How to Plant Window Flower Boxes
Window boxes tie in your house to the rest of your landscape and add color and eye appeal. You can make your window flower boxes the best on the block, providing a full and lush appearance throughout the summer. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Select your window box, which is typically available in plastic, wood or in a long wire shape called a hayrack. Match the width to that of your window for best appearance and the color to your exterior color scheme. Look for a box at least 8 inches wide and 8 inches deep to maintain moisture for the roots.
-
2
Drill or poke holes about every 4 inches in the bottom of the window box to provide drainage if holes aren’t already present.
-
-
3
Add potting soil to the window box. Mix in slow-release fertilizer and water retention crystals.
-
4
Pack your window flower boxes with plants for an instant effect, or if you prefer, employ a smaller quantity and allow them to fill in the spaces as they grow. Start from seed or buy plants for a variety of tall, medium, short, and trailing flowers. Having a mixture of sizes fills in gaps in the window box.
-
5
Place tall flowers such as coleus and geraniums in the back of the window flower box, or if your box is going to be seen from both sides, place tall ones in the middle. Fill in the rest of your box with medium height and short plants, such as alyssum, pansies and portulaca. Also, add some trailing plants such as sweet potato vines and trailing petunias. Set the plants so that they will be attractive if viewed at eye level or below.
-
6
Water your plants regularly, as much as twice daily in the heat of the summer for boxes facing south or west. A watering wand makes the window boxes easier to reach. Feed them every two weeks from spring to summer with a liquid fertilizer diluted to half-strength, recommends the Clemson Cooperative Extension.
-
1
References
- Photo Credit Medioimages/Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images
