I protect mine with a wooden wind barrier. I measured the size of wood i needed, went to home depot with the measurements. They will cut the wood for you for free -- or might charge a very small fee. This is how I protect my plants.

I protect mine with a wooden wind barrier. I measured the size of wood i needed, went to home depot with the measurements. They will cut the wood for you for free -- or might charge a very small fee. This is how I protect my plants.

{{!gwi}}

it helps a lot if you have a loggia, not an open balcony: closed sides and glass/brick/whatever solid railing.
so try to close sides at least, if you can.
stay away from vines, plants with soft weak delicate foliage.
tropical (house plants) are usually thick leaved and sturdy.
evergreens work, herbs and 'cottage' plants do not - too fragile. even petunias will snap. crotons are good, ivy.
grasses are ok. they sway and do not break.
grouping together helps somewhat, positioning close to wall/railing helps a little. generally do not put anything on the top of the railing or hanging from it. hanging anything is out - the usual common sense things.
place plastic pots inside heavy pots. round pots topple, square ones do not.
put plants on wide low ledges/benches, not on top of tables/shelves, unless it's a box that will not fly.

Thanks very much guys!

Schnookable...your balcony looks very nice but I don't think the wood thing would work in my instance. Your balcony seems larger than mine....my balcony is not deep at all..I can barely fit a chair against the wall and have room for my legs in front of me, before they are hitting the balcony railing in front of me. ;-) So I think if I were to add wood around all the sides, my balcony would feel that much more small and closed-in....which is not a look or feeling I'd want.

Petrushka, you make a good point about delicate plants. I guess with this being my first balcony garden, it never occurred to me that wind would be an issue but now that I think about it, indeed my hardier plants like forsythia and barberry, thyme and rosemary seem to have no issues from the wind.

But my wisteria....the leaves are very thin and many of them seem 'battered' after recent strong rains/winds. Ditto for my basil. And then my blueberry flowers blew off. My dill also took a beating.

I guess with these more delicate plants, I'll have to figure out a way to try and shield them from the wind. I suppose I could group the smaller herb pots together in a corner...and then maybe for the wisteria, which I can't really move since it's clinging to my raililng/trellis, perhaps I could have some kind of fabric with rings that I secure to the railings, and then I pull up the fabric along the sides of the railings and secure it only when needed...when we are due for a strong storm/winds....

i am in jersey city just across the hudson from Tribeca, south of Hoboken. on the 24fl. we are in a wind tunnel here, but i had a few huge mums on the balcony during sandy and they were not even battered. but i have inset balcony loggia, very protected. it also depends on which way the prevailing winds blow. i am facing N-NE, which is very good. somehow storms often come from south or west and nothing even stirs on my balcony. but still i keep most plants at or below railing height to avoid the wind damage.

I don't get wind often on my balcony (unless the wind is from a very specific corner), so not much of an issue for me, personally. A friend of mine, used to have a piece of hardened glass, but said, that it just created turbulence on the inside. Now she uses a straw beach mat instead, which ,even though it lets a bit of air through, breaks the wind enough for the plants to thrive.

Tx Julianna...great tip!!