3 Top Tips for Creating Spectacular Summer Window Boxes

Hands up if you love a great looking window box…

I’m raising mine right there with you. Window boxes add great curb appeal to even the most ho-hum house.

Whether it’s people stopping by when I’m working in the yard or emailing me here on the blog, I receive a lot of the same questions over and over.

I’d thought it might help anyone who is considering adding window boxes to their house or struggling to get theirs to grow if I shared a few tips I’ve learned the hard way over the years.

So here we go…

1. Choosing the right size window boxes

Our old house had window boxes already on the house. I tried to make the best of them the first few summers until we painted the house, but it was tough. (I may have whined a lot about them as I was struggling to keep my flowers alive.)

They were too narrow and not deep enough to hold much dirt.

After a few summers, my pops and I (mostly pops!) built new ones.

The new house didn’t have any so I ordered some not long after we moved in. By then I had a better idea of what I needed.

Few tips for measuring and ordering the right size of window box:

• I like the look of window boxes that extend a bit past the window on each end. Personal preference, but it seems to make the window look a little snappier!
• Remember to account for how your windows open – ours crank open so we placed the boxes under the window sill.
• Deeper, wider window boxes give you more room to work with and offer more space for roots to roam. This one is a big deal, I think. I ordered the XL size in my new window boxes.
• While Pops and I used good quality cedar at the old house, my new window boxes are made of a paintable PVC – no painting window boxes ever again unless I want to change colors.
• While our new window boxes had drainage holes, we added a few more just to be safe. Good drainage is important for all container gardens, including window boxes.

2. Care and feeding window box flowers

Like any other container, window boxes need great dirt. I use Miracle-Gro potting soil.

When we had the old, tiny window boxes I would also add some of the Miracle-Gro “watering storing crystals.” That helped keep my flowers looking good during the dog days of summer.

I also use Miracle-Gro flower food at the time of planting and then once a week all summer long. I’m not picky on which one. Sometimes the liquid is on sale and other times it’s the shaker. I just grab whichever one is less expensive.

While I know this won’t make me popular with some water conservationists, I do water my window boxes almost every day. They face the western sun and it gets smoking hot on that side of the house.

Another tip that doesn’t usually earn me many friends is that I deadhead and trim almost every morning before work while I’m watering. Especially the petunias and geraniums.

The good news is that over time and with practice, you get to be pretty fast at window box maintenance chores.

3. What to plant in your summer window boxes

I’m a girl who likes a riot of color.

Ain’t no stinkin’ neutrals or monochromatic designs around this house.

But I realize that’s not for everyone.

So whatever colors you choose, pack your window box full. I know a lot of “experts” say start small and the flowers will grow.

Yep, they will. But  a window box looks so much better with flowers that are overflowing in every direction.

I took the photo above about a week or ten days after I planted it, just so you have an idea.

As far as what to put in it, here are a couple of things to consider:

• I put some things that are taller in the back all along the window. As you can see in the photo above, I planted salvia in the back last year. It’s a perennial around here, and yes… it came back this year. Cool huh? I wasn’t sure it would but it did.
• The center of my boxes are always chock full of geraniums (every Michigan gardener loves a geranium!), petunias, vinca flowers, snapdragons, and any annual that catches my eye at the greenhouse.
• Along the front are always flowers that will trail. This year I chose becopa and wave petunias.
• Finally, I do one larger, thriller plant every year. This year I chose a smaller type of Rudbeckia (aka black eyed Susan). My friends from the greenhouse tell me there’s a good chance it might act as a perennial in my window box. Fingers crossed.

What I liked about the Rudbeckia is how much birds —especially different types of finches— like the plant.

I’ve shared this before on my blog, but this is the view from my home office window looking out…

They visit me almost every morning to munch on the dried seeds on the plant.

I’ll share photos of my window boxes throughout the summer on Instagram so you can see how they are (hopefully!) blooming! Follow me on Instagram so we can stay in touch.

And be sure to Comment on one of my IG photos so I can follow you back.

If you have any window box related questions, comment below or drop me a note. I’ll be happy to help if I can.

Until next time,

Shelley