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Container Gardening

what can I put on my balcony floor to make it look'natural'?

12 years ago

I have a balcony with a white cement floor and black iron railings. Any ideas what I can do to make the floor look more tied-in with nature...? I'd heard about these interlocking squares of teak or bamboo to make a floor? Or maybe lay some inexpensive bamboo fencing on the floor (though that probably wont provide a very level floor surface ....)

Any ideas appreciated. Tx!

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Comments (9)

DaMonkey007
12 years ago
I'm full of DIY advice today, it would seem.

You could try a pebble/epoxy overlay. Super easy to do, all you'll need is polished round pebble, epoxy, and a trowel.

Or just go with the pebbles (round and polished, of course), for a more organic feel. Think crunch when you walk. You could use paver edging tacked to the concrete to contain the pebbles from falling from the balcony.

PJ
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Lynn Nevins
Original Author
12 years ago
Tx. I did think of that but then there's the weight/safety issue since the balcony is not recessed but completely juts out from the side of the building....
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I lived for a few years on a second floor apartment with a little balcony. It had a roof over it and faced northeast. I live in Zone 6, which is further south than you've got (near St Louis). But because I *had* to garden, I turned that little bit of a balcony into a garden of Eden. Even pizza delivery guys would comment (in a good way). The only complaint I got was from someone downstairs who was sure I was bringing spiders. boo hoo. Anyway, based on a few years of container gardening, my advice is: experiment! Accept that you'll have some failures, but you'll also have great successes and those will be fabulous. Make a list of what you want to try and play around on paper (or Photoshop) with your balcony area. My problem was that my eyes and heart were always bigger than my balcony. But I successfully grew tomatoes, eggplants, lettuce and all kinds of flowers. And HERBS out the yahoo...that's really when I started herb gardening because herbs do so well in containers (don't fertilize, herbs don't like fertilizer). Other things do need fertilizer of some kind. I bought one of those terra cotta strawberry pots and used it to grow herbs...it worked quite well. Now that I've got ground again, I use it for portulaca. My other advice would be to purchase plants at your local nurseries the first year. They won't carry plants that won't grow in your area. If you start shopping seed catalogs, you'll likely end up with things that won't do well. I love the jasmine idea, and my aunt grows a big beautiful jasmine in a pot. Takes it out on the deck during spring/summer, then brings it back in. They have seven cats. On the cats, I don't have any advice. I have cats myself and when I was at the apartment, they mostly left things alone when I brought them in. (Exception: one cat could eat an entire Oxalis plant in an hour if I didn't keep it out of his reach..he loved them) Now I have a little cat who goes totally insane if I bring plants in. She tries to climb them, digs and pees in them and generally just shreds them. So until she gets older, I have to put plants in the basement. I've tried everything and nothing works except keeping them out of her way. I may try this next fall: http://www.catscat.com.au/ One plant I've had great success with is hibiscus if you can find them there. The kind you have to bring inside over winter. They bloom beautifully and are spectacular on a balcony. For winter, I cut them way back so there's no growth. Most cats would have no interest in that because it's just some dead looking branches. (My little cat is an exception) I would stick it in a closet all winter, ignore it, then take it back out in spring. I agree that you should check out the container gardening forum. But experiment and have fun! Balcony gardening can be great fun, and wonderful joy when things really take off. Oh, and get a good watering can. Know that some of your things will require watering on a daily basis. (Some won't...read the info that comes with the plants)
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susan2010
12 years ago
What about a bamboo rug? They sell them in all sorts of sizes. It would not have to cover the entire area. You could stain the concrete for contrast.
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DaMonkey007
12 years ago
I wouldn't worry too much about the weight, if that's something that your interested in. You would only need about 3 cuft of pebble to cover the balcony at a 1" depth, which is about 300lbs. If you went with an epoxy overlay, it would be less than half that.

Cantilevered balcony's are designed to hold a pretty good deal of weight, code requirements ensure it. Think about it, when was the last time you heard about a balcony just falling off the side of the building. If your concerned about it, talk to your property manager, they should be able to tell you the design criteria. I suspect you will be surprised at how much weight they are designed to hold.

PJ
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Lynn Nevins
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks Susan. A bamboo rug did occur to me....do you know if those things would hold up if kept outdoors 24/7...in rain and snow? Tx!
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susan2010
12 years ago
Again, not forever. You might check around for something designed to go outside. Some of the sisal-looking outdoor rugs are quite attractive, and they stand up to a lot of abuse. And you can clean them with a hose.
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Lynn Nevins
Original Author
12 years ago
Tx. I did look for outdoor bamboo rugs but they pretty much all said they were meant for indoors or else 'not intended to remain in the sun'. Unfortunately I can't have somethng that I keep outdoors sometimes and indoors other times...just no other space inside!

I'll look for sisal.

Tx!
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susan2010
12 years ago
Something like this?

Here is a link that might be useful: Outdoor Rug
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Lynn Nevins
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks very much for all your help Susan! Yes, something like that would have been perfect. I even found another site where I could have custom-ordered the size, the trim, everything.... but then I remembered.... ;-(

Part of the reason I made sure I got a new apartment that had a balcony was...I like being able to let my two cats out there (I will have a screen enclosure built around the entire balcony....). And one of my cats is ex-feral, and has always had random peeing issues. He likes to pee on plastic bags and...he used to sometimes pee on my outdoor doormat. So I suspect he'd use any type of outdoor rug in this same way. And while it occurred to me that I could hose this rug down, it's just not that easy to do when you live in a 4th floor apartment in the city, nor would I feel like carrying a full size rug in from the balcony to say clean it in my shower....

So....I think I will unfortunately have to forego the rug.

I'll just have to live with my cement balcony floor, for as long as I'm still living here. (It's only supposed to be a temporary rental only...maybe 2 years....)

Tx!
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