Spending so much time home has had many dreaming of starting to grow their own herbs and vegetables. Even if you have no previous experience in gardening, there are many common plants you can easily grow on your own balcony with little effort. A simple garden does not only provide you with free vegetables, it’s also super cheap to set up and maintain.
On top of financial benefits, gardening is also great for your mental health. It is proven to reduce stress and help accept defeat, not to mention the great feeling of personal accomplishment seeing your plants flourish gives. You can start with just one or two plants and grow your garden as you go along.
How to get started
First thing you should do is assess what kind of plants survive on your balcony. There are ones that need a lot of direct sunlight, and ones that prefer the shadows. It also makes a difference if your balcony is glassed-in or not, as it affects how warm it can get. Once you know the opportunities and limitations of your balcony, you can go pick up the right plants from the garden store.
Plant seeds come with a lot of information about how they should be treated in order to get the plant to grow, which makes planting them really easy. You don’t have to figure out the kind of soil, frequency of watering or size of the pot yourself, you just have to follow the instructions. The gardening store staff is also often happy to share their tips and tricks.
What to expect
Gardening is a long-term hobby you can put as much or little time into as you want. In any case there are no instant wins, like at an online casino, gardening takes patience, trial and error and commitment. You can also see one plant blossom, and another wither, even if you would have treated them exactly the same. This is part of the experience, and for many what draws them to the activity.
Growing plants is also not tied to age and is often a hobby that lasts through a lifetime. And it’s not only you who gets to enjoy your plants, a balcony garden is often appreciated by the whole neighborhood and brings color and joy to passersby as well as guests. And in case you decide to grow vegetables or herbs, many say your own taste better than store-bought.
Apart from garden stores, the internet is full of great ideas you can use as an inspiration for your own garden. There is also an abundance of blogs, forums and social media groups around the topic, so you won’t have to be alone in your newfound passion. There’s no better time to start than now, so what are you waiting for?