By Francesca Peacock
Writing in 1950, Vita Sackville-West declared a “small garden” to be anything from “half an acre to two acres”. Though it may seem inconceivable for someone who gardened on the scale of Sissinghurst, many keen gardeners in cities have to make do with far less than half an acre: a tiny terrace, a small balcony or a pair of window boxes. Yet limited space does not mean limited opportunity — even the smallest outdoor area can be a source of joy.
One gardener who has made the most of his balcony space is Oliver Hymans. Hymans (main image, above) — a finalist for the Gardener’s World Gardens of the Year in 2023 — transformed the balcony of his low-rise flat in north-east London from an unloved storage space into a green paradise. Making the most of its south-facing aspect, he has used every inch of space: a pelargonium theatre on the wall adds height while window boxes and planters blur the edges, adding an “infinity pool” effect to the greenery. Despite being just 5 metres x 1.5 metres, the sheer profusion of plants and colours makes the space feel as bold and inspiring as many larger gardens.
Hymans grows a mixture of plants that like the balcony's heat, annuals such as poppies, cosmos and cow parsley. There are challenges that come with creating a garden suspended above ground — his balcony has no tap and is not fully open to the rain — but he stresses the benefits. “Being able to step out into our little patch of greenery makes everything worth it . . . it is that connection with the outdoors that makes city living work for us.” The balcony has transformed the rest of the flat, with the door staying “open every day of the warmer months”.
Author and podcaster Alice Vincent discovered a love of gardening through her own balcony space, which she called the Treehouse and about which she wrote in her book Rootbound: Rewilding a Life. A self-taught expert in balcony gardens, she says that they “offer the perfect playground for gardeners” who are new to gardening. In a small space — and often with a lot of light — the natural challenges provided by containers and lugging soil up endless flights of stairs become opportunities. In these tiny “gardens”, there is no need to deal with any older plants left behind by previous owners. There are often fewer weeds and invasive species, and smaller plants can have an outsized effect. Gardening on a balcony can be “economical” says Vincent, and also beneficial to the local urban environment.
Any homebuyer wanting to re-create Hyman’s success in the capital might be tempted by this three-bedroom flat in Battersea, which is currently on the market for £1.525mn. It has a small third-floor balcony that leads off from the sitting room, providing the opportunity to create a garden overlooking Battersea Park and a way of bringing the green space even closer to the flat. This four-bedroom flat in South Kensington, priced at £3.65mn, has a portico balcony just beyond the floor-to-ceiling French doors in the reception room. Visible from the sitting room, a planted balcony would provide an extra screen from the road below.
It is perhaps no surprise that, since 2021, there has been a balcony category at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The category — which asks designers to create a capsule garden in a space of 5 metres x 2 metres — began in Vincent's words, as “a nod to the millennials” who might have smaller homes and less time to spend gardening, but also value wellbeing and a connection with nature. It’s now an annual fixture and a judged component of the show.
The winners of this year's competition included a garden that managed to bring the wonders of a Japanese forest to a small space, an evergreen courtyard designed to be restorative for carers, and a coastal-inspired balcony that demonstrated how water features can be integral to even the most diminutive of outdoor areas. All of this year’s entries showcased clever planting solutions: containers and beds with year-round interest; plants for pollinators to give an urban area an environmental edge. These gardens show that balcony spaces can be just as creative and productive as larger plots — and suited to city living.
Photography: Helen Murray; Savills
