Sky Gardens: Greener, Healthier Living That Saves Big Bucks

With summer right around the corner, many readers will have already started seeing the first signs of vegetable gardens popping up in the yards of houses around your neighborhood. Growing one’s own vegetables is definitely high on the ‘live greener’ scale; no need to ship the produce from farm to market, then to grocery store where it’s kept in climate controlled comfort until purchase. Also eating more fresh vegetables is certainly a healthier way to live too.

Apartment Gardens, No Yard, No Problem

Backyard gardens are great, but what those who don’t live in a house; what about those who live in an apartment (or condominium) building? Cities have always attracted people and with more than 80% of people in Canada and The United States living in cities, there’s little chance that apartment dwelling will ever decline.

So, what about everyone who lives in apartment buildings and thus, not lucky enough to have a back yard? Most often, building management (of the apartment or condominium) will not agree to digging up the land around the property, regardless of the reasons. Some of the newer buildings today now include rooftop gardens as architects move to greener designs, but most of us do not have that option. The solution could be as easy as stepping out onto the balcony.

Balcony Balconies: Gardens in the Sky

For most people, the balcony represents your little piece of the outdoors; open the door, step out onto the balcony and voila, their own private piece of the world. Generally, balconies typically get used for a place to set a couple chairs for relaxation, maybe a barbeque, a bicycle or two, or just a place to get some fresh air. Some people may put a plant on their balconies, but most never consider planting a full garden, nor do they consider the amount of money they could be saving. Depending on what you grow, you could save anywhere from a few hundred to over a thousand dollars in a space as small as 2’x14′.

There are some considerations prior to setting up a sky garden, which will dramatically influence the ‘fruits of your labour’. You need to know how much direct sunlight your balcony receives, how strong a wind you experience and how high up you are.

Balcony Garden Sunlight Considerations

In the northern hemisphere, South facing balconies will receive the most amount of direct sunlight throughout the day, followed by West facing balconies (afternoon and evening sunlight), then East facing balconies (morning sunlight). North facing balconies will receive the least amount of direct sunlight and depending on your geographic location, may not receive any direct sunlight at all. All plants require light, either direct or indirect, in order for photosynthesis to occur to allow the plant to reach maturity. The amount of light requirements differ from plant to plant and knowing how much sunlight your balcony experiences will affect whether or not the plants you have chosen to grow, will successfully produce vegetation. We’ll get into that more a little later.

Balcony Garden Wind Considerations

On the ground where plants are normally grown, the wind rarely gets up to high speeds (aside from winds of storm systems). On a balcony however, depending on how high up you are, the wind can get quite strong on a regular basis and high winds will tear apart unsheltered plants. Some balconies are enclosed (like a sun-room or solarium) so this is not an issue, but typically the wind speed around a high-rise is greater than normal. This is because the building creates a sort of windbreak which forces the air to move around it. The air moving around the building has to share the same space with the rest of the wind, causing a buildup of pressure and an increase in wind speed (think of a garden hose and what happens when you partially pinch the end of it). As long as the wind is not regularly constant, gusts up to 15-20km/hr may be overcome by using bamboo stakes.

In the second article of this series, we’ll review a simple sky-garden setup, how to pick the right vegetables to grow for your location and how to take care of of the plants to maximize growth potential.

Other Articles In The Series

Sky Gardens: Greener, Healthier Savings

Sky Gardens: Growing Cabbage, Cauliflower or Broccoli