Many of us have lingering dreams of how we’d love to have a garden filled with trees and flowers, and maybe a small vegetable patch and a water feature or two, as nothing beats the cooling sound of water on a blazing hot summer’s day.

My trusty trowel and fork are my main tools, along with a pair of secateurs to trim my fragrant Maltese jasmine, the newly potted trailing bougainvillaea and gorgeous hibiscus- Deborah Ratcliffe

It soothes the nerves and calms the soul… unfortunately the reality is another thing, and if, like me, you only have a small balcony, then a few potted plants is about as close as you get to your elusive dream.

Years ago we lived in Scotland, where I did let my dreams run wild as we owned a 150 acre farm – I planted trees galore, sowed so many seeds that I forgot where I planted them, and when they finally appeared (if not eaten as seedlings by our free range hens), I couldn’t remember their names!

I also planted a vegetable garden of mammoth proportions – we had three tractors to plough the fields – so I utilised them to their fullest extent. I grew potatoes, onions, turnips and carrots.

Root crops grow well in that climate, as well as raspberries to die for (Scottish rasps are the best in the world!) and in my unheated green house I grew tomatoes, peppers and courgettes. None grew very big as an Aberdeenshire summer can be rather cool. But they were all mine – grown from seed, and, when plucked, were such a treat.

Now I’m scaled down to balcony proportions. Small is beautiful. Nothing too posh or dazzling although my ideas are eclectic… but I never seem to have the time to implement them.

My trusty trowel and fork are my main tools, along with a pair of secateurs to trim my fragrant Maltese jasmine, the newly potted trailing bougainvillaea and gorgeous hibiscus. For me, patio/balcony gardening is a necessity to ease the eye in the midday day glare, to provide relief from the parched earth of summer, and to bring a ray of metaphorical sunlight to all who sit out and relax surrounded by the bright colours of my pansies and petunias.

Here are a few ideas to brighten up a very small balcony, terrace or patio with no sitting space – an oft neglected, dull and lifeless area.

Hanging baskets are a boon if space is really tight. Sow with free flowering plants – sweet peas are delightful.

Even the smallest balcony can be enlivened by a few carefully placed window pots, painted white and then planted with delicate flowering thyme and sweet violas, or made dramatic with a splash of red peonies in black metallic planters.

If your view is straight into someone else’s room or balcony, then very securely (remember our winds) fix a trellis to the top of the balcony rail and use that to grow climbers, which should totally mask the uninspiring view of your neighbour’s washing.

Assorted sized planters and decorative pots are the easiest way of making a statement – plant a riot of colour, maybe some slivery grasses or the good old cactus for low maintenance.

Tie the colours of your patio plants into your home decor to ‘pull’ the outside space into your living space.

If space is limited but big enough for sitting out, consider a Japanese zen garden design – simple, calm and low maintenance with lots of pebbles, willowy grasses in glazed black planters and a tinkling water feature. Black decking would look dramatic.

Or go for dynamic colours – a couple of cerise coloured oversized pots filled with something unusual – maybe a feathery fern or spiky cactus. Add decking and some patio furniture with a sun umbrella to match the pots.

My aim is to achieve the effect of a picture when viewed from the living space – the window is the frame. Be bold, be imaginative and don’t be afraid to ask for advice if unsure what to plant in a sunny or shaded area. Plants are expensive and a small fortune can be lost if a plant is placed in the wrong location. I find our garden centres are a mine of information.

Food can also be grown on a balcony or small terrace. Some readers might remember the tomatoes I grew unintentionally last year from food waste I dug into my plants – straight – as I don’t have a composter. Again this year I had a brilliant crop.

Now I want to experiment buying ‘grow in the bag’ tomatoes, put up a trellis for growing runner beans and add a few tubs for herbs and salad leaves.

I yearn for the time I can be virtually self-sufficient in growing my own food, but until then my farming friends, Ġużu and Ġuża Micallef from their Dingli farm will be my surrogate home farm, providing me with the finest of Maltese produce.