“You’ll never find a rainbow if you’re looking down.” This quote by Charlie Chaplin reminds us why it is so important to raise our sights! Lifting our point of view to a higher perspective becomes easy if we find beauty there to marvel at. Raise your sights with us and try your hand at eye-level gardening on a small patio or balcony.
We’re into month four of our promise in a pot series. This month we’re placing special focus on gardening in small spaces. If you are limited to growing what you can on a patio or windowsill, this is ideal for you. We’re harnessing the power of vertical space by making a vertical garden by means of a trellis, and planting up a hanging basket. If you live in an apartment, you can enjoy all the pleasures of the garden, like riots of flowers from your window
One of the best ways to get an early start on spring is to invest in a little promise. The promise of colour, the promise of bees, butterflies, and birds. A promise in a pot is a windowsill filled with joy, designed to attract all the garden dwellers we love and welcome.
Can you imagine? It’s summer, about 3 months from now, you wake up and open the curtains to look outside. As you greet the day, the colours of Marigolds, Erigeron, and Salvia smile up at you from the window ledge. That’s the magic of a promise in a pot, it changes your whole day by wiring your brain for happiness. Let’s make a promise in a pot:
Trellis garden - a vertical delight
A trellis is a lovely way to decorate a wall. A balcony garden invites nature closer and decorating the walls of a small patio couldn’t be easier. Forget plain walls - go for a living ornament that offers food to bees and butterflies. If you’re lucky, you might even have feathered friends visiting in the springtime.
What you will need: 
- A trellis
- Decorative pots for the trellis
- Small flowering plants
- Well-draining plastic pots, if the pots which the plants come in aren’t suitable
- Cable ties
- Scissors
- A bucket or Tubtrug (to catch soil)
Step 1: Choose your plants
Select plants that will thrive in the light you are able to provide in their new home. For this reason, it’s necessary to know how the light tends to move during the day, is there a period of full sun? Full shade? Get familiar with your space before you choose your flowering plants.
Step 2: Planting your plants
Using the correct potting mix for the plants you have selected. Plant them in well-draining plastic pots, being sure to pat down the soil once the plant has been placed. Once the plants are snug in the plastic pots, water them thoroughly and allow the pots to drain.
Step 3: Attach the decorative pots to the trellis
Using cable ties, attach the decorative pots to the trellis. Once the pots are secured, trim away the excess from the cable tie. To get the final effect we achieved, attach your pots in a slightly staggered angle and turn them so that each pot faces a different direction to its neighbour. You can choose to attach them in any pattern that works for you.
Step 4: The final touch
Once your decorative pots are properly secured, you can place your plastic pots with their plants inside the decorative pots. The final step in this project is to enjoy it!
Hanging basket - suspended glory
Hanging baskets are an old favourite but it’s easy to forget just how versatile they can be! They can be used indoors as much as they are outdoors. Placing them near doorways adds a welcoming touch to the decor.
What you will need: 
- A hanging basket
- Water retention crystals
- Scissors
- A bucket or Tubtrug (to catch soil)
- Plants for the basket (keeping the final location of the hanging basket in mind - full sun/full shade etc)
- Trowel
Getting your patio garden to reflect your taste and style
The trick to getting your patio garden looking exactly the way you want it is to select planters and containers that resonate with your personal taste and style. There is such a wide variety of pots and planters available for purchase, you’re spoiled for choice. Terracotta pots are an old favourite, while cement planters with small trees also add a burst of life to corners and patios. Hanging baskets are available in any shape, size, and colour too. Visit your local GCA Garden Centre to see what else you can find!
