Best Plants for Your Terrace Garden
Dear Alice,
Today I would like to talk to you about the best plants to grow on your terrace garden. Since we yet again have weekend, and this is just great, I would like to give you some further ideas to spend your weekends in a very pleasant way, and that is by taking care and by nurturing the plants on your terrace garden or on your balcony garden.
Since we moved in our new apartment, I must that that I just simply love our terrace garden, and that is because:
- it is big enough to enjoy the weather and to reconnect with your inner self and/or your thoughts after a tumultuous day, but not so big so as to require a lot of time for cleaning it;
- it has a magnificent location so as to offer a unique and wonderful view over the city surroundings from almost every corner you would sit;
- it offers a great place for us to have our barbecues lunches, dinners or parties or to just enjoy our coffee or a good cup of ice-cream;
- it gives us a great possibility to grow a certain number of plants, to care for them and to maintain them so as to later use them for cooking or just for cocktails preparations.
Since it took us some time to experiment with terrace plants and to notice which ones would be more appropriate and what are the benefits of having them as guests on our terrace, I would thus like to make a summary here and give you some insights concerning the best plants to maintain on your terrace garden and the main reasons for which this would also bring you some advantages:
- Berries (our terrace currently hosts: blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries)
- Why plant them? They are quite easy to care for, and they provide you with a great source of energy either for breakfasts (e.g. for pancakes, waffles or crepes), lunches or dinners.
- How to maintain them? Just do not forget to water them every evening. If you are away for more than 3 days, just ask a friend or a neighbor to water them. Also long term for raspberries you would have to build a wooden nest around them so as they are able to climb and to grow.
Blueberries and raspberries enjoying the sun!
- Herbs (our terrace currently hosts: mint, rosemary, oregano, basil, thyme – in German Thymian, Chives – in German Schnittlauch, parsley – in German Petersil, sage – i.e. in German Salbei)
- Why plant them? I love using fresh herbs for different dishes while cooking: either for soups, for steaks, for pizzas, for sauces or pastas, for salads, etc. It is amazing how often you can use herbs while cooking, how they can change the taste of your food and how their taste makes a difference if they are taken fresh from the terrace garden or from the supermarket.
- How to maintain them? Water them every evening. Be careful not to exaggerate with the water, the herbs are quite sensitive when watering them. Also do not pour the water directly onto the plants, but on the soil in the flowerpot. In addition, you will have to remove from time to time the dried leaves from the herbs and keep them clean (be careful to perform this activity only in the evening, so as not to interfere with the growing process of the plants during the day). Also choose a place on your terrace which is half in the sun and half in the shadow. You can move the herbs around till they will find the right place for them: you will definitely notice which corner on your terrace fits better for them.
Mojito with mint from the terrace garden! Simply delicious!
- Tomatoes
- Why plant them? This one is quite easy: tomatoes are delicious and you can eat them at lunch or dinner or you can use them to prepare soups or sauces for any tomatoes dish you like. And self grown tomatoes are just delicious!
- How to maintain them? Tomatoes are sensitive plants and you have to really take care of them. Just make some research on the internet before deciding to plant tomatoes on your terrace, but do not be afraid that they are too pretentious: other than having to watering them a lot (tomatoes need a lot of water), and to remove the unwanted leaves, tomatoes are quite easy to care for. You just have to be consistent a follow a routine. Also place them somewhere next to the wall, since they like to climb. And be careful in picking the right flowerpot for them: we choose special tomatoes pots, which have a water reservoir that you can additional fill to make sure they do not run out of water and some special plastic rings network on which they can grow. We find the pots at the Hofer supermarket in spring, but I am sure you can acquire such pots at every plants markets in your area.
Our tomatoes, paprika and chili pepper! The pots are just great!
- Paprika (or pepper)
- Why plant them? Again a simple reason for this: peppers are delicious and can be used for a lot of dishes (just pick your favorite pepper dish) . I love stuffed peppers with tomatoes sauce or just eating peppers with sandwiches in the evenings.
- How to maintain them? Water them every evening, and make sure you pour the water on the soil of the flowerpots.
- Chili Pepper
- Why plant them? You can use them as spices for any dish you like.
- How to maintain them? We have them planted in the same flowerpot with the paprika and the tomotoes, so we use the same techniques for maintaining them.
- Lavender Flowers
- Why plant them? Currently the only flower on our terrace. Lavender flowers are very beautiful for aesthetics reasons (they have a marvelous violet color palette). In addition, while in the flowerpot they are keeping the insects away from the terrace (due to their intense odour), and you can collect them and have them dried and use them in your closets to prevent the moths invasion in your house.
- How to maintain them? Just water them every evening and make sure to not place them directly in the sun for the whole day, a mixture of shadow and sun during the day fits them better. We had them first in the sun (and it was way to hot for them), and now we have moved them and we are hoping for their complete recovery and afterwards for their flourishing.
And that is about all: these are all the plants we currently have on our terrace garden. I must say I am very happy with their current status, looking forward for our harvest and for next year (when probably new plants will join our wonderful terrace space).
Sincerely yours and wish you a wonderful sunny weekend,
Madalina