Name: Nicola
Location: Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
I've been a fan for years, so it's fun to share my porch garden with you now. So here's my TINY little porch space from last summer (2011). The porch is no bigger than 9'x4'. There's just barely enough room for 2 lounging chairs, a 2-person bistro set, and a mini-weber grill (unfortunately not pictured!).
During the summer we cook and eat out here just about every night, so I planted it full of different herbs and small lettuces, as well as a cherry tomato plant that my BF Paul and I have started referring to as the 'snack tree'. The flowering annuals I planted for their interesting foliage and flowers, which I use in little arrangements around the house
I am a gardener, a garden designer, and I work on my family's farm — so I spend my days tending to plants, planning and designing people's spaces and projects, and generally running around during the busy growing months of spring and summer. I thought I would be too busy to take care of my own garden, but It has been great to come home to my own little oasis.
This year I'm planning on taking on the back yard in addition to the porch, so I'll keep you posted.
Thanks, Nicola!
(Images: Nicola)
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Lovely - what a beautiful space. The colours are vibrant, yet relaxing.
Hard to get a grasp on the space without a full view.
If we could put our window boxes on the outside of our railings, we could improve the look of ours, too, but it's not allowed most places, because (1) it is fell, it could hit someone and (2) water dripping from the bottom is irritating to those below. If the balcony lines up with another below, they get your drippies, which they don't appreciate.
But I compliment the color and the embrace of the tight space.
very cute! but if you want small, I'll show you small! On our balcony we can fit a bistro set, a BBQ, 2 lounge chairs and a small garden... just never at the same time.
Beautiful! I love it. It's like a little hide-away.
So pretty!
JP <3
Lovely balcony, but please note that it is against Boston city regulations to operate a BBQ grill on a balcony, gas or charcoal, even the small kind. Please understand the risk not only to you, but to other people around you and use your grill only on the ground and in a safe area away from your building! Lot's of flammable objects on that small space.
Cozy and lush, Nicola! I LOVE it. Can you tell us about the plant with the little white flowers mixed into it? I would love to plant a mixture like that. Thanks for the beautiful share. : )
Ditto on the JP <3
Great to have your own little spot in the city!
@Dyan_Can
The tall spiky blackish plant is called Cordyline 'Red Star', which I underplanted with the little white plant called Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost'. It did really well in partial sun, and the euphorbia just kept on flowering all the summer.
Hope it works out great for you~ thanks for asking!
@Therese...I came across these window boxes while watching a video over at Life on the Balcony. They are self watering and eliminate the problem of water dripping on your neighbor's patio: Lechuza Balconera. For a cheaper alternative, I just place some of my smaller plants underneath the plants I hang on my balcony to catch the water drips.
I think this is an apartment, right? What an outstanding perk in having that access to the outside. And you have done a double-outstanding job in providing that outdoor, comfortable, with some privacy feeling. Your blood pressure must drop in the warm months!!!
beautiful. how much does it cost to have something that wonderful? I spent about $200 this summer and mine in comparison to yours looks anemic. Is it fertilizer? or just good old expertise that makes the difference?