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6 best balcony planters
Transform your garden space, however small – without breaking the bank
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Here’s our pick of the pleasingly priced planters that are top of the pots, providing the perfect frame for the fruits (and flowers) of your green fingers.
All of the products that made the cut helped us manage to plant and maintain flowers on our urban balcony over the past few months.
Shop now to find yourself a blooming bargain as, with the arrival of autumn, lots of suppliers are discounting their gardening ranges.
Rowlinson Marberry Square Planter: £54.99, gardenstreet.co.uk
Robust and solid, this planter will fill even the most inexperienced balcony gardener with confidence – it just looks like it means business.
It arrives already constructed but is easy enough to carry. Make sure you position it in the perfect spot from the outset, though – when filled with compost to its 62 litre capacity it’s heavy.
Lined with black fabric, the European whitewood is pressure treated to stop rot and can be stained, painted or left au naturel.
Pastoral Balcony Buckets: £27.99 (set of eight), Amazon
To brighten up a drab balcony or distract the eye from rusty railings, these decorative iron pastoral plant buckets are a quick and easy fix.
The set of eight iron planters work beautifully with cascading flowers, Surfinia Petunias for example, trailing from them. Match the colour of the bloom to the planter or, if you’re feeling bold, go for exuberant clashes.
Our tester really enjoys hers, moving them around as the mood takes. After owning a set for six months she reports that, thus far – they are proving totally rust-proof.
Scottie Dog Planter: Marquis and Dawe, £13
This planter certainly scores highly on cute points and, handmade from natural brushwood entwined around a metal frame, it’s sturdy too.
The planting area is lined, so it’s a simple case of popping in one big grow pot or some compost and choosing your blooms – perhaps honour Scottie’s Caledonian roots with some hardy Highland heather for winter.
The range also features a Dachshund and a Labrador puppy.
Lechuza Balconissima: £19.99, www.lechuza.co.uk
Full admission – our tester found this wick irrigation system planter a bit complicated to understand at first and had to call the (extremely helpful) Lechuza customer services team for assistance but, put together, it’s a sleek bit of kit.
Available in either slate grey, lime green or white, this planter has lattice moulding on the plastic outer. The inner has holes for three small (10cm) grow pots and a water level indicator which tells you when your plants need a drink.
Fill the water reservoir up, stick a wick in each pot to draw water to the roots and your plants should stay hydrated for a fortnight – at least before the indicator tells you they’re thirsty, making it a good buy for gardeners who travel a lot.
Elho Green Basics Easy Hanger Large Planter: £3.99, Amazon
Pleasingly chunky, this plastic planter is easy to use – just stick the arms over your railings and pop in some plants.
Available in cherry, lime green, black and terracotta, it has a drainage hole making caring for its inhabitants easy.
Either put flowers in directly in their grow pots (the planter fits three) or pour the compost in and go from there.
Florentine Terracotta Pot: £35 for 40cm wide, patch.garden.com
Terracotta has been a favourite material for pots since Ancient times while Patch is the new kid on the gardening block – delivering indoor and outdoor plants and accessories direct to urban homes.
Your first order comes with a handy little book about how to keep purchases alive and there are free video tutorials on Patch's website for novices.
This Florentine Terracotta pot is unglazed, allowing for more air to flow around the plant’s root system – the only drawback of terracotta is that it can crack during winter if any water trapped inside freezes.
To guard against this, place the pot on the section of your balcony next to the walls of your home rather than the chillier outer reaches.
The Verdict: Best Budget Balcony Planters
If you’re after cheap and cheerful, the Pastoral Balcony Pots will brighten up any railing; the Scottie Dog scores on kitsch appeal. But, for craftsmanship, durability and style at a reasonable price, Rowlinson’s Marberry Square Planter offers the ultimate in petal power.