From the category archives:

How To

A Little Of This, A Little Of That 8/29

by Fern on August 29, 2010

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Creative Container Garden Ideas:

  • Chalkboard Pots – I especially love the pot with the scalloped chalkboard. Super cute ideas from We Heart This.
  • Tomatoes in Containers – Kerry shares a video she made about growing tomatoes in containers.
  • Braided Avocado Trees – Sue shares her idea for creating an avocado tree with a braided trunk. I don’t recommend growing avocados from seed if you want fruit (could take decades, and the fruit may not taste like that of the parent tree), but if you’re looking for a fun, cheap project, with what will surely be beautiful results, why not?!
  • Five Ways to a Beautiful Balcony – Great collection of photos and advice

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How to Turn a Dingy Old BBQ into an Herb Container Garden

by Fern on August 13, 2010

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Awhile back I heard about repurposing a mini-BBQ into an herb planter. I loved it, knew I wanted to try it myself, and immediately set about trying to track down a small grill on Craigslist. Buying anything on Craigslist is always an interesting experience, you get exposed to such a bizarre element of society. But that will have to be a post for another day…

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A Little of This, A Little of That – 8/8

August 8, 2010
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Container Gardening in the Blogosphere Build a Container Water Garden to Cure Your Pond Cravings – Who says you need a yard to have fish in your garden?! Review of Earth Box – Kerry really loves her Earth Boxes! Zucchini Pickles – I love how adventurous people are with pickling. If you’ve ever grown zucchini [...]

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Container Gardening Grab Bag 8/1

August 1, 2010
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Jim McCausland over at Sunset Magazine’s Fresh Dirt blog has discovered that Asiatic lillies grow great in containers without any special treatment. Mike has been brewing manure tea. I know it sounds weird, but your plants will love it, I promise. Check out these unusual–I’m not sure what to call them?–plant orbs featured on Planet [...]

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Garden-Inspired Handmade Card How To & Giveaway

July 20, 2010
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I am really excited to publish this guest post/giveaway from Life on the Balcony’s second reader (after my husband). Roberta, my mom, loves to express her artistic side through crafting. She has been sewing since childhood, and has added quilting, crochet, stamping, paper crafting, and scrapbooking to her repertoire. When not crafting, she enjoys reading, [...]

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How to Grow Currants and Gooseberries in Your Container Garden

July 19, 2010
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One of the most fun things for me is to grow things on my balcony that people wouldn’t believe possible to grow in such a limited space with no “real” dirt. It’s not nearly as difficult as people think, though I have a full sun balcony. What if you dream of canning your own home [...]

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Make Your Own Bird Bath, It’s Easy!

July 6, 2010
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A bird bath can be used for a number of things on a balcony. Obviously, it can be a great way to attract and entertain your local bird community. But you could also load it up with tiny tea lights to add light and romance to your balcony. Or if you have plants that prefer [...]

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Stylish DIY Container for the Balcony Gardener on a Budget

June 29, 2010
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Being on a budget doesn’t have to mean using ugly containers. If you’re willing to put a little elbow grease into converting a cheap plastic pot into something unique and stylish, then you can have nice looking pots for less than $20. Hunt down garage sales and scour Craig’s List to find inexpensive pots. Then [...]

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Bougainvillea Can Be a Beautiful Way to Shade Your Balcony

June 28, 2010
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Resort hotels are great places to look for gardening ideas. Take, for example, the Hyatt Regency in Aruba. The hotel seems to be on a beautifully maintained piece of property with tons of ideas that you can take home to your balcony or patio.

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Expanding Your Growing Space – Gardening at Work

June 1, 2010
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If you want to put a substantial dent in your grocery bill, you are most likely going to have to grow edible plants in more places than just your balcony. One option is community gardening, but not everyone has that opportunity. Another is to convince your employer to let you garden on a portion of [...]

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How to Repot Orchids – Everyone’s Favorite Houseplant

May 24, 2010
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This past weekend I attended a free orchid repotting class at the Armstrong garden center in La Habra. I really love Armstrong garden centers, I’ve found that they have an interesting selection of good quality plants and helpful, knowledgeable, friendly staff. They are also the only place I’ve found that carries my favorite brand of [...]

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Use a Simple Hydroponics System to Grow Lots of Vegetables in a Small Space

May 13, 2010
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My brother Ben is a really handy guy. You may remember that he made a modern bird feeder that I featured on Life on the Balcony a few months back. Ben grows all of his vegetables hydroponically. The flower above is on one of his zucchini plants. I know he’s also growing tomatoes, and some [...]

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