My balcony garden

Every morning I wake up, draw back the curtains, and am greeted by this:

Hardly what I would call inspiring, but that’s what happens when you’re on a budget and rent out a first-floor apartment.

Since moving to Tokyo I’ve tried numerous times to keep up a balcony garden, and each time have successfully managed to kill numerous plants in the process. Whether it was traveling or simply forgetting to water, I haven’t been able to get it right.

However, after marveling at all the beautiful potted plant gardens lining the street I live on, filled with hyacinths, petunias, morning glories, goyas, and tomatoes, I decided that this time I was going to get serious about gardening this time!

To get myself in the spirit, and also to learn about how to successfully raise my plants, I went out and bought two guides:

The one on the left, ベランダで楽しむ土いじり, is a general guide on veranda gardening for beginners and covers everything from how to care for your garden, to different varieties of plants, and how to artistically arrange multiple plants in the same pot.

The guide on the left, プチ菜園生活のすすめ, I purchased more for motivation than knowledge. It’s a cute comic-essay that chronicles the author’s trials and tribulations as she starts off growing vegetables at home, and eventually rents a plot of land from a neighborhood co-op field.

After doing some studying, I got on my bike and rode off to the Shimachu home center near Nakano station. Located across the street from the Nakano City Library and Nakano ZERO hall, Shimachu is a somewhat well-hidden shopping gem in the heart of the city. This huge home and garden center sells everything from dry wall, to deck chairs, mattresses, plants, and appliances. There’s ample free bicycle parking, so if you’re planning on making a small to medium-sized purchase, I recommend biking there rather than taking the train since the store is a good 5-7 minutes away from the station. Larger purchases can be shipped anywhere within the 23 wards of Tokyo starting from around 700 yen.

After I picked my plants, soil, pot, and gardening tools, I loaded and strapped everything to my powerhouse of a folding bicycle, went home to do some planting, and voila!

My balcony is instantly more cheerful, colorful, bright, and inspiring! On the left I have a pot of spearmint, and the pot on the right contains a zinnia, lavender, and globe amaranths. I have another pot with a flower called a sunburst in it, but it hasn’t flowered yet so no pictures.

I’ve had my garden for less than a week, but I’m determined to do my best to keep my plants healthy, happy, and alive this time around. I’ll post an update if my sunburst decides to bloom!