Hi-

this is my first visit to uk.rec.gardening, so hello to you all. I am
about to sell my London flat and am thinking of getting some plants
for the balcony to make it look more appealing to prospective buyers
(the balcony has just been redecorated) and also to provide some
privacy for the windows into my flat and the balcony door
(glass-paneled).

It is very narrow and runs along the width of the building front on
the top (4th) floor with a door into my flat at one end. I already
have 4 big stone flower-troughs which I have positioned evenly along
the front balcony wall and my dad (who loves gardening) has
transplanted some plants from his garden which are apparently nice
pink flowers (but nothing at the moment...).

Anyway, my questions are about the choice of plants for the 2 ends of
the balcony, and maybe advice of where to buy or locate in central
London. Basically at the far left and right I want some kind of bushy
shrub, not necessarily a flower, but something that is good at
concealing. I already have 2 cubical flower pots about 12" a side
which I hope will be big enough for the shrubs. What I am looking for
is something quite squat, ie little stem/trunk before the branches and
also quite dense leaves for privacy. I guess Ideally I'm thinking of
something almost like an 'afro' haircut , maybe like a potted orange
tree but without the trunk.

Secondly, at the anterior left and right corners of the balcony I have
some large cast iron 'brackets' which I intend to attach to the
balcony railings with wire for decoration(obviously on the inside so
there is no possibility of it falling off the building). I would like
some kind of trailery/creepery plant which can be housed in a smallish
pot (say 10" high, 10" diameter) which I could trail through the metal
bracket decorations. Again, I think it would look nice, but also the
brackets and the plant should provide some privacy from the corners.

My problem is my dad is currently abroad and unavailable to ask his
advice, and I know practically nothing about gardening.

Could someone please make some suggestions for my 2 plants. Also, I
intend to put my flat on the market as soon as I have finished doing
essential repairs/decoration (maybe a month or so), so would really
like to buy adult plants rather than young ones, so I can just put
them in place and water.

I'm based in Central London. Could anyone suggest a good place to go.
Alternatively, if any of you would like to make a private sale with
me, please email me at . I'm not particularly
interested in any expensive rare plants though - as I have repeated
endlessly, I would like them primarily to look nice and give visual
privacy.

Thanks for any advice