Balcony, Window Box or Container Planting

Just because you’re not at ground level or have only hard surfaces with no access to the soil below, doesn’t mean you can’t help and enjoy wildlife. In fact, creating spaces for planting, perhaps with a little water feature included, is amongst the best things you can do for nature wherever you are.

What is it?

Window boxes are usually rectangular, plastic, iron or ceramic boxes filled with soil and sat on a window ledge or hung over a fence or railing. Pots and larger box planters, including homemade wooden planters, can also work beautifully on the floor of your balcony. They should all be fixed in place to protect them from wind and storms.

Whatever the vessel, the key ingredients to bring it to life include compost, gravel, water-retaining granules and a topping of mulch.

What does it do?

Your pots and planters could be vital, even life-saving, refuelling stops for insects on the wing. This is most obvious on hot, dry days and in areas without much planting or green space. Plant a mix of pollinator-friendly flowers such as lavender, marigolds, and zinnias in your containers, and include drought-tolerant plants both to save effort watering them and to ensure they survive and support wildlife when less hardy plants are struggling. Some of the best drought-tolerant plants are also great herbs so they’re providing food and scent for us too! Including a water feature amongst the planting can help even more. Less obvious, but just as important, is when your plants flower and fruit. Neighbours that coordinate their planting can provide a year-round supply of food,cover and nesting material to local populations of wildlife that might otherwise die out or have to move away in the lean months. Include some evergreen plants for year-round cover and consider adding some that will generate seeds and berries for birds and bugs to eat too. Plants like holly, ivy, teasle, echinacea and of course sunflowers are good examples.

Who benefits?

All sorts of pollinator insects like bumblebees and solitary bees, butterflies and moths, hoverflies and more will be nourished by the pollen and nectar that flowers in your container planter provide. Even the smallest of window boxes and balcony pots could be a life-saving pit-stop for bumblebees struggling to find food in an otherwise bare concrete environment. Birds may eat seeds and fruit if they’re available too. The shade and cover provided will be a haven for insects and other invertebrates as well as birds, if the container and its planting are large enough, and birds and bats will feed on the bugs your planter supports. Including scented flowers can be a great way of attracting moths that bats will eat at night and of course makes a pleasant smell for you too. Kitchen herbs look beautiful and smell great so will be a great feed for your senses as well as your stomach!