Spring demands allegiance. The freshness of the air forces people outdoors, and the aroma of thawing earth makes gardeners kneel.
Even city dwellers who otherwise might not know that dirt has a function can be enraptured by the season of growth-and there is a way for them to join the celebration of the season, along with the suburban and country sod-busters.
All it takes is a window.
In an excerpt from ”The Window Box Book” ($14.95, Simon and Schuster), Anne M. Halpin, an editor and writer of garden books for the last 12 years, explains how to get started in this minimalist horticulture and put nature`s best at your fingertips. Happy spring!
Window boxes are an ideal way to garden. They are easy to install, simple to plant and fun to care for. They do not require endless hours of digging, bending and weeding to maintain. Best of all, window boxes make flowers and greenery a part of your home, growing in a place where you will see the plants often and derive continuous enjoyment from them.
If you have never gardened before, planting a window box or two will enable you to try your hand at growing plants on a small and very manageable scale. If you already garden in the back yard or on a patio or rooftop, window boxes can add extra sparkle to your landscape.
Whether you live and garden in the city or country, window boxes can delight your eye and help decorate your home while demanding little time, money and labor.
Planning an effective window box involves many of the same design considerations as planning a garden bed or border, although in far simpler form. To get maximum visual impact, consider the site, environment and type of plants you desire, just as you do when planning a garden bed.
An understanding of a few principles of garden design will enable you to create beautiful window boxes perfectly suited to their environment.
With any garden site, you must consider climate (the average weather in your region) and microclimate (the environmental conditions on your property or, in this case, your windowsill). The first steps in designing window boxes are deciding where you want to put them and evaluating conditions there.
Awareness of the limiting factors imposed by the environment on your windowsills will help guide plant selection. For example, choose plants that can withstand the lowest winter temperatures. You also may need to provide protection for shrubs and perennials left outdoors in winter.
Be aware of the amount of sunlight window boxes will receive. Sun and shadow patterns shift during the day and from season to season. A window box may get four or five hours of direct morning or afternoon sun in summer but no direct light in winter, when the sun is lower in the sky.
If your window boxes will be in shade part of the day, you will enjoy the greatest success with plants that either tolerate or prefer such conditions. Impatiens, wax begonias, hostas, bulbs or ferns are ideal for shady spots.
Wind is another important consideration. If your boxes will be on the side of the house or building that faces prevailing winds, concentrate on growing compact, sturdy plants. In very windy locations, you may need to provide stakes or other supports for all your plants. Urban apartment dwellers should think carefully about wind. Tall buildings in cities create strong winds that change speed and direction quickly and, often, winds that can tear delicate flowers and leaves off stems.
Pay attention to air quality. Many plants, particularly delicate ones, do not grow well in polluted air.
Most window boxes are primarily summer gardens, but you also can plan them to provide color in spring or fall. The key is to choose plants carefully. If you want your window boxes to bloom in spring, summer and autumn, you can grow seasonal plants in individual pots or in plastic liners that slip into window boxes when the plants are ready to bloom.
One of the most enjoyable parts of planning a window garden is choosing the colors of the flowers and greens. Many different color schemes are possible in window boxes, and because window gardens are small, it is easy to experiment.
Although most window boxes are rectangular, window box gardens should not look flat and two-dimensional. Just like a well-planned garden, these gardens- in-miniature are more interesting when they have depth and variation of plant heights.
A row of plants all the same height looks boring and unnatural. In nature, plants are not all the same height. Using plants of varying heights will give window boxes a more natural look. For best results, plant taller plants in the back of the box, shorter plants in the middle and low edging or trailing plants in front. Allow trailers to spill over the front of the box to give an air of exuberance and charm. Edging or cascading plants and flowers also give the window box a softer, less contrived look. Climbing vines planted at the back of a box can add extra height to a window garden. Support them on a small trellis to one side of the box, or train them to grow up and around the window to frame the view from indoors.
When planting the boxes, do not line up your three sizes of plants in straight rows like little soldiers. For a more flowing, natural look, stagger the plants in the rows, placing some a bit farther back and others slightly forward.
You also can use plant heights to create movement in the window box design. To bring movement to a planting, vary the plant heights from side to side across the box as well as from front to back. You can create a strong, angular direction or a soft curve, depending on how you position the plants.
Finally, take into account the size and shape of the window where the box will be, and keep the plants in scale with the window. Small windows look best with small plants; tall, narrow windows can accommodate taller plants, although the plants should not be so tall that they completely block the window. If the window is narrow, consider planting one or two tall plants at one end of the box and grading to shorter plants at the opposite end. Vines and climbing plants also are particularly attractive when trained around tall, narrow windows.
Many houseplants enjoy spending summer outdoors, and a window box makes a good summer house for small and medium-size plants.
A window box planted entirely with houseplants or tropical species can go outdoors for the summer and come back inside in early fall. If you want to put some houseplants in a window box along with annuals or other outdoor plants, it is easiest to leave the houseplants in their pots and set them in the window box. –
