Two weeks ago, Shawn contacted me about his balcony way up on the 17th floor, in Montreal, Quebec. As he describes it, “I suspect it will get very windy out there at times. Being that I face due east and with the exposure and wind, it probably won’t get too warm for too long up there either.”
Here is a photo of the north side of his balcony:
Shawn was looking for some advice about what to do with a cold, windy balcony 200 feet in the air. Ask and ye shall receive!
Coming up this week, I have several posts designed for my friends who garden in the sky, as Shawn calls it. I have obviously never lived somewhere as cold as Montreal, but I have been busy researching! I have gardened on a high rise balcony before, so I have my own experience to rely on there. Stay tuned for posts on dealing with the wind, weight restrictions, and high rise but cold-tolerant container recipes!
In the meantime, I thought I would see what you guys think about high rise gardening. What are your best tips and tricks? I know Nancy gardens on a balcony in Toronto, are there any other high rise gardeners out there?
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
YAY windy cold balcony!! this is going to be so helpful for me out here in Halifax where the weather is similar enough in the summer (although shorter and with less humidity).
I look forward to reading this week!
I’m not a high rise gardener but suspect folks living high up (and I mean northern gardening zones 4 or lower as well as high rise apartments with balconies) have a very short growing season. I’m guessing annual flowers and veggies would be about the only thing you could have. And houseplants. ;~)
TC — Why would you think that northern balcony gardeners can’t grow the same perennials and evergreens that in-ground gardeners grow?
There are loads of awesome evergreen shrubs and conifers that will take shade and wind, and perennials too.
I’d actually steer clear of most annuals as my experience is that they often don’t really take off and thrive for very long in deep shade. The regular old primroses would be the exception, so far as I’ve found. I’ll be keen to hear what you come up with!
I’m actually thinking you might be able to skip a lot of the wind issue with some fencing of some kind or slats in between the rails.
Gen — That’s exactly what I was thinking (re: the wind). Clear plexiglass could be affixed to the slats and eliminate most of the wind.
I must say, this Shawn fellow sounds fantastic! Although, not half as fantastic as Fern for helping out with this snowy balcony dilemma
Thanks!
LOL Shawn!
Awesome. I’m just starting to think about how to start gardening and just found your site. I too live in Montreal, though I’m only on the 8th floor of my building.
Jen — So glad you found Life on the Balcony!
This balcony gardening website is great! Wind is definitely an issue even on the 4th floor in Miami Beach , facing west. Very hot. We just had gail force winds today after a drenching storm and a high of upper 90′s! Glad I found you! Keep it up.
Lila– So glad you like Life on the Balcony! Did you see the follow up posts to this one? You can see all the windy balcony posts by clicking on that link.
I’ve got you on my favorites and check in periodically. I have a 6th floor penthouse in Berlin Germany with two large decks full of containers. Everything is now in bloom and very beautiful. Thanks for all the tip!
Maria