you are in an apartment on the 4th floor?

where did you plant the shrubs?

Hi Len,

Yes, fourth floor facing mostly west, with another section facing north &
north west. I think that most of the time the wind comes from the west. We
have a great view to the west, no tall buildings in our way, but the trade
off seems to be that the dust gets slapped onto our balcony & through the
doors of the apartment.

It's not all woe, but the dirt is noticeably different from the place we had
facing east, with it's back to the main road. We can also smell the fumes
every other day or so.

In large troughs, I've put Lilly Pilly, Viburnum Odoratissium, Golden Cane
Palm, NZ Xmas Tree and Pittosporum along the west facing edge of the
balcony. They seem to cope with the wind, the Pittosporum (Variegated, Super
Screen)is a bit thin and gets bent often by the wind, it also has some brown
edged leaves. The fastest grower so far is the Lily Pilly.

I've put the herbs in amongst the shrubs and in pots on the floor. At the
moment they're all exposed to the dust as there is not enough screening yet.
I'm waiting for some shade the grow so that I can get a worm farm
established.

I don't have much waste for a compost bin, I read that you need a fair bit
to get the heat generated, so for the time being, I've chopped up the stuff
I have from pruning and spread it over the bare patches in the troughs,
leaving some room free around the stems of plants.

Cynthia :-)