In full bloom! Turning your balcony into a mini garden could improve your health

Turning your balcony into a mini-garden could improve your health, a study has claimed.

Balconies which are filled with greenery, pot plants and climbing foliage led to significantly reduced levels of harmful air pollution from traffic, dust and industrial processes.

The microscopic pollution, known as PM10, can be inhaled deep into the lungs and has been linked with asthma, lung disease and heart problems.

But when researchers measured the levels of PM10 on balconies which were filled with plants and flowers, the levels were lower 98 per cent of the time compared with balconies which were left bare or had only a couple of pot plants.

The researchers, from the University of Manchester, said pollution levels exceeded World Health Organisation limits 16 per cent of the time on bare balconies and just two per cent of the time if greenery was allowed to flourish.

Levels of other pollutants, nitrogen dioxide and ozone, were also slightly lower half of the time on the green balconies.

Additional benefits of a green oasis in the heart of towns and cities include shade and cooler outside temperature in the summer, and a mental health boost for all local residents.

Dr Andy Speak, who led the study published in the journal Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, said he was ‘hopeful’ more people would recognise the benefits of planting up their outside space.

‘Balconies offer important opportunities for urban residents to connect with nature as well as a range of other benefits for health and wellbeing,’ Dr Speak said.

‘The indications suggest that greened balconies are associated with lower concentrations of pollutants and cooler summer-time environments.

‘Collective benefit is particularly important. For instance, the mental health benefits of viewing green balconies can be enjoyed by visitors to a highly greened neighbourhood, or by neighbours without a balcony.’

The study is the first to calculate how much space balconies in urban areas take up, with researchers estimating it is equivalent to the size of London’s Hyde Park.

But they found most balconies – 95.5 per cent – had nothing visible growing on them. Many only had ‘one or two’ pot plants, and just 25 per cent of the area of greened balconies were planted. Those boasted 152 different plant species from petunias, begonias and nasturtiums to tomatoes, strawberries and clematis.