I posted about this in the "Balcony musings" thread, but I thought I would give some more details and hope that others have ideas for this strange balcony.

It's 26 feet long but only 3 feet wide (less than 3 feet if you measure just from the wall to the rail). Two sliding doors open onto it; they are different sizes (one is eight feet and one is six feet) and their spacing is not symmetrical, so the wall space between them is not in the center. That section of wall has an electrical receptacle, but there is no source of water on the balcony - sometimes I run a house from a bathroom faucet out through one of the sliding doors. The end spaces that are beyond the sliding doors, and thus not in the walk way, are unequal in size as well: the one at the living-room end is larger.

One end of the center wall has trellis netting where I will try to grow pole beans when the repair work is done, if ever. The other end of that section is where the electrical receptacle is, so a trellis isn't practical there. I intend to place a columnar, leafy shrub there instead. Since there's electricity, I have the idea of placing a fountain (freestanding, but flat against the wall) in the middle of this section.

Right now I'm planning to make the area in front of the fixed portion of the living-room slider the seating area. This will be just two resin chairs that I already have, and a small table - I would like to replace the chairs with a cedar bench, but the budget won't stand it right now.

As I wrote in the other thread, I hope to introduce a degree of overall symmetry by planting trees or tree-like shrubs in tubs at both ends, and spacing window boxes evenly along the rail. I don't plan to repeat any large plants - only the proportions will be similar.

The entire balcony is roofed and faces east, so there is strong sun early in the morning, but none after about 11 a.m.