On Kev’s Balcony

[It's Kev]

I thought I might as well start one of these threads for myself, sometimes the balcony might change and sometimes there might even be multiple balconies coz life just be super fun that way
At the beginning of this year my wife and I had a baby girl, her job gave her the entire semester off for maternity leave so we’re renting an apartment closer to where I work. Balcony is tiny as heck so I had to make some tough decisions on which trees to bring along. As for my watering plan, I didn’t want to set up a brand new rig that would be untested with opportunity for failure, so I’ve opted for something way more stupid
I’ve purchased a few huge drip trays, and then put all my trees in them, to let water flow from one pot to another I’ve put tiles underneath the first tray and then let the tap run on just a slow drip into it. I used chopsticks to lead the water from the higher trays to the lower ones so one dripping hose could feed the whole lot.
I know everyone will have a lot to say about how in-ideal this is but with many other situations in which I couldn’t reach my trees because of logistical issues, (I have a track record) this idea seemed fairly fool proof. I visit my trees once a week and after the hospital and post natal care center I made some tough decisions on which trees could go with me to the temporary residence
Firstly by availability: some I’ve smuggled from the motherland and literally can’t be replaced
Secondly by price: I haven’t broken the bank with tree purchases, but I selected some higher end things that actually look like something
The rest of them, if they make it, I’m super happy, if they don’t, I’ll try not to cry too hard

Here are the few that made the cut out of 30 trees, or 30 sticks in pots, they are from left to right: JBP, common juniper, p.afra (this actual one came from my grandpa’s actual garden back home, I know they’re common but this one is special), some kind of bottlebrush (more dense than the common one, but also from home), an olive, and an oleaster (which I also brought from home and if there was a fire, this be the only tree I’d escape with)


Gotta shape these branches a bit and make some pads if I can

This has a fat lump just below the soil line, if I repot I’ll raise it a bit, said lump could make a nice base.

Since work is now only 5km away I now get back with a few minutes of daylight to spare

One of the left behind remnants, the constant wet feet hasn’t taken its toll yet.

I bought a few decent bougie cuttings from home, and this I didn’t really care for, the bougie cuttings all failed, and this pulled through.

It’s dark again now but I need to post some good pics of the oleaster, maybe not this weekend coz I’ll be away from both residences

 

[GGB]

Sometimes find myself jealous of those doing bonsai on a balcony. Forced to be so simple, clean and deliberate. Hope you get decent sun there. And as a caution (maybe you know this) those zip ties will get very brittle very fast when exposed to sun. Usually two years tops here before they can be crumbled between my fingers

 

[It's Kev]

Sometimes find myself jealous of those doing bonsai on a balcony. Forced to be so simple, clean and deliberate. Hope you get decent sun there. And as a caution (maybe you know this) those zip ties will get very brittle very fast when exposed to sun. Usually two years tops here before they can be crumbled between my fingers

I’m only here until July, and the trees won’t slip through that gap, the zip ties only prevent the one corner from slipping in, so just to keep them level.
The balcony faces south so it’s pretty close to decent

 

[Eckhoffw]

Congratulations, and best of luck!

 

[namnhi]

Oh wow, looks as if your trees are training to by gymnasts. I see balancing beam, and uneven bars. I hope you find a yard that matches your enthusiasm.

 

[The Barber]

Sometimes find myself jealous of those doing bonsai on a balcony. Forced to be so simple, clean and deliberate. Hope you get decent sun there. And as a caution (maybe you know this) those zip ties will get very brittle very fast when exposed to sun. Usually two years tops here before they can be crumbled between my fingers

I agree with GGB. You might fabricate a board into a shelf that the trees can be wired down to. Wire won't dry rot, and will possibly give you more space lol.

 

[GGB]

I’m only here until July, and the trees won’t slip through that gap, the zip ties only prevent the one corner from slipping in, so just to keep them level.
The balcony faces south so it’s pretty close to decent

Sounds perfect then

 

[It's Kev]

Here's some fresh daylight, i trimmed the wild olive earlier on, but i need to do some branch selection at mid summer maybe


Bottlebrush has surprising vigor for a dry stick

pine got needle plucked to within an inch of it's life by the seller, luckily its pushing candles now
(need to learn about pines ASAP)


random azalea of some sorts, it never looked too happy, b ut it seems to have perked up since i repotted it

 

[It's Kev]

Didn’t know I had my azalea pic in the previous reply, it had a single flower when I bought it a year ago, and hasn’t bloomed since. I will admit that the previous pic did look dreadful.
It has improved slightly though…


Now there are leafy buds lower down, which are tiny, what are the bigger brown ones? Coz they’re neither dying nor coming off.

 

[cmu268]

Brown ones look like old flower buds

 

[Carol 83]

Brown ones look like old flower buds

 

[It's Kev]

So I missed out then? It wasn’t too happy for most of last year, trying my best to take better care of it