How to Design Garden Windows

A garden window offers space for designing a miniature indoor garden.

Garden windows are large, usually bay windows, with wide sills. You can place potted flowers, bonsai trees, cacti or other specialty gardens on the windowsill to show off your flowers. Some prefer to use garden boxes on the outside of the window. Either way, when planning a garden window, balance color, shape and texture to create an attractive floral design.

Things You'll Need

• Garden window
• Window box
• Camera
• Potting mix for plant containers
• Plants with attractive flowers and foliage
• Watering can or watering system

Instructions

1. Pick a layout. If you have a garden window with a large sill, plan where you would like to display the plants. For example, you can keep the flowers in small pots or place a garden bed on the ledge to display all the flowers in one group.

2. Assess how much sunlight comes through your window and at what times throughout the day. Choose plants based on the amount of sunlight they require. If the window provides direct sunlight throughout the day, choose plants that can tolerate -- or love -- full sun. If the window only filters in sunlight in parts of the day and then receives shade, you can choose partial-shade flowers and plants.

3. Select a color theme for the window garden. For example, if you want to choose flowers, consider going with a purple, lilac and blue theme with African Violets and bluebells. If you are growing a mini vegetable garden, consider a specialty garden, like a pepper or tomato garden.

4. Design the window based on the plants' texture and leaf shapes. For example, if you want to display nonflowering plants, choose ferns, spider plants and/or ivy, which all have long, narrow leaves. For a textured garden, choose a variety of flowering and nonflowering cacti.

5. Accent the window with decorations. Add curtains to the windows that draw out the colors of the flowers, small fruits or vegetables. Or surround the window garden with shells or small, smooth stones.

References

• National Gardening Association: Planting a Window Box

Resources

• NC State University: Horticultural Extension: Container Vegetable Gardening