Window Gardens Add Charm And Color To The Outside Of Your House With The Addition Of Flower Boxes

With their versatility and old-fashioned charm, window boxes are a wonderful addition to any house. These little gardens are easy to plant and care for, making them appropriate for amateur gardeners as well as accomplished ones.

Plant window boxes now and they will reward you with beauty and color all summer long.

Choosing window boxes

Window boxes are available in many different styles, colors and materials. You may want a simple box painted the color of your house; it will blend right in, so the flowers will command all the attention. Or you may choose a decorative box whose appearance rivals its contents. While the window box needn’t match the house, it is important that they have complementary styles.

Whatever you choose, there are two things to keep in mind.

First, a window box must have drainage holes. Some come with them, others don’t. If yours does not, drill several holes in the bottom. Make sure the box doesn’t sit directly on a windowsill or other surface, because this would clog the holes. If the box isn’t footed, screw small squares of wood to the bottom.

To keep the soil from escaping through the drainage holes in a rainstorm, place an inch or two of gravel in the bottom of the box before adding soil. If gravel would make the box too heavy for the spot you’ve chosen, try foam packing peanuts instead.

Second, if the window box is sitting or hanging in a place where it could fall, it must be screwed or wired into place. Check on it frequently to make sure it’s secure.

Choosing plants

There are different approaches you can take to filling your window box. As a general rule, however, you always want the box to look full and lush. Instead of starting seeds in the box, start them indoors or buy fully grown plants at the nursery. This way, you’ll be able to create the look you want right away.

Almost any plant that’s well-suited to your region can be grown in a window box. You can even plant the box several times during the season. For example, start with spring bulbs, move on to pansies, then summer-blooming annuals and finish with asters when the weather starts to cool off. Or you may choose repeat bloomers that will flower for much of the summer.

You can fill a box with one kind of flower, mix colors and textures or combine tall, short and trailing plants. If your climate is very hot and dry, try cacti; in the shade, plant tuberous begonias.

Foliage looks lovely in a window box. Ivies, common houseplants, even clipped grass could fill a box or provide a green background for flowers. A kitchen window box could be brimming with fragrant fresh herbs.

Caring for the plants

Start by filling the window box with good potting soil. When you plant the flowers and plants, pack them quite tightly. Window boxes look best when crowded.

Water the plants daily, and pinch off any faded flowers and yellowing leaves regularly. Fertilize with a blooming-houseplant solution according to the package instructions.

At the end of the season, don’t leave dead plants or the old soil in the box. Either clean the box and store it away for the winter, or leave it in its place with some decorative filler. In the autumn, this could be dried gourds or sunflower heads. In the winter, fill it with pinecones or plant small evergreens.

Next spring, give the window box a thorough cleaning and start over again.

Window-box project

The charming picket-fence window box shown in the accompanying photo is easy to make.

1. Start by constructing a box to fit your windowsill. Use 1-inch thick, high-grade lumber. Drill holes in the bottom of the box for drainage. Paint the outside of the box with flat, oil-based enamel or exterior-grade latex paint.

2. Make the pickets from 1/4-by-2-inch lattice wood. First, cut them to length. At one end of each piece, use a ruler and pencil to mark two 2-inch diagonal lines that come together in a point. Cut along the lines, forming the pointed top of the pickets.

You should have enough pickets for the front of the box and as much of the sides that show when the box is in place.

3. Use two finishing nails, one near the top of the box and one near the bottom, to attach the pickets to the box; the pickets should be flush with the bottom of the box with about 1/4 inch of space between them. Paint the pickets to match the box.

MEMO: Questions should be addressed to Martha Stewart, care of The New York Times Syndication Sales Corp., 122 E. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. 10168. Questions may also be sent to Stewart by electronic mail. Her address is: mstewart@marthastewart.com.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Martha Stewart New York Times Syndicate