Nothing adds more charm to the outside of a house than floral trimming.
The present-day revival of interest in window box gardening promises much in the way of decoration.
Modern homes, especially, will find their functional lines softened and tied to the landscape by using flower- or greenery-filled window boxes.
There is nothing new about this idea. Archeologists have found examples dating as long ago as 3,000 B.C.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were actually tiers of flower-filled stone vessels much like modern flower boxes.
Roman homes invariably had flower boxes around the atrium—the central paved courtyard.
Proper Box Selections For Great Window Box Gardens
For success with window box gardens, the proper selection of boxes is important.
Box made of wood to facilitate handling, with cedar, California redwood, or even pine inch thick boards painted (never creosoted) on the inside to ensure long life.
The length of the window or other feature under which they are placed determines the size of the box.
Beneath a picture window or a long group of windows, two boxes rather than one are easier handled.
For best results, the box should have the following proportions:
- 7” or 8” inches deep.
- A width of about 15” inches at the top with a foot-wide bottom is considered a good proportion.
- Holes should be drilled on the bottom board to permit drainage.
- Firm wall fastenings are an obvious need.
Do Away with Water Dripping And Frequent Watering
One flower box expert has worked out an ingenious system to prevent undesirable water dripping and to do away with frequent watering of the plants during the summer.
He suggests a double bottom box with space between the upper and lower boards large enough to accommodate an aluminum tray.
Steps To Create The Watering System
- Fill the tray with a nutrient-enriched solution of water.
- Fill the the upper box with vermiculite or perlite.
- Cut the glass wool (available from drugstores) into “fat” wicks. It will carry the nutrients from the water-filled box through holes cut in the bottom of the upper board to the plants above.
- Set the plants with the soil about their roots directly into the vermiculite or perlite, thoroughly soaked with nutrient-saturated water.
- Soak the wicks well so that the capillary attraction will carry moisture to the plants above.
- Separate the wicks at the top into three or four thick strands and lay them in a line on the bottom inch or two of vermiculite with the other ends in the water below will give a constant flow of moisture.
- Add one or two teaspoons of a good all-purpose fertilizer to a gallon of water to the nutrient solution.
- The tray must be kept filled.
This watering system precludes dripping—which is a nuisance, especially on a second-story window box—and requires minimum care.
Good Soil Composition
If plants are to be grown in soil, their composition is important.
A good soil mixture contains three parts of good garden soil mixed with a large proportion of leaf mold, if available:
- One part sifted peat thoroughly soaked before mixing
- One-third part builders’ sand
- About a half cup of dehydrated cow manure and bone meal to each bushel of soil.
A layer of broken flower pots or coarse gravel at the bottom of the box will give good drainage.
Setting Plants
When setting plants, it is simpler to use only enough soil to hold the plants firmly and fill in about them when the box is set in place.
Most gardeners buy their plants ready for setting out, although a few grow their transplants or sometimes sow seed directly in the box.
This last type of plant usually resents transplanting, such as California poppies or mignonette.
When buying plants, it’s good to remember these:
- Choose those not yet in bloom and compact in shape with healthy foliage.
- Budded or flowering plants should be disbudded.
- Leggy plants should be pinched back to make them bushy.
Often such plants as chrysanthemums are bought in pots when blooming.
These may be set into the box and surrounded with peat to retain moisture.
Then after flowers have passed their prime, they can be removed to allow for other effects.
Frequent fertilizer feedings dissolved in water or spraying with a soluble foliage fertilizer will keep plants in good shape through the summer.
Colorful Window Box Garden Ideas
Flowers which do well and give an abundance of color over a long period are many.
The colors of the flowers featured will be dictated by the house’s color to which the box is attached.
Brilliantly colored geraniums, nasturtiums, or poppies, for example, are delightful against white, gray, green, or natural stone or stucco houses.
Spacing bright colors in the middle and ends of the box with foliage plants between makes for engaging; effects.
A few annuals doing well in full sun are:
- Ageratum
- Geranium
- Lantana
- Nasturtium,
- Petunias
- Annual phlox
- Snapdragon
- Verbena
- Torenia
- Dwarf marigold.
Plants doing well in semi-shade are:
- Heliotrope (the sun also)
- Impatiens
- Lobelia
- Wax begonia
- Fuchsia
- Tuberous begonia (started early indoors).
Among these annuals are tall background plants set about 8” inches apart and foreground plants set 7” inches apart with trailing vines between.
A few good trailers are suggested:
- Canary-bird vine
- Nasturtium
- Grape ivy
- Strawberry geranium
- Sand verbena
- Lobelia
- Trailing lantana.
The hardy Baltic ivy with gray variegated foliage, ‘Star Dust,’ is especially good for winter boxes.
Plant Combinations For Window Box Gardens
Here are a few good flower combinations for the sun:
- Pink or red geraniums, white petunias, and blue lobelia
- Heliotrope, pink verbenas, lavender ageratum with lavender trailing sweet alyssum
- Nasturtiums (dwarf) with dwarf yellow zinnias and canary-bird vine
- Marigolds (tagetes), orange African daisy and blue lobelia.
Here are a few good flower combinations for light shade:
- Begonia semperflorens in white, red, or pink with deep blue lobelias
- Pink geraniums with pink coleus
- Pale yellow coleus, orange snapdragons, and red or white verbenas
- Violas in many colors with Baltic ivy.
Fuchsias will do well in light shade, and they may be staked or allowed to trail.
With soft pink impatiens or petunias, they are charming.
Tuberous begonias with harmonizing or contrastingly flowered vines offer both color and fine foliage.
For deep shade, ferns are always good.
A pleasing green and white effect may be had with white tuberous begonias or the small-flowered wax begonia with deep blue torenias for accent, or pale pink begonias with purple trailing achimenes.
Window boxes may be carried through the winter with hardy evergreen plantings.
Very small English boxwood bushes or the uncommon Alberta spruce, which is hardy, bushy in shape, and lively green color, will continue the living effect of summer through the entire winter.