How to Garden in a Condo
When you decided to move to a condo, you were excited about
no longer worrying about yard work.
However now you realize you miss having a garden. Flowers, herbs, SOMETHING that is growing,
outside your condo. Your condo balcony
is already small so container gardening with ground planters will not leave you
enough of a footprint to enjoy the company of living things you are planting. Additionally, the HOA says no permanent
attachments so mounting window boxes is not an option. How do you bring a
garden to your condo in a way that won’t incur the wrath of the HOA? The answer
could be hanging rail boxes.
Hanging rail boxes can be mounted onto a rail using rail
hooks. Since you can simply slide the
hook on or off the rail, they are generally allowed by HOAs. Check with your individual HOA to see if you
can use these versatile planters to garden in your condo. You can choose to use
longer planters to span the entire rail or a few small lighter weight ones that
you leave gaps between. Either choice
allows you to bring living plants directly to your condo.
You can order hanging rail planters with no drain holes if
you are worried about it dripping on your balcony, sidewalk, or downstairs
neighbor; this works best if your box isn’t subject to rain, so you can control
the watering and prevent root rot by carefully keeping the soil moisture level
correct for your plants. If your boxes ae subject to frequent rain use a filter
material like landscape fabric to make sure what does drain from your box is
more like rainwater and not mud. Since these boxes can be taken down easily,
they are perfect for those who are in residence only part of the year. They are also ideal for those condos along
the coasts who must consider hurricanes.
Less Soil
Another advantage of hanging rail planters is they use less soil
than a ground planter. With the standard
8”H x 8”W a six foot planter only needs just over 2 cubic feet of soil
mixture. In addition to being an economical
way to garden, it will also save you from hauling heavy bags of soil to your
condo. In addition to less soil, the valuable resource of water will not be
wasted. Especially if you add a self-watering system; use a lightweight option
like potting mix or vermiculite to help maintain moisture and nutrients better. Hanging Rail boxes are an efficient way to
bring a garden to your condo.
Garden
Standing Up
Rail hanging boxes also have the advantage of being at a
convenient height that makes working on the garden easy. Just stepping out the door to the rail not
only makes planting easy but also harvesting flowers to display inside your
condo. If you garden preference is
herbs, this method will keep you fresh growing herbs near your kitchen. Having fresh herbs steps away makes tasty
cooking easy. No need for knee pads or
aching backs when your garden is just the right height.
Improve
you view
If your condo balcony just looks out on another condo
balcony across the way, hanging rail boxes can improve your view as well. These versatile planters can change your view
to a gardener’s delight. You can plant decorative
grasses that stand tall or drooping vines to hang down, depending on where you
need to improve your view. You can even
alternate plants, so your condo balcony evokes middle of the jungle vibes. The variety is only limited by your
imagination.
Improve your air quality
Condos are always in high traffic areas and can therefore be
subject to vehicle pollution and other less than pleasant odors; live plants
can help filter the air and provide pleasant aromas. Small bushy plants like
lavender do well in containers and are both beautiful and lightly and
pleasantly aromatic.
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