Lavender in pots and other balcony ideas

[DandelionAndBedrock]

First time trying to do something garden related without my mum helping me out. DP and I finally have a little bit of outdoor space and I want to have some planters and containers.

If I put lavender in a pot, do I need to add gravel to the bottom? Do I mix gravel in with the soil? Every website I click on tells me something different. Balcony is nice and sunny.

Lavenders like quit dry, well drained soil, so I would mix the gravel with the soil. First I would put a layer of broken crocks or polystyrene ( it's lighter on a balcony) in the bottom of the pot. Have you also thought of a flowering jasmine, which would give you a lovely scent.

A real successs here was cherry tomatoes in a hanging basket.

Thanks!! Flowering jasmine is a lovely idea. Nowhere for hanging baskets unfortunately but could do tomatoes in a pot?

Can I use aquarium gravel?

Any gravel would do, but I'd wash it well first.

Or two or three herbs in a pot, sage, thyme and chives for instance.

I agree about the polystyrene being useful for drainage.

Geranuiums are really easy and won't mind being hot and dry . They flower for ages and there are some lovely trailing ones with ivy shaped leaves .

Hope it goes well for you ,pots can be a bit tricky but very lovely to look at !