Planting in Window Boxes

By Susan M. Keenan

Window boxes are a great way to add a little bit of color and liveliness just about anywhere. Once you learn a few small tricks, planting flower window boxes will be a breeze. The perfect soil, the right flowers, and a sunny window sill can lead to a beautiful floral display.

For those of us who were born without a green thumb, planter window boxes are the perfect garden. These window boxes are just large enough to allow us the opportunity to display our planting skills, and just small enough to allow us to do it in relative ease.

When planting in window boxes, remember that young healthy plants transplant the easiest, and make your purchases accordingly. Plants and flowers of complimentary colorings will create the best visual effect. Taller growth should be placed in the back of the window box, while trailing plants, such as vines, look best at the sides.

Window boxes allow you to place plants closely together. Keep in mind, however, the location of the window box when selecting your plants. If the box is to be placed outside of a window, then tall plants are not a good idea.

A variety of flowers and plants will do well in window boxes, including many typical houseplants. Annuals love the comfort of window boxes. In fact, a window box makes an excellent location for a mini herb garden or a small vegetable garden.

Due to their limited size, window boxes require a soil-less mix that will encourage the plants to grow. A soil-less mix provides better aeration for the roots of the plants, as well as better drainage, while retaining the water necessary for the sustenance of the plants. Moreover, a soil-less mix with added fertilizer provides the little extra the plants need for continuous blooming and sturdy root growth.

In fact, using a mix of vermiculite and peat moss will ensure the window box does not become overly waterlogged or too heavy for its placement. Using stones at the bottom of the window box for drainage is unnecessary, especially when a soil-less mix is used.

Selection of the window box is actually quite simple, even though a large variety of sizes and styles exist. Simply go with your personal taste and the theme of your yard or garden. Pick something that you like and a style that fits in with the existing features of the outside of your home.

Since window boxes are no longer limited to hanging outside the window, you can be creative and select different sizes and scatter them appropriately throughout your yard, patio, porch, deck, and even the outside of your windows. Put a little garden in your life and scatter the beauty of flowers.