Balcony Bounty | Indoor Plants And Balcony Gardens | Gardening Australia

Costa meets a gardener with a suite of solutions to growing a productive balcony garden.

Wendy Siu-Chew Lee has turned her fourth-floor balcony into a bountiful vegetable garden and is out to prove “there’s nothing I can’t grow up here”.

After 5 years Wendy now has it all figured out and goes for the plants that give “the best bang for your buck” including leafy greens, broccoli and broad beans, that are some of the most productive in the sunny, north facing site.

Wendy’s homemade compost bin is an easy-to-move, 100L wheelie bin with holes drilled in the sides for aeration, that gets filled with leaf litter. Kitchen scraps go into the worm farms along with a sprinkle of lime to reduce smell, and shredded paper, cardboard and dried leaves to add carbon. “There’s a balance of about four to one – four being the carbon, one being the greens that come out of the kitchen.”

Maximising space is also key to productivity, so she grows climbing vegetables and fruit such as peas and grapes. The grapes also provide shelter in the heat of summer and privacy from the neighbours.
Wendy’s garden shows you that good things take time. When you look after a garden your garden will look after you – inside and out, year after year!

Featured Plants
Cos Lettuce (Lactuca sativa cv.)
Bok Choy (Brassica rapa cv.)
Broad Bean (Vicia faba cv.)
Broccoli (Brassica oleracea cv.)
Blueberry (Vaccinium cv.)
Snow Pea (Pisum sativum cv.)
Grape (Vitis cv.)

Filmed on Dharug Country

See the latest content from Gardening Australia as it goes live by hitting subscribe: http://ab.co/GA-subscribe
Watch Gardening Australia on ABC iview: http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/gardening-australia

About Gardening Australia:
Gardening Australia is an ABC TV program providing gardening know-how and inspiration. Presented by Australia’s leading horticultural experts, Gardening Australia is a valuable resource to all gardeners through the television program, the magazine, books, DVDs and extensive online content.

Connect with other Gardening Australia fans:
Like Gardening Australia on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gardeningaustralia
Follow Gardening Australia on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/gardeningaustralia
Visit the Gardening Australia website: http://www.abc.net.au/gardening

This is an official Australian Broadcasting Corporation YouTube channel.
********
Contributions may be removed if they violate ABC’s Online Conditions of Use http://www.abc.net.au/conditions.htm (Section 3).