARDSON shares with her husband
has minimal outdoor space. Yet the busy career woman, avid
gardener, and self-taught horticulturist cultivates whatever
she likes and does it with style.
Fern’s enthusiasm for container gardening and her
success with growing plants that provide food, beauty, and
bouquets have led her to share her small-space savvy with
apartment and condo dwellers worldwide. No wonder her
blog, Life on the Balcony, is so popular. Fern is fearless. I
don’t doubt that if she wanted to grow a wildflower meadow
on a rooftop, she’d find a way. Fern—yes, that’s really her
name—grows jewel-like succulents, fragrant herbs, potted
fruit trees, vegetables that change kaleidoscopically with the
seasons, and flowering vines that serve as privacy screens.
If you don’t like your outdoor living area and you wish
you did—if you’re uncertain where to start, what to plant,
or how to keep it alive—you’re about to
Fern Richardson’s
bountiful balcony.
embark on an exciting journey. What sets this
7
book apart from others about container gardening is that its
author is a space-saving maven. Fern sees walls, rafters, rail-
ings, and everything in-between as fair game. And she does it
economically. If you’re short on cash (or even if you’re not),
look forward to discovering how to start plants from seeds;
take cuttings; and transform found objects, like wood pallets,
into attractive vertical planters.
In order to have variety without clutter—after all, balco-
nies are mainly for people—Fern extensively researches her
plant selections. Just about everything she chooses does
double- or triple-duty. Her fig tree, for example, is a dwarf
variety ideally suited to container culture, has large leaves
that stand out amid finer-textured foliage, and provides
delicious fruit. Fern is also a naturalist who knows how to
attract and nurture beneficial insects, like ladybugs and
butterflies, while at the same time preventing infestations of
ants, aphids, and mealy bugs—all without resorting to toxic
chemicals. As she shoehorns an entire garden into a space
8 FO R E WO R D
no bigger than the average bathroom, Fern makes sure
everything looks good. She explains how to primp your
plants, and how to hide mundane yet essential items such
as fertilizer, pruners, and bags of potting soil.
So if your entryway, patio, deck, balcony, or rooftop is
a stark expanse populated only by beach chairs and a
hibachi, take the plunge. Claim that space for your own
private Eden. I’m betting that your yard-owning friends
soon will envy you. Weed-pulling and lawn care—which
consume the Saturdays of many a suburban homeowner—
will not concern you. Yet you’ll post photos of geometric
succulents, hanging baskets, and drowsy butterflies; fill
vases with bright blooms; and serve salads of home-grown
lettuce and vine-ripened tomatoes.
Keep in mind that Fern may not have a yard, but she
certainly has a garden. And thanks to this book, so will you.
DEBRA LEE BALDWIN is the author of Succulent Container Gardens and Designing with Succulents.
F O R E WO R D 9