Understanding Plant Types and Their Uses in Balcony Gardens

Creating a thriving balcony garden is about more than just choosing plants—it’s about understanding the roles that different plant types play in your garden. Trees, vines, shrubs, and groundcovers all serve distinct functions that contribute to the health and beauty of your space.

In this post, we’ll explore the different types of plants and how to use them effectively in your balcony garden. From creating a microclimate with trees to using groundcovers for soil protection, this guide will help you choose the right plants for your space.

Here, an evergreen vine is used to soften the brick wall, offering a green backdrop in a small area. Shrubs have been used to add volume and interest to the garden. The trees have been pruned in a way making them mostly ornamental, providing little in the way of shade and microclimate compared with trees allowed to have wider canopies. Architect Alan Higgs, Alicia Taylor photography.

Plant Types and Their Uses:

1. Trees

• The Role of Trees: Trees are key to establishing a microclimate on your balcony. The bigger they grow, the more they can help moderate the temperature and protect other plants from extreme weather.

• Deciduous vs Evergreen:

  • Deciduous Trees: Best for balcony gardens as they allow sunlight in winter and provide shade in summer. Place them where they’ll get enough light based on their needs:

    • Full sun: 6+ hours/day

    • Part sun: 4-6 hours/day (including some afternoon sun)

    • Part shade: 4-6 hours of direct sun before midday

    • Full shade: Less than 4 hours of direct sun/day

  • Evergreen Trees: Use only in specific cases (e.g., on the southern side of seating areas where winter shade won’t matter) or if you’re creating a deep, forest-like aesthetic with ferns and moss.

2. Vines

• Deciduous Vines: Vines are ideal for growing over high thermal mass walls (e.g., concrete or brick). They help cool the space by shielding walls from heat gain in summer, and in winter, the bare walls absorb warmth.

  • Note: Some vines will need a trellis, others won’t, as they sucker to walls, but ensure they’re pruned away from functional components like vents and air conditioning units.

  • Tip: If you’re in doubt about body corporate permissions, vines are often best grown first—ask for forgiveness later!

• Evergreen Vines: Use these to cascade down from pots or balcony railings, grow up trellises where winter shade isn’t an issue, or grow up large walls to soften their appearance. You can let them intermingle with other plants or prune them back to your taste.

3. Shrubs

• The Role of Shrubs: Shrubs create the midlayer of your garden, contributing significantly to the overall vegetation mass. They provide structure, texture, and depth to your garden.

• How to Shape Shrubs: As your shrubs grow, prune them to shape. I tend to suggest regular tip pruning to encourage dense growth for shrubs, but if the goal is just to create an open form, allow them to grow out reaching for sunlight. Regular pruning will allow you to control their form and ensure they fit well within your overall garden design.
  If you are growing shrubs in round pots and want them to have a balanced form, rotate them every month or two to help them grow an even form

4. Groundcovers & Accent plants

• The Role of Groundcovers: Groundcovers are essential for protecting the soil from drying out, filling gaps in pots, and contributing to the garden’s overall atmosphere.

• Why Groundcovers Matter: They add complexity to the root system in your pots, which improves nutrient retention via microbial life. Groundcovers also help prevent evaporation and add to the biodiversity of the garden.

In a small space, the use of vines is an effective way of adding greenery without using up much of the functional area of the garden.
Here Virginia creeper has been used, offering beautiful colour in Autumn and dropping it's leaves in winter letting more light into the apartment for the cooler months.

Understanding how to use different plant types—trees, vines, shrubs, and groundcovers—can transform your balcony garden into a well-structured, functional space. By considering the role each plant plays, you can create a garden that thrives in Canberra’s climate.

Want to keep reading?
Check out my next post My Top Plant Choices for Balcony Gardens in Canberra for specific recommendations on the best plants to use.

Want expert help?
For your own custom planting design check out my Balcony Design and Construction Services page.