How to choose trees and shrubs for your deck or balcony?

Shrubs will stick around for many years. The species you put in your garden must therefore be carefully selected. The good news is that there is a wide range of species and varieties available, many of which thrive in planters.To more easily find the one that will suit you for years to come, consider these different factors:

• Evergreen or deciduous species. Evergreen shrubs can play a variety of roles. In addition to their aesthetic aspect, they are also useful as a privacy screen, to avoid prying eyes, or a windbreaker. They can be planted in large, elongated lines to form a hedge;

• The shrub's adult size. It must have the room necessary to grow to full size;

• The shrub's silhouette, or in other words, the airspace that it will occupy;

• The shrub's flowering period, so you know when to come out and enjoy the bloom;

• The flower's color, which will add to or emphasize your decor; 

• The foliage color, the range of which can go from green to red;

• The shrub's resistance to cold. This last point is more important than it seems, because while a basic wintering cover around the foliage may suffice for some shrubs, others will need to be brought inside during intense cold periods (it's quicker if you have the planter on a rolling dolly, just in case).

1. Place a higher priority on the color of the foliage than to the flowering period, as the latter is much more short-lived.2. Choose dense evergreen plants if you want to create a screen to isolate the space and preserve your privacy. 3. If it's going on a balcony, remember to keep the shrub's weight in mind! Potted shrubs can become very heavy. Balconies on modern buildings can generally withstand 200 kg or more of weight per m2 (better to ask if in doubt). If it does pose a problem, it is very easy to loose weight by replacing the soil with polystyrene beads, expanded clay, vermiculite or perlite.

The primary features of conifers, in addition to their evergreen foliage, are the trees' habit (or silhouette) and the color of their foliage.

Conifers with upright habit

• Yew (Taxus baccata, 'Fastigiata Aurea');

• Juniper (Juniperus communis, 'Sentinel'), with a very slender habit and 'Skyblue' foliage;

• Macropin 'Pinus strobus' up to 2.50 m tall.

Conifers with globular habit or open growth

• Mountain pine (Pinus mugho, 'creeping pine' or 'Mugo pine');

• Black pine (Pinus nigra 'Austrian pine');

• White Spruce (Pinus glauca, 'Canadian spruce';

• Northern Wide Cedar (Thuya occidentalis) and Golden Globes, with their colorful, golden winter foliage;

• False cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, 'Minima Aurea', with golden foliage and 'Minima Glauca', with blue foliage.

Creeping Conifers

• Many varieties of juniper (Juniperus communis, Juniperus horizontalis), like 'Blue Star' varieties with blue foliage;

• Pinus mugho 'pumilio';

• Spruce (Picea abies), in the 'Maxwellii' variety, composed of a flattened shell no higher than 50 cm.

Here is a small selection of shrubs that are interesting in terms of their flowering. 

Shrubs blooming in spring

Azaleas, forsythias (the Goldilocks variety), syringa (Philadelphus coronarius 'Aureus') flowering currrants, exochordas, deutzias and kerria japonica, to name but a few.

Shrubs blooming in summer

Abelias, which start to bloom in June and continue until the frost comes. Rocktrumpets, other wise known as mandevilla (Dipladenia sanderi) sports large bright flowers from spring to autumn, hibiscuses (Hibiscus syriacus) blooms all summer, crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia indica) is highly decorative due to its flowers, leaves and bark, buddleia ('purple nanho' has purple flowers and 'blue nanha' pale blue flowers) and Weigela, among others.

Shrubs blooming in winter

Skimmia japonica, with dark green evergreen foliage, Viburnum farreri, a deciduous shrub that blooms from autumn to late winter, laurestine (Viburnum tinus), Japanese camellia (Camellia japonica) and winter mimosas (Acacia dealbata).

Scented flowery shrubs

Scented daphnes (Daphne odora), Mahonia x media 'Charity', witchhazel is also very decorative in autumn due to its foliage, Viburnum farreri, Viburnum carlesii blooms in late winter and sasamqia Camellias (Camellia sasanqua) will bear flowers in autumn.

Here are a few plants that are useful when sprucing up your deck and balcony, especially if they don't get a lot of sun.

1. Japanese skimmia, a shrub that can withstand -15° C temperatures;

2. Amur maple, which comes in many colors, with a variety of leaf shapes;

3. Mexican orange blossom;

4. Climbing Hydrangea;

5. Cornelian cherry dogwood 'Elegantissima';

From the passionate gardener to someone who just wants to spruce up their balcony, we can all use some help now and then. Follow the links below for related accessories, advice from our editors and more helpful guides:

• How to clean your deck?

• How to decorate your balcony?

• How to choose your leafy trees, plants and shrubs?

• How to choose your garden's flowering trees and shrubs?

• What vegetables and fruits grow on a balcony or terrace?

• How to trim your hedges?

• How to choose your conifers, trees and shrubs?

• How to choose your duckboards and deckboards?

• How to choose your decking boards?

• How to choose your soil?

• How to water your grass?

• How to water your garden?

• How to choose your watering system?

• How to choose your compost?

• How to make your own compost?

• How to choose your mulch?

• How to choose your fertilizer?

• How to choose your sprayer?

• How to choose your tools for cutting/trimming branches?