Sherry Sun's veggie garden has all the usual edible suspects: seasonal veggies, herbs and potted fruit trees.
"Recently I got a finger lime tree. It's my first time growing an Australian native and it's opened up a whole world of native plant possibilities!" Sherry says.
The only difference between Sherry's garden and many other veggie patches is that it grows on a balcony, seven storeys above ground.
An auditor by day, Sherry shares her Melbourne apartment with her partner and her multilingual budgie Jamonsin.
"He speaks Mandarin, Spanish and English," says Sherry who recently taught him to say "I love fresh silverbeet from my mum's garden".
We asked Sherry how she kicked off her sky-high garden and the biggest tips she's learned along the way.
Getting started
For Sherry it all started a few years ago with a chilli plant from her local farmers' market.
"I love eating spicy food, so I figured if I bought a plant with lots of chillies on it, it might be cheaper than just buying the chillies," she says.
Watching the plant grow and produce chillies year round inspired her to expand her garden and utilise her new balcony space.
Small space, big dreams
In total Sherry has about 20 square metres of balcony space and she dedicates roughly half to growing produce.
Sherry maximises the space she has with a combination of planter boxes, pots, grow bags (pots made out of fabric) and a stacked planter system. The stacked planter is one of her newer investments and it allows her to grow veggies vertically across six layers.
"It's a really good system for limited space," she notes.
All balconies have weight limits so it's best to consult your landlord or body corporate before ordering tonnes of potting mix for your budding garden.
What's the easiest crop for aspiring veggie gardeners?
"All the herbs! Mint is like a weed to grow so make sure you put it in a container with nothing else otherwise it will take over," Sherry recommends.
"I also highly recommend silverbeet. They don't need much care: just water and a few hours of sunshine and they thrive!"
Sherry's DIY solutions for balcony garden challenges
Gardening will always come with challenges, but some are specific to balcony gardening.
Watering without a hose
Although Sherry's balcony has a drain in the centre, flooding the small space with water still isn't a good idea.
So, instead of using a hose, watering can or buckets of water, Sherry uses a garden pressure sprayer. Found at hardware stores and nurseries, these hand pump systems are great for watering a small number of plants in a controlled way.
Sherry also uses drip trays under each of the pots to catch any water run-off.
Managing pests
If you were hoping that a high-rise balcony would protect you from common garden pests, think again.
"I've had the worst experience with aphids, leaf miners and scale on the citrus. Recently I've discovered thrips!" says Sherry.
She's found netting to be one of the best solutions for keeping the pests at bay.
"Just make sure there are no aphids inside the netting. That was my first ever mistake with netting. There were some inside and it became a breeding ground disaster," she says.
Protecting plants from strong winds
Sherry has multiple tactics to counter strong winds. First, she takes advantage of in-built wind barriers like balcony walls and rails.
"A glass balustrade takes the brunt of the wind so I keep most of the plants grounded [under the balustrade's height] to protect them," she says.
Sherry has found staking smaller seedlings with bamboo skewers helps protect them while they develop root systems.
"I cut up old cotton clothes into small strips and tie them with a bamboo stake. I've been staking everything, even Asian greens."
If the weather is particularly hot and gusty, Sherry will drag some of the pots inside temporarily or move them from the more exposed north-facing balcony to her smaller but more sheltered west-facing balcony.
Sherry notes: "It's a constant workout but one of the perks of container gardens gardens is you can move them to chase the good weather!"
Finally, to protect vulnerable baby plants from the wind, Sherry recently invested in a mini greenhouse. "I did have to alter it, though — I put a 15kg dumbbell at the bottom so it doesn't blow away!"
Chrissi Charles is a queer writer and plant scientist passionate about propagating plant literacy on Wurundjeri country.
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