Window box with flowers

4 Tips for Creating Stunning Window Boxes

Window Boxes

It is said that “flowers are our greatest silent friends.” Finding ways to plant flowers around your home or business can be an amazing way to uplift all souls and spirits and liven up just about any space.

One great way to plant flowers is by using window boxes. A window box is typically a rectangular shaped container that can be placed in small spaces or large spaces, and are typically placed outside a window. However, they can be placed on anything from a fence or a deck. They can turn a house into a stunning home with the aid of some vibrant colors and sweet smelling flowers.

There are not crazy rules when planting window boxes, but a couple helpful tips that might give some guidance while you plan your own window box. Here are 4 tips to help you as you create your own stunning window boxes.

  1. Placement
    If you already have window box in place, the hardest part is done. If that isn’t done already for you, you can find plans online and make them at home, or you can purchase them at any local hardware store.

  2. Design
    With so many ways to plant window boxes, it can be intimidating if you are new to this and are not sure where to start. Here are a few design tips that might allow your own creative juices to flow and give you a little boost of confidence.

  3. The Rule of Odds
    This is an idea that you want to work in odd numbers like 1, 3, and 5. This has proven to be more pleasing to the eye. In a window box that could mean that you choose one color and just one flower. That enough will look great.

    If you are looking to add more variety, and depending on the amount of space you have in your window box, consider choosing three different flowers. We liked to have some that would hang down the side, some that would be a middle and ones that would peak up top in the back. Or it could mean that you mix the amount up going a different kind left to right. If you want to add different colors, consider choosing an odd color amount too.

  4. Choosing Flowers
    The flowers that you choose will be determined by the amount of sunlight in the particular area that you have your window boxes. Some flowers need to be in full sun and that can be hard if your window box is placed directly below a window and only gets partial sun.

    We had this problem in the first home that we owned. We had over 12 window boxes that went from the front of our home, to the side, on the back, and even on the window of our detached garage. Each side of the home seemed to get a different amount of sun. We figured that we were able to have similar flowers on the front of our house and the side, but the back and the garage need to have flowers that preferred more shade.

    There are so many different flowers to choose from. That is where window boxes can be fun. Allow yourself to get creative and let your artistic side come out. There are so many combinations and possibilities.

    There are a number of ways to gain ideas of what flowers to use. One option is to go to a nursery, look around and check to see what plants you love. Choose one, or three different options. If you are choosing three, try to choose ones that will be good placed together.

To help give you a place to start with your window boxes, here are a few possible flowers that you can start with:

Shade Flowers

  • Impatiens: These babies add mounds of color wherever they are placed. They will fill up your window box. These plants do great in shade, but do need to be watered often.
  • Coleus: These plants produce red leaves that will had a great contrast to the other plants that you place in your window box. Put these plants in a middle row as they will grow upright.
  • Astilbe: This is a plant that you can choose as a one flower window box. It will fill in large space with variety of different colors, ranging from bright pink to a deep white. This plant will fill in the entire bottom with a green foliage and then spike up with the color to give you a complete and stunning window box look.

Hanging Flowers:

  • Creeping Jennies – These are the perfect plant to place at the edge of your window box. This plant produces a stunning light green foliage that will hang over the edge and add a great contrast of color and texture.
  • Wave Petunias – These flowers come in most any color and do great with partial to full sun. When we were just learning how to do our own window boxes these were our go-to flower. They grew tall and filled our entire window boxes while also adding a stunning cascade over the sides of the window boxes. They do need tons of water and will dry out if not taken care of. With some watering, this one plant alone did all we needed it to do. We just choose one color and it let it do its thing.
  • Ground Ivy – Ground Ivy is a great plant to put on the edge of your window box. This plant is great for filling in shady spots where other plants might not survive as well. It will also give a great hanging look over the side of your box. It will still thrive even as the plants behind and above grow and take in the sun.

Growing Window Boxes

When you choose to add window boxes to your home, whether you built them yourself, or they were already there, they will add so much beauty, texture, and fragrance to your home or business. Remember that flowers in window boxes will need just the same amount of care as they would in the ground. Make sure they are watered often, and are given a nice amount of organic compost. You are sure to have a warm and inviting space.

If you have created your own window boxes, we would love to see how they turned out. What types of flowers have you used?

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