Choosing the right gardening plants for your apartment balcony can be hard and sometimes overwhelming, especially if you have never done it before. But if you follow these tips, it will be a much easier and less time consuming task.

The best place to start when choosing an apartment balcony garden is by thinking about what plants you like best and why. If you want to attract birds, choose plants that are native to your area and some of these would include butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, ladybugs, and dragonflies.

Know what size plant you are going to plant. You should never plant plants on the balcony if you are not sure they will fit. And even if they do it they will die if they get wet or are getting heavy foot traffic.

Plants also need certain amounts of water and sun exposure. Check the plant description for specifics. Placing your plants into a larger container will keep them from getting tired out easily and allow them to have more sunlight.

You can also have a greenhouse style of apartment gardening. But it is still a good idea to have plants outside the balcony, since your balcony will not get hot enough inside the house.

Sunlight is an important factor in the growth of plants. Planting in direct sunlight is the easiest way to make your plants grow fast.

You need to consider the area your plants will be in as well. Some plants need a specific amount of space to spread their roots. You can use any square footage or empty spot in your balcony to grow plants.

A quick tip to help you find out the amount of space you need to plant is to remove all the plants you currently have and cut a small circle out of the middle. Once you have your spot marked out you will be able to see how many inches from the edge of the square you will need to plant.

If you already have a wall or other area in your house that you are trying to create an “apartment” from, you will want to decide on the plants you will use in that area. Keep in mind that your plants will be growing in the same area, so you need to plan them out so that they have a supply of water and sunlight.

When you have the full plan of what you want to plant, the next step is figuring out where to put the plants. To determine the best spot for plants to grow, remember this.

Your plants will be in the same area so you need to figure out the amount of light and water needed for each type of plant. Watering your plants early in the day is a good idea, as well as providing shade for your plants. For example, tomatoes need a cool shade to grow and will do better in a sunny corner of the balcony.

When choosing your plants, try to pick ones that are native to your area. As long as they don’t have to much competition, your apartment balcony gardening experience will be a lot easier.