Balcony Botanics with Manawee
Green thumbs not required! John Caruso discovers how even the most notorious plant killers can turn their balcony into a thriving oasis. With a little help from the experts.
Moving house is said to be one of life’s great stress tests, right up there with running a marathon or assembling flat-pack furniture without swearing.
Deb and I have just survived the ordeal, boxes, bubble wrap, and all, and landed in a new apartment by the ocean. The view is a cracker, the air is salty, and our balcony, a blank canvas, begging for a splash of green.
The only problem? Our track record with plants is, frankly, criminal. If there’s a plant protection agency, we’re probably on a watchlist despite Deb’s love of naming her plants and talking to them as if they were part of the family.
But new home means new hope, and this time, we’re determined to get it right. Enter Manawee Garden Centre and their general manager, Simon Van Roy, who’s seen more plant carnage than most emergency room doctors but somehow remains optimistic.
“It’s the most common question that happens,” Simon told me, with the patience of a bloke who’s heard it all before. “I spend most of my time having people explain to me how bad they are at the thing they want to buy. It’s quite odd. I can’t think of many other industries where people walk in and go, ‘I’m no good at this, but I want it.’”
The real issue, Simon reckons, isn’t a lack of love for plants, but a lack of confidence which stems from a lack of knowledge and a lack of understanding of what’s going on.
The team at Manawee don’t judge, they ask the right questions. How much sun does your new balcony get? Is it windy? Is there salt in the air?
“There’s a big difference between the balcony that’s on the waterfront at Buddina compared to a balcony or patio in Nambour,” Simon explains. “The conditions play a huge role.”
Our balcony on the fifth floor faces north and west and is a stone’s throw from the ocean so it gets plenty
of sun and sea breeze. We’ve only been here a few months, but already Deb’s worried about the fate of Barry, her newly acquired bonsai.
“It’s not that Barry can’t be happy,” Simon reassures us. “It’s simply that we need to make sure we look after Barry accordingly.”
His advice? Hose off the leaves to prevent salt build-up, keep Barry out of the worst of the wind, and water him regularly.
“Salt dries everything out. It draws moisture out of the foliage and the soil,” he says. “So, regularly hose it off and water it to overcome the effects of that.”
When it comes to dressing up our new balcony, Simon’s all about making life easy, which we’re totally here for.
“In smaller places, less is more,” he says. “Pick a couple of varieties of plants that you really like the look of, and you may even end up using them multiple times to make it work.”
For our salty, sun-soaked space, he recommends plants that can handle the elements, like a Mediterranean diet.
“You won’t have really soft things like maidenhair ferns, they won’t do well in coastal conditions,” he warns.
Jade plants, Kalanchoe silver spoons, or a stylish mixed bowl of succulents are the go. Maintenance?
“Next to zero,” Simon promises. Now we’re talking!
We opt for an olive tree ‘Ollie’ that will eventually provide a bit of extra shade from the western sun, if we don’t kill it first.
Deb also has her heart set on herbs. Simon’s advice? Stick with the tough, woody Mediterranean herbs such as rosemary, thyme and oregano.
“Rosemary is a really smart choice, happy with drier conditions, happy with a bit of breeze, and it’s got that hardier leaf,” he says. Basil and parsley? Not so much. “They’re going to be tough to grow, especially on a coastal balcony.”
Deb loves rosemary in her afternoon G&Ts and I’ve got the perfect spot for ‘Rosie’ right next to the Weber BBQ, although that used to be the favourite spot for our cat Timmy to sunbake.
There’s a bigger issue with our furriest family member who treats every plant as a personal salad bar and has taken to nibbling on bonsai Barry.
Simon suggests a pot of Cat Grass and it’s such a hit that Timmy has been pacing the door to ‘get on the grass’, hasn’t even noticed ‘Rosie’ is now in his spot and is leaving Barry well alone. Win!
On a final note, Simon advises that pot selection is crucial to success.
“Choose the pot that is the absolute biggest that your space can tolerate,” he advises. “Bigger pots mean happier plants and less maintenance. And if you’re not sure what will work, just bring in some pictures of your space, we can have a chat about what you want to try and achieve.”
Worked for us!
So, as we settle into our new home, Deb and I are feeling quietly optimistic. With Simon and the team at Manawee Garden Centre in our corner, even notorious plant killers like us might finally turn over a new leaf.
