As requested, here's a photo of our newly cleaned-up balcony. We kept the three nandina bushes and moved them to the corners (where they were when we moved in two years ago). Surrounding them, from left, are our campanula (which has died back for the season), our brand new clematis seedling, our blue-flowered plumbago, a pink geranium, our butterfly bush, some heather and, over on the right, our horseradish.
As you can see, there's a lot more room, but overall the effect is less green and lush than when we had the boxwoods. I have mixed feelings about this, but Dave likes the space and it's nice for the dog to be able to walk to the railing and watch what's going on in the parking lot below.
The boxwoods, meanwhile, look perfectly happy downstairs by the front door of the building.
Maybe now we should get some Rustoleum (or whatever the British equivalent) and paint those metal nandina pots, which are looking pretty weathered. Or not.
I've also toyed with the idea of scrubbing the balcony to get rid of the dirty film that accumulated under the plants. But that seems like housekeeping in extremis, doesn't it? Kind of like painting a driveway, a suburban activity that I've heard about but never understood.
If it were my balcony, I'd ditch the nandina. That stuff does nothing for me. I allow it to grow on the borders of my property because the birds like it and it's a sort of natural barrier. But I pulled it all out of the beds in the yard when I moved in.
ReplyDeleteBut...that's just me.
I guess that boxwoods aren't the only plant I feel a little negative about, huh?
Ha!
That's still a lot of vegetation! I actually like the boxwoods better than the nandina - ha!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Ms Moon. Don't care for nandina. I'd rather use the space for something that flowers. but great little balcony.
ReplyDeleteVery nice! I miss having an outdoor space in the city.
ReplyDelete