The one problem with my balcony is that it is shared (one long concrete slab with a railing separating my half from my neighbor's half; we each have a separate door) and provides VERY little privacy. On the non-shared side I have about 12 feet of space before another row of balconies begins, so if I'm outside I am visible to neighbors on either side, as well as several balconies above and below mine, AND anyone in the building across the street. I'm a pretty private person, and being out there (especially when I want to, say, enjoy a morning cup of coffee in my pajamas...) is leaving me feeling really exposed!

Does anybody have suggestions for quick ways to create privacy with plants? (I did check out the LOTB posts about privacy, but none were exactly what I was looking for.) I don't want to wait the entire summer for stuff to grow tall enough to be of use.

I'm not allowed to use screens or blinds, or to hang things from the ceiling, so whatever I do needs to stand on the ground and be primarily plant-based. On the shared side I am planning to use a trellis (with sweet potato vine) to block at least some of the view. For the other side I ordered a tall window box planter (the kind that is on legs, with a shelf on the bottom) and would like to plant something tall/bushy that will block my neighbors' views of my unit. I like ornamental grasses, but are there any that can grow tall enough (at least 2 feet) to create privacy by early summer? Definitely open to using tall plants or flowers, too--I'm honestly less concerned with the look of the planting than I am with how tall it grows, and how quickly.

I would also like to purchase a few large potted plants to help with privacy, but I'm unsure about what to buy. Again, I'm less concerned with the look of the plant than with how quickly it will create privacy. I saw some sort of fern at the greenmarket and almost bought it, but decided I'd better do a bit of research first!

My balcony is south-facing and gets full sunlight from about 11am - 5pm, with the brightest light mid-afternoon. (There is an overhang which creates some shade at the back part of the balcony.) It also gets fairly windy at times.

Any suggestions/ideas would be very much appreciated!

I'm discovering that plants are not the easiest to come by in Manhattan, especially larger ones. (And the large ones I have seen are all WAY out of my price range--I'm a newbie gardener, and spending upwards of $150 on something that I might kill is just out of the question...) Union Square Greenmarket has the best (and most affordable) selection, but the plant stores here are small and expensive, and the puny garden department at Home Depot is beyond sad. I grew up in the suburbs with what felt like a garden center on every corner, but here the choices are really limited. Are there good online sources for plants (not seeds) or is the shipping ridiculous because of weight?

I posted this question on another forum and also asked a couple of friends with urban gardens, and bamboo (as sparkyr suggested) seems to be the suggestion I've received most often. I'm going to look for some today--I just hope it's not insanely expensive!

Also, how heavy does bamboo get when grown in a container? Since it is a balcony, weight is something of a concern.

Could you cheat a bit with some sort of screen made out of entwined branches? I see those as decorative screens quite often, maybe make it look like it's growing? Otherwise if you could put small planters along the balcony top, and plant flowers that'll grow reasonably high/thick, that could work (I'm 17 stories up, but can get away with this by having them on the inside of the balcony, rather than the outside - perfect for strawberries).

As for a bamboo source, some sprigs from chinatown or even Ikea might give you a headstart on growing them, you'll just have to remove the waxy 'caps' from the cut ends so they can grow.

Have fun --- Mike

PV

First off, I'm a bit confused as you said you 'not allowed to use screen or blinds'...I guess you mean somehow hanging aruond the sides of the balcony...but then you added that you plan to use a trellis. So I'm confused as to why the building management(?) won't let you use screens or blinds, but that a trellis is ok...either way they all sort of block the view to varying degrees. What about bamboo fencing?

Anyway, as for the trellis, that was something I too planned to do on the sides of my balcony....not so much for privacy, but to add height so that my cats won't consider jumping up on the tops of my railings. I too then planned to grow some type of climbing plants up the sides of the trellis.

I know that weight is an issue on balconies. Just curious....is your balcony recessed into the footprint of the building, or does the balcony complete jut out from the side of the building? If it juts out, then I'd think you have to be even more concerned about weight. I assume you know that you'd only want to use plastic or resin planters...nothing terra cotta or stone etc. ;-)

You mentioned that you'd need to bring everything inside in the Winter, yet I'm not sure why you think this. I also know that space is at a premium in NYC apartments, so I would guess that you (like me) would prefer being able to leave things outside, versus having to bring them indoors.

The key is either 1) buying annuals and accepting the fact that you'll have to buy news ones the next year, so keepign the existing plants outside in the Winter would make no difference anyway and 2) to buy perennials only, or at least some perennials, and making sure they are hardy for our region. In general NYC is considered Zone 6, and so for plants in pots (and which therefore don't get the protection from the earth to keep the roots warm in Winter) you need to subtract two Zones, so essentially only buy perennials that are hardy to Zone 4...and MAYBE Zone 5.

It's hard for me to visualize a 12' x 6' balcony, but I think a potted Japanese maple would be nice. But for a good sized one (I always buy mine from the Flower District...) you'll probably need to pay about $200. However, I think it's worth it because they are so beautiful, and you'll also get beautiful foliage in the Fall. In the Winter, though the leaves fall off, you are still left with the beautiful shape of the branches. (Though you need to be aware that during heavy snows you'll need to go out and shake the snow off the branches...otherwise the weight of the snow will cause the delicate branches to break off). In NYC, potted Japanese maples can be kept out year-round and should come back each year no problem. (I've never had any issues with my potted maples staying outside....they come back every year.)

If you have tables or any kind of gardenign supply boxes etc on your balcony, you could also try to situate those along the sides of your balcony and then put potted plants on top of the tables. The tables will obviously help to elevate the plants or make them taller, thereby perhaps giving you some of that privacy you want.

Another option is to use hanging plant brackets that can be affixed to your balcony railings. You can situate them wherever you want privacy, and then suspend a plant so that it hangs above the level of the balcony railng. If you have walls where you can affix hanging plant brackets (if you are allowed to drill into the walls), that cuolsd be another option, and then you arrange the hanging plants in such a way as to partially block the view of others.

Attached is a link to a really great wall bracket that can be positioned multiple ways. This same website has a wide range of hanging plant brackets....