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Choose a windowbox, or create one, and have it
installed. Make sure your window box has drainage holes. For drainage, place 2 inches of non-biodegradable packing peanuts or old wine corks in the bottom of the box, and then cover with landscape fabric to prevent soil from seeping out. I like to use those horrific styrofoam peanuts at the bottom of anything just to get rid of them, but they do work to elevate the plants and drain the box. They are also lightweight. Fill the box halfway with potting soil, and add your plants. Add more soil to set them in firmly, and tamp down to eliminate air spaces in the box, paying attention to all the edges of the box. Gaps mean less soil for the plants, and runoff of water and fertilizer. Make
sure your plants are placed a few inches apart to give them room to
fill out. Plants for Your Window BoxThe popular windowbox gardening memes dictate these plant categories: ThrillersAre the focus plants, and dictate the rest of the design. These are the larger plant or plants in the back that are the focal point. SpillersVines or trailing plants that spill over the edges and hang down from the windowbox planting. My favorites are english ivy, creeping jenny, and sweet potato vine. FillersThe main plants that bridge the space between
the tall thrillers and the low spillers. The Plan Behind The Plan RepetitionPlant in groups of plants - like ivy, to create a flow between and around plants. Lots of vines can trail from the fronts and edges, and from under your main planting. Focal PointChoosing the centerpiece first, means the rest of your plant choices will fall into place. A dwarf ball topiary or dwarf evergreen ornamental looks pretty in the center of your planting. TextureTaller and flowing dwarf ornamental grasses make a great focal point in the center of a box. Other flowering plants will be packed in around your focal point. Below are photos of some pretty ideas for planting your box.
Your windowbox may be themed to contain florals, or create a decorative Edibles Windowbox theme of herbs or low-growing veggies in different shapes and sizes, with interesting foliage and flowers, and include vines. Naturally, you'll want to plant something that doesn't make the box naked after you've picked. Choose decorative edibles like herbs and greens that will get a good pinch frequently for culinary purposes, but do not require removal of the entire plant. Or use plants that grow all season, and are harvested in fall, so that you have an entire season of display. Perennial herb windowboxes will come back to life in the spring, and don't have to be replanted, unless they outgrow the box. Different spiller vines might be added, if you wish. Salad Bar Windowbox theme gardens are also great designs, following the methods outlined above. Just remember that herb and salad boxes will need way more diligence and care than a floral theme windowbox. I wouldn't grow berries or dwarf fruit in these, as birds will probably use the boxes as feeding stations. They can't resist.
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Check out the Container Garden Page for more windowbox "filler" ideas
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