A few adventurous and creative friends have gotten together to bring some sunshine into your otherwise ignored or empty balcony or terrace!
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The folks at My Sunny Balcony (MSB) can suggest how to transform an empty forlorn space into a veritable green heaven…
I was surprised when I walked in to Aqua’s house on Sunday after the MSB folks worked their wonders. Her outside garden space which had one plant and a few pebbles around it had undergone a complete makeover and looked like a million dollars!
Complete with the sound of soothing water, a herb garden and beautiful terracotta pots, it was quite a sight. Aqua and I stared at her “green†space for the longest time and plans are now afoot to get a bench just in the right spot from where one can stare out into the garden! It’s amazing how therapeutic a little green in your life can be :-)
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So, folks : if you have a balcony going to waste and looking utterly dejected : all you have to do is call up the folks at My Sunny Balcony. Most of us living in flats have this experience of letting our balconies turn into storage spaces or worse still, lie empty.
This is what the team has to say: “Any space that receives even a little bit of sunlight is a potential MySunnyBalcony space: A tiny unusable patch outside your front door, an ugly terrace on your roof, or even a back balcony in your high rise apartment. It doesn’t matter how high up or small your space is, we’ll work with it. We’ll also tell you what you can do and what you can’t. You’ll be surprised at the immense number of green possibilities that even a tiny amount of space can hold!”
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More in their words: “Welcome to MySunnyBalcony! We’re a group of garden enthusiasts dedicated to creating customized landscapes for urban environments. With almost no space left in the city for home gardens, we’ve decided to take our gardens up the elevator and into your balconies and terraces. We do concept gardens, designer balconies and terrific terraces. We have a host of theme balconies to choose from, based on your lifestyle and interests. Just tell us what you want and we’ll try and make it possible for you. A little herb or veggie patch that looks as fabulous as it tastes? Sure! A sunny spot with flowers bursting out from every corner? Why not? Or perhaps a tranquil zen-style space to contemplate in? With a quiet fountain gurgling away in the background? You got it!â€
Athreya, Reena, Shailesh and Sriram : the foursome who have started this unique initiative are very hands on : they will come by and provide you with what you need to do to get a super looking balcony in a jiffy! And they still do everything themselves : so this is the right time to catch them : before they become famous and have assistants doing the work :-)
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And it won’t be long before that happens : they’ve already been covered in DNA, 080 and other newspaper articles.
This is a labour of love for these guys and the stunning makeovers they already created are testimony to the hard work they put in so that your space looks like a million dollars!
More:
– My Sunny Balcony
– Contact them on: info@mysunnybalcony.com
Once you’ve tasted the joys of a concept garden, a sunny balcony or a designer terrace — you’ll never go back to your empty space again!
Fantastic work done!
Is MSB in Delhi NCR too? They do give tips also on– how to maintain afterwards?
Posted by Paavani | July 20, 2009, 5:39 pmpaavani has already asked exactly wat i wanted to. i doubt these ppl are in NCR Tho :\
Posted by Twilight fairy | July 20, 2009, 6:11 pmIt was just last weekend that we attended a terrace gardening workshop by AME foundation (http://www.amefound.org/) and it was amazing one can do in balconies and terraces however small it may be. Though this was more on vegetable gardening, principles apply for all kinds of plants I guess. And you don’t really need pots to get going — they showed some neat tricks(using plastic bags and stuff we throw away) on containers that could be used. So I am on the lookout for soil to get started.
Posted by Jayadeep Purushothaman | July 21, 2009, 8:20 amGood job Reena, Athreya and.….??
Posted by Prathima | July 21, 2009, 9:45 am@ paavani: no branches yet! but i am sure they can once they’ve expanded! :-)
@ priyanka: yeah, they’re in bangalore right now!
@ jayadeep: you will get soil in any of those plant vendors on the side of the road. last week i picked it up from adugodi, near the cemetery!
@ prathima: reena, athreya, sriram and shailesh!
Posted by anita | July 21, 2009, 12:08 pmawesome.. I wish i had that interest & energy. I walk to neighbors balcony to take photos..
Posted by Yuva | July 21, 2009, 2:48 pmThat was a refreshing read. :)
But here I am stuck in a different situation. I have a huge balcony and to throw in some green, I got pots, soil, manure and two plants, to start with. Next morning I see the plant chewed into bits and the soil dug out. Guess, our Boom (1 1/2 yr lab) doesn’t want space wasted on greens, as yet. Sigh!
Posted by Nidarshana | July 21, 2009, 3:39 pmAfter shifting to Gurgaon, in last 3–4 months I have developed a complete kitchen garden and now we eat most of the times from our garden. Have planted lots of trees and its such a pleasure to look at them every now and then and see them grow. You can add some food and water bowls to your balcony and you would attract whole lot of birds, particularly in the early mornings.
Posted by Anuradha | July 22, 2009, 6:15 pmthanks, anita!
thanks, all :)
rEEna
Posted by reena | July 22, 2009, 8:58 pmhey — nice story. very interesting concept from the traditional lasndscaping big wigs…
Posted by Ms.N | July 23, 2009, 10:55 amThis is wonderful..
Posted by Radman | July 25, 2009, 4:27 amwhat a brilliant idea…!! best of luck to these guys and kudos to you for bringing them to the forefront.
Posted by Sukanya Bora | July 28, 2009, 8:04 pmAmazing !! :-) Anita would you know if they conduct workshops as well??
Posted by Sonia | August 4, 2009, 7:47 pmVow!!!
I was thinking of something like this.. I like the vegetable / herb garden idea and not just flowers… wondering what’s the impact on all this on mosquitoes.. Do they increase ?
I really hate mosquitoes…
anywayz.. really nice idea and all the very best.. will definitely take up their help when I return back to bgl..
Thanks anita for this.
vasu
Posted by vasu | August 28, 2009, 11:17 pmhii Anita..
its an amazing idea to make your living place so beautiful.. and the photos are damn good :):)
refreshing read:)
Nlhar
Posted by Nlhar | August 30, 2009, 2:03 pmGreat job guys. Definitely could use some advice.. where can I send pictures?
Posted by Alejandra Fitzsimons | September 20, 2009, 6:23 amHi,
I have a rear balcony with terrible view. I don’t know how to block the view without comrpmising on the light and air. It is based on south west and is a combined balcony for my two bed rooms.
Please suggest!
Posted by deepak | October 7, 2009, 6:29 pmhi,
i just read about all of u in femina. kudos for the good work. i have a rectangular balcony connecting the bedrooms. i do get sunshine and my balcony faces the rear portion of a hotel in t.nagar. i have wanted to utilise this space for many years but to no avail. is it possible for u work a green miracle.my only request is can i have a garden which can look after itself if i take a holiday. thanks. god bless.
Posted by sripriya srinivasa rao | April 29, 2010, 7:56 amHi,
needed to convert my balcony into a more lively space. I live in Pune and would appreciate if you could revert.
Regards
Bhagyashree
Posted by bhagyashree aparadh | July 10, 2010, 12:36 pm