Even if you don't have a garden, you can still contribute to nature conservation on your balcony. However, in many places, most window boxes are filled with geraniums, the favorite of balcony gardeners. But they offer little food for insects such as butterflies and bees. With a little imagination, you can transform your window boxes into a colorful and lively mini nature garden.

Which plants are particularly suitable for this?

• There are no limits when it comes to sowing and planting. However, you should ensure that your planting is as varied and native as possible. This provides a good basis for life for as many insects and birds as possible.

• Many wildflowers thrive in bowls, tubs, and boxes, such as marigolds, salvia, forget-me-nots, summer asters, morning glories, coreopsis, ribbon flowers (annual plants), or wallflowers, daisies, carnations, lobelia, and alyssum (biennial plants).

• Many perennials grow in balcony boxes for years and can even survive periods of frost. These include: globeflower, clematis, dyer's chamomile, yarrow, woolly strawflower, blue cushion, and upright zist.

• Clematis, morning glory, bellflower, and Campanula isophylla are suitable as hanging plants. With its flowers, Campanula isophylla also serves as a food source for insects until autumn.

• If you love butterflies, you can plant your balcony boxes with butterfly plants such as catnip, lavender, blue cushion, rock cress, and wallflower.

• Wild bees particularly appreciate stonecrop, rock sedum, and houseleek rosettes, which are also drought-tolerant plants.

• Balcony plants can also enrich your diet: herbs, tomatoes, strawberries, and much more are suitable for growing in planters.

What else should you bear in mind?

• Suitable wild plants and seeds are available from wild plant nurseries.

• You should choose a planter that is large enough to comfortably accommodate all the plants and allow them to develop well.

• If possible, seeds and fruit should be left in place during the winter as they provide food for birds. You can also enhance your balcony boxes in winter by carefully sticking small pine branches into the soil around the edge of the box.

• You should avoid using potting soil that contains peat. Peat does not retain water well and acidifies the soil. In addition, peat extraction destroys ecologically valuable raised bogs. Alternatively, you can use a mixture of soil, compost, and sand in equal proportions, or peat-free potting soil. When selecting plants, consider the light and wind conditions. Some plants do not like draughts. Some species thrive in shady or semi-shady locations, while others prefer a sunny, warm growing location. As a general rule, only plants with the same requirements should be combined.

• Do not use pesticides. If pests really do get out of hand, you can collect them or use natural remedies such as horsetail tea and nettle manure.

• Do not use artificial fertilizers. Use compost and homemade manure to fertilize your balcony plants. Nettle manure, for example, also promotes plant growth.

• Ensure good drainage in the planters. In winter, it is best to cover the boxes to prevent waterlogging.