Best container plants for a windy British balcony

A balcony that catches the wind is one of the trickiest growing spaces in Britain. Wind strips moisture from leaves faster than sun ever will, snaps brittle stems, and turns a light plastic pot into a missile during a February gale. The good news is that plenty of plants not only cope with a regular breeze — they look better for it, swaying and rustling where a bedding plant would sulk and shred.

Why wind is harder on plants than cold

On an exposed balcony, plants face three problems at once. The first is transpiration — constant air movement pulls water out of leaves quicker than roots can replace it, so foliage scorches and buds drop. The second is mechanical damage: soft, sappy growth gets whipped and torn, and tall stems snap at the base. The third is compost drying, because wind dries the surface of a pot far faster than still air does.

Choose plants with small, leathery or silver leaves, tough flexible stems, and a naturally compact habit. Silver and grey foliage is a good clue, as it usually comes from coastal or Mediterranean stock used to drying winds.

Ornamental grasses: the natural wind-breakers

If you plant nothing else, plant grasses. They move with the wind rather than fighting it, and their rustle is one of the great pleasures of a breezy balcony.

• Stipa tenuissima — soft, blonde, endlessly mobile. Cut back hard in early spring and it returns within weeks.
• Festuca glauca — tight blue-grey mounds that shrug off everything. Lift and divide every second or third year, as it runs out of steam.
• Anemanthele lessoniana — pheasant's tail grass, semi-evergreen and happy in a large pot. Threads of orange and green all winter.
• Miscanthus sinensis 'Kleine Fontäne' — a taller option for the back of the display, with silky flowerheads in late summer.

Plant grasses in a pot at least 35cm across so there is enough root to anchor them. In a really fierce spot, sink the pot inside a heavier outer container to add ballast.

Lavender, rosemary and the Mediterranean crowd

Lavender is the classic windy-balcony plant, and for good reason: narrow grey leaves, woody stems and a deep dislike of being fussed over. Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote' and 'Munstead' are the two most reliable compact forms. Give them gritty, free-draining compost — mix in a good handful of horticultural grit per pot — and never let them sit in a saucer of water. Trim lightly straight after flowering in late August, but stop before you reach the old woody stems, which rarely reshoot.

Rosemary, thyme, winter savory and cotton lavender (Santolina) all follow the same rules and double up as kitchen herbs. Rosmarinus officinalis 'Miss Jessopp's Upright' makes a handsome, wind-proof evergreen pillar for a corner, and thyme will happily creep around the base of taller pots, softening the edges.

Compact shrubs that hold their own

A few well-chosen shrubs give a windy balcony structure, especially through winter when everything else has collapsed.

• Hebe pinguifolia 'Pagei' — low, grey-blue, covered in white flowers in early summer. Superb in a trough or at the front edge.
• Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald Gaiety' — variegated evergreen that tolerates wind, shade and neglect, and can be clipped into a neat dome.
• Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Tom Thumb' — dark purple, wavy leaves, naturally dense. Protect the pot in hard frost.
• Sarcococca confusa — for a shaded, wind-scoured corner, with tiny white flowers that scent the whole balcony in January.

Avoid anything with big soft leaves — hydrangeas, Japanese maples and most fuchsias will look tattered by midsummer.

Filling the gaps: trailers, cushions and tough edibles

Once the bones are in place, use low spreads to cover bare compost and weigh down the surface. Sempervivum and stonecrops knit themselves into mats, Erigeron karvinskianus seeds cheerfully into every crevice, and trailing ivy will soften the front of a pot without complaining about the breeze. Alpine strawberries crop well in wind, and chives, sage and parsley are far more tolerant than tomatoes or courgettes, which simply sulk and snap.

Practical care for an exposed balcony

Plant choice is half the battle; the other half is setup.

• Go heavy. Terracotta or glazed pots beat plastic every time. Stand them on pot feet so they drain and cannot rock.
• Water more than you think. On a windy July day a pot can dry out in hours. Check daily in summer by weight, not by surface appearance.
• Mulch with gravel. A 2cm layer slows evaporation, adds weight and keeps weeds down.
• Group pots together. Plants shelter each other, and the mass of containers is far more stable in a gust.
• Screen, don't block. A slatted hurdle or mesh screen filters wind. A solid panel simply creates violent eddies behind it.
• Ease off the feed. Rich feeding produces soft growth that shreds. A slow-release granule in spring is plenty.

After any named storm, walk the balcony, straighten pots, firm any lifted roots and snip off torn leaves. Do that, and even a blustery tenth-floor ledge can look lush from March to November.