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One-to-one
Balcony & Patio Plan
2 × 60 min
One-to-one
Balcony & Patio Plan
2 × 60 min
One-to-one mentoring
A container plan for your balcony or patio, with shopping lists and a planting schedule
with Marcus Bell, horticulturist
$390
2 sessions includedAbout the sessions
Two private calls with horticulturist Marcus Bell to plan a balcony or patio that grows food: what suits your light, which containers and how big, what to fill them with and how to water them when you’re away. You end with a container plan, shopping lists for soil and irrigation, and a planting schedule for your frost dates.
Most container gardens fail for the same three reasons: containers that are too small, a mix that dries out by noon, and watering that depends on someone being home. In the first call Marcus looks at your space with you through your phone, checks sun hours, wind and weight, and agrees with you on what to grow. He then drafts the plan. The second call goes through it: container sizes (from a gallon for herbs to 20 for a full-size tomato), the potting mix to buy, and how to water, with a drip line on a faucet timer or, if you have no outdoor faucet, self-watering containers.
Light sets the limits, and Marcus will be straight about them: tomatoes, peppers and squash need six or more hours of direct sun, so on a north-facing balcony the plan leans on salad greens and herbs. Weight matters too. If you don’t know your balcony’s load rating, the big containers go along the wall, where the structure is strongest, and you check with the building before adding more.
2 × 60 min · private video calls
Book online right after purchase. Sessions can be used within 6 months and moved with 24 hours’ notice.
Book the first call
Right after purchase you get an email with a booking link. Choose a slot for the first call in your own time zone, and book the second one when you’re ready.
Measure and photograph
Send the dimensions of your space, photos from both ends, the hours of direct sun on a clear day, whether you have an outdoor faucet and an outlet, and your building’s rules on planters.
Two calls
In the first, Marcus looks at the space with you through your phone and you agree on what to grow. He drafts the plan, and in the second call you go through containers, soil, irrigation and timing.
Your plan and lists
After the second call you receive the container plan, the soil and irrigation shopping lists and the planting schedule by email.
Your mentor
Marcus Bell
Horticulturist
Ran a houseplant and herb nursery in Brooklyn for a decade. Teaches propagation, repotting and container growing.
Kitchen Garden
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Patios & Balconies
How big the container needs to be, which varieties to choose, and how to stake, prune and water tomatoes on a balcony so you’re still picking when the first frost comes.
Marcus Bell · · 4 min read
