It’s gardening season in Charlotte. Use these tips to brighten up your patio or balcony
Warmer weather and sunny days are here for the season, and many in Charlotte are eager to flex their green thumbs.
Even if you don’t have a yard of your own or a community garden in your neighborhood, patios and balconies are still prime real estate for flowers, fruits and vegetables.
Here are some expert tips for turning your patio or balcony space into a green oasis this gardening season:
How to start a patio garden
The first thing you need to do if you want to start a patio or balcony garden is figure out what kind of light you’re working with, Rountree Nursery & Supply manager Steven Moorman told CharlotteFive.
“That will determine what kind of plants you have access to, sun or shade plants,” he said.
From there, you need to decide what kind of container you’re going to use, such as a raised bed or a planter, and “make sure that it drains properly.”
“Those two things would be most important,” Moorman said.
Once you’ve narrowed down what you can plant based on the light your patio or balcony gets and picked out containers, Moorman advises, it’s time to start figuring out what to do about soil.
“You’re going to want to use a good quality soil that doesn’t have water retention - just straight soil,” he recommends. “It’s okay if it has fertilizer mixed in it, but you don’t really want one that’s going to retain more moisture than necessary.”
Moorman also advises against “adding any compost or cow manure or any other additives like that, because those things are just going to make your soil heavy and retain more water than you want.”
“A good, straight container soil would be the way to go,” he said.
Once you’re ready to get your soil and plant in your container, “you want to fill the container without packing it in too tightly,” Moorman says. “When you put your plant in the container, you want to fill (the container) around the plant. But you don’t want to tack each layer down tightly.”
“Depending on the variety of plant, you may mulch the top of it or you may not,” he added. “With the container, it does cut down on the mess as far as when you do water or when it rains, it does prevent splash-out from getting on your concrete.”
Best plants for a patio garden
Most plants, both flowers and vegetables, can grow in containers, Moorman says, even those you may not expect.
“Most shrubs, believe it or not, will do very well in containers,” he said. “Even smaller ornamental trees, depending again on the size of the container, can do well in containers.”
Still, some common plants, such as gardenias and Lenten roses, “are not going to be happy in a container,” he added.
“Pretty much everything else is fine,” Moorman said.
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 9:58 AM.
