Posts by Alexander Whaley

I garden on a sixth-floor balcony that turns into a wind tunnel by lunchtime. My first trellis snapped under a tangle of plants that grew fast but shredded in gusts. After a few seasons of trial and...

I built my first living wall on a rented apartment balcony with a cheap frame, a few ferns, and big hopes. By month eight, I was pulling out slimy roots and scraping algae off the felt. I’ve since...

I mounted my first felt panel living wall above a radiator and watched plant after plant crisp at the edges. The pockets dried out faster than any pot I owned, and anything thirsty sulked. After a...

I started using makeshift humidity tents out of clear storage bins and zip-top bags when I rescued a wilted pothos from a cold stairwell. Within a week, the plant looked like it had a second life. If...

I learned to garden in a dim, north-facing flat with one decent windowsill and a shoebox terrarium on my desk. When plants died, it wasn’t because I lacked care — I picked the wrong species for...

I’ve set up more balcony gardens than I can count, and my earliest ones were cramped, awkward, and underperforming. I bought plants first, then tried to cram them into a layout that didn’t...