These are some links to blogs, articles and supplies for balcony gardens that I snagged from another website's forum that might be of interest here. I discovered when attempting to post this that some of these links are banned from this site for some reason, but you can google them using the info provided here. ______________________________________ Turn Your Patio Into A Voluminous Vegetable Garden by: Jill Homer My first apartment was a second-story condo in an urban complex, far displaced from the groomed suburban landscapes and sprawling gardens I had grown up with. My only connection to the outdoors was a small porch, surrounded by brown siding and a fading carpet of artificial turf. To add a little color to the patio, I adopted a few small tomato plants from a friend who had started his garden indoors, and planted them in large pots near my railing. To my surprise, they started to grow. Soon I had filled the 5 x 10Â space with more than a dozen ceramic pots, plastic containers, and beach pails filled with peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and pole beans. Before I knew it, my porch was a curtain of green and my meals regularly featured home-grown vegetables. cont'd http://www.rentaldecorating.com/gardenpatio.htm **** Question: My husband and I recently moved to an apartment. I am seeking ideas for inexpensive vegetable patio gardening. There isn't much direct sunlight on our patio. Hardiness Zone: 8a Michelle from Dallas, TX Answer: Michelle, Growing vegetables on your patio certainly doesn't need to be expensive. The lack of sunlight, however, could prove to be a problem. For successful growth, most vegetables will need a minimum of 5 hours of direct sunlight a day. Some will need even more. "Leafy" vegetables (cabbage, lettuce) will tolerate the least amount of light, but vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots will need more sun. You'll have to experiment to see what grows best. To maximize the light you have, use strategically placed shiny materials and light colored rocks around your containers to reflect light back onto the plants. The most inexpensive way to start vegetables is from seed. Varieties labeled "patio, bush, or dwarf" are often bred specifically for container gardening. Saving seeds from year to year will cut down on expenses even further, but you'll need to start with heirloom seeds and avoid hybrids if you want offspring true to the parent plants. Just about anything that can hold a soil can be fashioned into a container: pails, trashcans, dishpans, plastic detergent or cat litter containers (cut down), wooden or wicker baskets, or even old leather or rubber boots. I like containers made from plastic materials, even though they tend to deteriorate over time with repeated sun exposure. They don't dry out as fast a terra cotta, transfer heat or rust like metal, and you can usually recycle them when you're done using them. If you use plastic containers, try not to spend much on them. Crops with shallow roots, like radishes, beets and onions, will grow just fine in old cake pans. Provide cages or trellises for climbers like beans, peas and cucumbers to save space, or plant them in hanging baskets and let their vines trail downward. If you don't have anything suitable on hand, shop around at flea markets, rummage sales or dollar stores. Make sure your containers have adequate drainage holes on the bottom. In regards to a growing medium, plan on using a very light soil or a soil-less mix-something that will drain rapidly, yet hold nutrients and keep the plant's roots consistently moist. You'll need to water your vegetables daily and feed them frequently with a 1/2 strength liquid fertilizer like fish emulsion. http://www.sustainable-media.com **** BALCONY OF DREAMS - A great little balcony garden blog by someone who has made a hobby of finding interesting spaces around the world http://balconyofdreams.blogspot.com/2007/01/tokyo-architects-balcony-garden.html **** Balcony Gardens bring another dimension to your life! Being an apartment dweller shouldn't keep you from having a garden. Many types of gardens can be created on balconies. With the addition of floral color, a balcony becomes an entertainment center just right for relaxing. Turf, small shrubs, and dwarf trees can be used to create a suburban landscape in miniature above the ground. Balconies even offer the opportunity for food production, with flowering fruit trees and container-grown herbs and vegetables. Whether transforming a high-rise penthouse or a simple second-floor terrace into a garden, a set of guidelines will aid in creating your "garden on high." First, consider how you wish to use the area. Are you looking for a colorful relaxation area or just privacy from an adjacent high-rise? Second, evaluate the microclimate. Toward which direction does the balcony face? Note how much sun the area receives and for how long. If the balcony is recessed, does direct sunlight reach it at all? If the situation is very open, will you and your plantings be subjected to buffeting winds and scorching sunlight? Look at the area with a very critical eye before putting a lot of money in to the project. Some minor remodeling may need to be done to make the area inviting to both people and plants. Safety considerations are another important factor to think about. Most balconies are required by building safety codes to support 60 pounds per square foot. Be sure to use a lightweight growing media which can reduce weight by up to 60% over standard garden soil. Avoid using heavy containers; plastics and cedar wood are recommended for low-weight situations....cont'd http://www.scotttorrance.ca/Quickstart/ImageLib/0008crop2_fmt.jpeg ** The website that hosted this article is banned from GardenWeb (it's called Gardener's Corner). If you want to finish the article you'll have to google it. I usually cut and paste the first sentence into a google search to locate a specific article.** ***** Bed of Grass http://www.scotttorrance.ca/Quickstart/ImageLib/0008crop2_fmt.jpeg www.scotttorrance.ca/home.html ***** Rooftop Garden site with Balcony Garden section: http://rooftopgardens.ca/en/balcony ***** Apartment Balcony Decorating Ideas (Oh My Apartment): http://ohmyapt.apartmentratings.com/apartment-balcony-decorating-ideas.html http://ohmyapt.apartmentratings.com/apartment-gardening.html ***** Article and website: Living On The Edge - Balcony Rooftop Designers Guild ***** Supplies: For small plants another type of vertical container: http://theverticalgarden.com / All Kinds of Railing & Fence Planters: http://www.hooksandlattice.com/rapl.html Teak Planter Boxes: http://stores.ebay.com/DIAMOND-TROPICAL-HARDWOODS_Teak- Planter-Tree-Boxes_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZ1QQfsubZ970795QQftidZ2QQtZkm Hammock Chair http://www.hammocksource.com/Hammock_Chair_girl.jpg A comfortable, inviting place to sit would be important for me. Either a cafe table and chair, or better yet...one of these hammock chairs (and stand) particularly the ones that are full enough to also allow you to pull your feet up and then stretch them out with the hammock stetching the length of your legs - __________________________________________________ Connect with other apartment dwellers in your area who are avid or closet gardeners by starting a Meetup Group around this topic: http://www.meetup.com /

Eileen, I'm not sure if the move went through as planned; I recall some vendors didn't like the distance from Manhattan at the new site, and the market is now fragmented. CatherineK, Welcome and get ready to party with the plants! We got a 7x14 balcony 4 years ago, and it's been a constant struggle between my DW and the plants ever since (actually, you CAN walk around out there this year)! I second the vote on the farmer's markets -- Union Square is the largest, but other locations have different vendors and different selections. Other good nurseries in Manhattan are on 96th off Broadway, with lots of cheap containers, and 103-4 and Lexington. Chinatown seems to be losing its plant stores as well, but you can still find some really nice flowering plants that you can't easily find elsewhere, and great, inexpensive bonsai pots in some of the stores! Box stores like Home Depression will get you, for the most part, lots of cheap plants that have been abused and neglected, and may or may not make it. That doesn't stop me from looking anyway, but they're not my first choice. I also vote to get the mandevilla -- one pretty bloomer that you really like can make the whole balcony more welcome, and there's always next spring to plan for more permanent installations, if that's your style. Also, don't forget NY's botanical gardens (one in every borough, except yours, although the conservatory gardens at 106th and 5th come close!) for ideas and for plant selections. Finally, Jennie is the balcony deity, so tune in and get schooled on all the cool things you can grow! Jim

Hi yippee1999, Love the handle. How much sun do you get per day? That will probably be the limiting factor in what type of plants you can grow. Lettuce and herbs are a easy to grow with limited sunshine. As for the cats, I would look into getting some type of harnass for them rather than the effort and expense of enclosing the balcony. My neighbors have one they use when they let their cat up on the roof garden we share. Best of luck. Here is a link that might be useful: my garden

This is Biwa (aka Biwako-of-abi) again. Your thinking about these things show that you are a good cat owner. I personally would never trust my cats on a balcony, or high-up deck, again, unless it was on the first floor, and then there would be the problem of their escaping into the yard and perhaps getting run over. Don't be fooled by the fact that your cats have been all right so far on the 3rd floor deck. I am sure they like it, but even the cats in the same family can playfully do something that could lead to one or more of them falling. There is a first time for everything, and depending on what they land on, they could get killed. Suggestions about what you can do: (1) You could always keep the door to your deck shut so the cats can't get out there. They do not have to be able to go out on a deck to be happy. You probably know there are many types of toys for cats to entertain them inside the house. (2) If you own the house and can do what you like to it, you could put strong chicken wire or some other barrier anywhere on the deck where a cat might try to get out, or even build a large cage-like area on part of the deck if it is big enough. (In such a case, even the top of that area should be covered with strong wire fencing.) Alternatively, you could just have some sort of strong screen door where you go out on the deck--I mean, one that a cat's claws would not tear if it climbed up as if the door were a tree. I do think a cat would be miserable if it had to be kept in a small cage in the house much of the time, but that could be a temporary solution for times, for example, when you have guests who might unthinkingly leave the door to the deck open. (3) Climbing is also not necessary for a cat's happiness, although you are right that a 4-month-old kitten, especially, is going to want to climb and jump. For that, you can buy, or get someone to make, a pole for the cats that has 3 or 4 little platforms along it, so they can climb up and rest. (Cats, as you probably know, just looove to be up high and gaze down on everyone else.) We never wanted to spend money on something like that, but you can get the same effect using pieces of furniture that are different heights. You could even provide the kitten with fun and exercise by running around trailing a piece of string for him to chase. Just don't leave the string around where he could swallow it and necessitate an expensive visit to the animal ER. (4) I wouldn't rely on the following trick to keep your cats from jumping up on the railing of a deck, nor would it work to keep them off the deck, now that they know it is a fun place, but I did succeed by using noise to give my cats an aversion to climbing up window screens. You know that cats hate unexpected loud noises. We had moved from a place where our cats had had an outdoor cage-like area (about 6x6x6 feet) right outside a window so they could go in and out at will, to an older house where we couldn't do that, and I was afraid they might try to climb up the screen on an open window. The very day we moved in, I took the time to sit and be on the alert to catch any hint that the cats were interested in those open windows, and if a cat so much as stood on its hind legs to peer out through the screen, I briefly pressed the alarm signal on one of those devices a woman might carry to scare away an attacker. I didn't have to do it many times. My four cats very quickly caught on that something awful happened when they touched a window or its frame, and very soon I no longer ever had to worry about open windows and screening. You could probably get the same effect by clashing metal pots against their lids. However, the noise has to be something that the cats will not realize has a human source. Yelling at them and clapping your hands will only teach them to be naughty when you are out of sight. I hope you will find a good solution for your problem. Anyway, I commend you for your concern for your cats' happiness and their welfare. It's always nice to meet a fellow cat lover. Just for fun, here is a site I love to look at for the pictures of all the things one cat owner did with his house. How I wished we could imitate him, but I am sure my husband would never have agreed, lol. (So I am NOT saying you should fix up your house like his, either! But enjoy looking.)