Today’s Garden Ideas | Creating a Sunny Windowbox

Creating a Sunny Windowbox

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Brilliantly colored flowers can create a wonderful look for windowboxes. You can add style to any window in your home or vacation cottage with a bouquet of summer flowers in a lovely windowbox. Windowbox ideas are only limited by your imagination. Look for your favorite colors to put in your windowbox or blooms that will compliment the color of your home.

Preparing Your Windowbox

To prevent your wooden windowboxes from rotting line the windowboxes with plastic liner. Place your windowbox flowers in potted plants inside the window box. Keeping the plants in pots will also allow you to change your plants with the seasons with no replanting.

To mount your windowbox us galvanized steel “L” brackets in the middle and at each end of your windowbox. Make sure the brackets are more than 2 1\2 feet long for your windowboxes. Place 3″ wood screws into wood siding and special anchor bolts into masonry. Before placing your windowbox on the brackets, be sure it has proper drainage. If you are using a plastic liner you may want to use catch trays under each pot to catch the excess water. Fill your window box with lightweight soil mixed with fertilizer to about and inch from the rim of the windowbox.

Planting

Dig holes a little larger than the flower pots and place the flowers you have chosen into the windowbox. Loosen any tangles roots on your plants so they will grow better in the windowbox. Be sure to position some of your windowbox plants near the edge of your windowboxes so they can grow over the sides. You might want to choose trailing plants for you windowboxes as the cascading effect is very lovely. Be sure to water the windowbox thoroughly.

Plant Care

To keep your windowbox blooming spray with liquid fertilizer every 2 weeks. By removing faded and old flower heads you will increase the number of blooms in your windowbox. Fell free to cut some of the windowbox flowers to keep in vases in your home.

Plant Options

Some plant ideas for sunny windowboxes are the Zinnia, Lobelia, Nicotiana, Salvia, Miniature Roses, & Marigolds. Classic Zinnias are great windowbox ideas. Their flowers are a lovely yellow or white and they cascade very effectively over the sides of the windowboxes. Lobelia is a sun-loving flower that has lilac, blue or white blooms all spring and summer. The foliage can be a red bronze in color or deep green. Nicotiana has a trumpet shaped flower or white, red, or pink and will also trail over the edge of windowboxes. Salvia blooms well in summer sun in spikes of blue, purple or white and will look best at the back of the windowbox. Miniature Roses come in just about any color and look well in the middle of the back of the windowbox. Marigolds are a very easy flower to sustain and grown. These blooms come in yellow or orange and look lovely placed between the other plants.

There are many other windowbox ideas. For cottage elegance in front of your vacation home try using Geraniums, Dracaenas and Petunias. Lush foliage and victorianesque cascades work best using Globe Amaranths, Dahlberg Daisies, Verbenas, Rose Periwinkles, Trailing Lantana, and Trailing Vinca. Maybe you would prefer a windowbox that focuses on one color shade. For romantic hues of pinks and purples try rose Periwinkles, Dusty Millers, Geraniums, Lobelias and Verbenas.

With a little imagination and maybe a chat with your local gardener for the flowers that grow best in your zone you can achieve a cozy warm effect using windowboxes under the windows in your home. These windowboxes can also be rotated seasonally to take advantage of blooms particular to spring, fall, summer, and yes, even winter.