My garden-in-a-box balcony experiment

I’m not green fingered. It is a running joke at my house. If anything, I’d say I’m black fingered; fingers of DEATH even.

So when I heard about a new, easy garden-in-a-box product from Urban Gardenista (cool name) it really appealed. They deliver you all the plants you need to get your garden or balcony going (I wouldn’t know where to start with picking plants) and, due to the aforementioned black fingers affliction, I opted for succulents, the least easy to kill.

I only have a small balcony but it’s a nice sunny nook and sometimes I even work out there with my laptop. The doors from my living room onto the balcony are usually open so, if nothing else, the neat freak in me wanted it to look nice.

I was really excited when my plants arrived and they looked super healthy and came with instructions. Of course that’s not all you need. You also need pots and potting mix and maybe a trowel (as if, I just used my hands), so maybe think about having those ready too, so you can get started right away. My balcony looks so much better with some greenery (sorry, I neglected to take a before shot) and about a month on, I still haven’t killed anything!

Look how healthy they’re looking (hello, proud plant mum)! There were enough succulents to fill three troughs (bought at Bunnings), a large round pot (kindly sent by Freedom, who noticed I needed help!) and a couple of smaller pots.

I’d also like to introduce you to something else I haven’t yet killed which may work for you too if you’re equally black-fingered: a hanging geranium from Mister Moss. Not only does it look cool and on-trend with its neon string, it’s also SUPER easy to look after.

All you have to do with this baby is dunk it in a bucket of water for 10 minutes once a week. Ridiculous! Even I can manage that. The frame in the background is filled with Penguin book cover postcards if you’re asking. Cheap and colourful outdoor art that can get wrecked in the sun and rain and you won’t mind.

Back to Urban Gardenista, they have a great range of garden boxes, including herb and salad garden, coastal meadow garden and boxes by colour, including white, pink and purple.

The online business was started by Amanda Wise, a digital marketer and fellow interiors addict. She says: “We design and deliver ready-made gardens in a box that make it easy to give your garden or balcony an instant designer makeover. Our vision is to help people make a success of their garden space with a simple product – plants that are tough enough to survive our busy lifestyles and still look great. As well as the plants, we send you a PDF of easy instructions for planting out your new garden, including a planting plan and ideas for styling your space.”

This video explains it all. I feel like it was made for me…

Garden in a Box is available in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, from $143.50 per box with courier charges from $11 for same-day delivery in Sydney. Mister Moss hanging moss ball plants start at $50 plus $12.50 delivery.