The sun is shining, the bees are buzzing, the birds are making their nests and that means it's spring!

The perfect time to prepare and clean up the garden for all the delicious fruits and vegetables that summer will give us. But before you can enjoy all these wonders of nature, you'll have to earn them. And by that I mean that you'll have to put the seed and/or little plants into the ground and take care of them.

For those people who don't have a big garden or live on an apartment, I've written this post on how you can transform your city garden or balcony in a delicious jungle.

But before you start, you'll have to be sure that the plants will have enough sun (one of the basic needs of almost every living thing). Also be sure that your plants will have enough water, especially when they are standing the whole day in the sun. Too much water however is also not good. There is a possibility that the roots will start to rot and then the plant will die.

A fine solution is to plant your plants in a pot that's provided with small holes in the bottom. Before you put the potting soil in the pot, you'll have to foresee a layer of small stones to drain the excess water. This layer should be a few centimetres in height.

For a vintage look you can use every pot you'll find, even the old tea cups of your grandmother (but be sure to ask it before you start making holes in them). You can always add a small birdhouse or an insect hotel in the garden (everyone knows the story about the birds and the bees).

My advice:

• Start small (don't spend a lot of money if you're not sure that you will carry on with your garden project).
• Be creative (you can use every pot, bucket,... you'll find, be sure that there are holes in for the excess water).
• Start simple. After a while you gain experience and you can expand or modify your garden.
• Try to use as little pesticides as possible, go for organic (Mother Nature will thank you)

So when you've got the hang of it, you can try to cultivate more difficult vegetables or fruit. You can even try to improve your infrastructure (for example a watering system or a small greenery).

Some small tips:

• No exotic fruit when you are living in a cold/northern country.
• You can cultivate potatoes in big pot or even in a big bag of thick black plastic.
• Some plants you can cultivate in hanging baskets (for example strawberries).
• Plant some flowers to perk up your garden and to attract bees and butterflies.
• Lettuce, radishes, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots (use a pot that is at least 40 centimetres tall), celery and herbs are very easy to cultivate. For fruit you can start with blueberries, strawberries, oranges (only in warm countries).

At this moment, we've got one pot with a blueberry bush on our balcony. It's because apartment is only temporarily and we're looking for our own house with a big garden.

Tell me all about your balcony gardens!0