Balcony Design, Gardners help :)

T&K love the balcony... thanks Tricia

Its actually not very cat proofed right now, and each time they stick their heads a bit too far out i jump and behave like a chicken.

I already want a wooden type of fence, and then build a sort of of lid for the winter, so T&K can go out there when its cold, but yet still warm and the balcony wont be covered in snow..

Appart from planting cat grass, what other plants are pretty and non toxic to cats and can live through winter??

I plan to Renovate my balcony in about 3 - 4 weeks, because of money reasons and transpor i'm not able to start right away

I'm not certain what will live in your area during the winter but here is a toxic plant website:

http://www.library.uiuc.edu/vex/toxic/comlist.htm

That list is very useful, Captiva. I've bookmarked it. Unfortunately, I recognised a few plants that I've already got. Most of my plants are in planters up out of reach of the boys, and we don't let them out there unsupervised, so I think that'll be ok.
Fwan, how about a bird feeder on your balcony?

Fran, watch your babies don't jump........I had one years and years ago jump from our third floor apt balcony.......

I know, we live on the 5th floor. So we only let them out when we are watching them, its good because the window door also reacts like a mirror so i can see what they are doing.
This is why im fencing it up because its just too risky! I dont want any more white hairs than i already do now

The fencing it up part isnt hard, I'm just wanting reccomendations for plants that are edible, and will last through winter/summer

Can you line the inside of your balcony with wire (we call it chicken wire in the states). If you are planting anything in containers most will not survive the winter due to the containers freezing solid. So you will have to plant annual flowers. How big will the container be as I can give you some suggestions.

Well i need more advice for it!

I will buy chicken wire tomorrow, but i will not be fencing it all the way to the people above us because the distance is too high and my balcony is at the back and its already dark enough, so i will be buying a net and covering the top part if that makes sense?

Anyway

i have a question
How do i secure the chicken wire onto the wall and floor so they literally cant get out??

You could use a staple gun with heavy duty staples and staple an inch apart or use could cut another board the length of the desk boards and nail this over the chicken wire too.

How about heather (Erika in German)? It's not on the list, and available in white, pink, purple, and sometimes yellow.