Window Box Gardening
Tips And Techniques
by Mary Hanna
In this country, window box gardening offers apartment dwellers the
enjoyment of container gardening from within or without. If you live in
just one room or on a very small property, you, too, can have a window box
garden filled in spring with pansies and primroses, in summer with
petunias or fuchsias, and in fall with chrysanthemums. In winter, greens
and berries, like bittersweet or California pepper berries with pine, give
color. English Ivy will provide trailing green all winter if kept out of
the wind.
For the best results in a window box gardens, the box ought to be at least
three to four feet long but not more than six feet. If larger, it is way
too heavy to suspend and secure properly, and it cannot be lifted easily,
even by two people. Boxes resting on broad window ledges and on firm porch
railings might be eight feet long, but hardly more since moving them
becomes too hazardous. Keep to a minimum depth of eight to nine inches,
with a width of ten to twelve inches across the top. Of course, lengths
must vary according to the window, or series of windows or railing to be
decorated with window box gardening.
The most common material for window box gardens is wood. California
redwood becomes a neutral gray if not painted, and cypress will last for
years. Cedar is recommended, as is a good grade of white pine. Other
materials include metals, which are attractive and, for the most part,
light in weight. However, they have the disadvantage of conducting heat,
thus overheating the soil in your window box garden. Other suitable and
durable lightweight materials are plastic, fiberglass, spun glass, and
Gardenglas.
If you are handy with tools, you can make your own window boxes of wood,
following instructions in pamphlets from your nursery or garden center.
Whatever plan you follow, get boards one to one and a quarter inches
thick. (Thinner boards will warp and offer little insulation against
summer heat.) To fasten, rely on brass screws rather than nails, which in
a few years may push out and cause a box to fall apart. To make corners
secure, reinforce with angle irons. Be sure to provide enough drainage
holes in the bottom for water to pass through freely. Space half-inch
holes six to eight inches apart when building your window box gardens.
When boxes are completed, treat the insides with a preservative to prevent
rotting. Cuprinol or some other non-toxic material is excellent, but avoid
creosote which is poisonous to plants. After the preservative has dried,
apply at least two coats of good paint or stain.
Select a color which will not detract from the plants. Traditional dark
green is satisfactory, though commonplace, unless you use a tint like
apple green. Have in mind the colors of the flowers, especially of plants
that trail over the sides. Dark flowers do not show up against dark paint.
The same is true of white flowers against light surfaces, as white
petunias against white or pale yellow boxes.
To hold window box gardens securely, use bolts or lag screws and treat
them beforehand to prevent rusting. Leave an inch or so of space between
the window box garden and house for the movement of air. If the box garden
is to rest on a terrace or other solid surface, raise them on cleats or
set up on bricks or blocks of wood so drainage holes won't become clogged.
Some space under boxes is also important for air circulation, which will
dry up run-off water.
When you plant a window box garden, put an inch layer of broken flower
pots, crushed brick, small stones or pebbles over the bottom to enable
water to escape freely through the openings. Above this, spread a piece of
wet burlap or a layer of moist sphagnum moss, old leaves, hard coal
clinkers or cinders to prevent soil from washing into the drainage area.
All plants in window box gardening need rich soil for luxuriant growth.
Space larger kinds--geraniums, coleus, and fuchsias-eight to ten inches
apart; smaller kinds--lobelias, annual phlox, wax begonias, sweet alyssum,
and browallia--six inches apart. An eight-inch-wide box accommodates two
rows of plants, with the tall ones in back and the low ones along the
front. Boxes, ten inches wide, take three rows of plants, tall, medium,
and low for edging.
After planting, spread an inch mulch of peat moss or other mulch over the
soil to delay drying out and keep weeds in check. In a month, give a
liquid fertilizer and follow up with feedings every seven to ten days.
Foliage fertilizers can also be applied, but only as a supplement to root
feeding.
The choice of plants for window box gardens is limited only by size.
Plants over a foot high do not look well unless boxes are exceptionally
large. Otherwise, you can grow almost anything you want. For early spring,
you might start with Dutch flower bulbs. In cold regions, these can be
purchased already grown, or you can raise your own.
Try hyacinths with pansies or early tulips or daffodils interplanted with
grape hyacinths, or basket-of-gold and arabis with scillas, chionodoxas,
or leucojum. Include some English daisies and sweet-smelling wall flowers,
so common in window box gardening in Western Europe. Violas, blue phlox,
aubretia, and forget-me-nots are other possibilities.
The favorite plant in window box gardening is the geranium--red or pink
for white, cream, or light or dark blue boxes; white for brown, blue, or
red boxes. The familiar trailing variegated vinca is excellent with them.
Thriving in sun or shade, the vinca needs constant pinching to prevent it
from becoming too long. English and German ivies are other trailers for
sun or shade. In the sun, low annuals, dwarf marigolds, lobelias and
verbenas make nice edgings as does sweet alyssum, in white, purple or
lavender. Petunias vie with geraniums in popularity, and any kind can be
planted, though the balcony types have the advantage of trailing
gracefully over the sides of the window box garden.
In shade that is open to the sky, as on the north side of a house, coleus
grows superbly, with white-and-green kinds a handsome contrast for those
with red-and-pink leaves. Coleus luxuriates in a rich soil and requires
plenty of moisture. Pinch to keep bushy, and to improve appearance remove
the spiked blue flowers, unless you especially like them. The Trailing
Queen coleus is one of the best.
Other shade-tolerant trailing plants include English ivy and its
varieties, creeping jenny, Kenilworth ivy, creeping fig, German ivy,
variegated gill-over-the-ground, myrtle, wandering Jew, zebrina, achimenes,
chlorophytum, star of Bethlehem or Italian bellflower, and strawberry
begonia.
These are just a few hints on planting your window box gardens. Be
creative with colors and texture. Window box gardening, so much like
container gardening, will become your next favorite hobby.
Happy Window Box Gardening!
Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved.
About the Author
About the Author Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives in Central
Florida. This allows her to grow gardens inside and outside year round.
She has published other articles on Cruising, Gardening and Cooking. Visit
her websites at
http://www.CruiseTravelDirectory.com,
http://www.ContainerGardeningSecrets.com, and
http://www.GardeningHerb.com
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