I'm not a Magician!

Window boxes are so beautiful and can add curb appeal and beauty to any home or business.  If you have darker paint colors or trim on your home or if your paint color is white or a lighter color, you can add contrasting colored flowers to add design and texture to make your home stand out from all the others. 

We have 2 different window boxes on our house that we installed last year.  I usually use the coco window box liners (the ones that are made from the fibers found between the outer husk and the meat of the coconut).   They are like condensed straw in texture and allow water to seep right through which helps with moisture control.  

This year, I decided to add an additional window box under our kitchen window but I didn't have an extra coco liner lying around and I didn't want to spend the money on another one so I came up with the idea of using landscape fabric to line my window box!  I had some lying around (the black fabric that comes in a roll that you would use to keep out weeds in your landscaping) from a spring project I did earlier in the year, so, I took the landscape fabric and lined my window box with it and used that as my liner.

I always use a good potting soil that is high in nutrients like Miracle Grow Potting Mix.  I buy the mix that feeds plants up to 6 months with continuous release plant food.  It has always worked well for me and I usually find it at places like WalMart or Meijer for a decent price.  So, I filled my window box with potting mix and planted my flowers.  I used a mix of geraniums, impatiens, wave petunias, a creeping jenny, and a potato vine. 

Below is a  picture from the first day I planted the window box and then there are 2 other pictures that I took throughout the summer.  You can see as the weeks went by, how the flowers grew!  By far, it's the best any of my window boxes have EVER done!  I am not sure if it was the landscape fabric that did the trick OR if the box is just in the right spot for daily sunlight.  This window box is right outside my kitchen window and the window faces EAST.  It gets early morning sun and then filtered sun throughout the day.  I water it daily.... either early in the morning or late at night. 

 First day I planted it 6/15/13

This picture was taken on 7/11/13

 8/13/13

I didn't do anything different with the other 2 boxes I have on the house, except the other 2 have coco liners and of course, are in different locations on the house.  This particular box on my kitchen window is full, luscious, and vibrant and is always entertaining a bee or butterfly throughout the day.  From inside the house you can see flowers peering in through the window as if saying "Look at me!  I'm beautiful!".  

Tip:  Window boxes can be used all year long!  They aren't just for the summer months.  You can use them in the fall and add mini pumpkins, gourds, and beautiful mums or you can use them during the winter with pine tree clippings and strings of twinkle lights. 

Supply List

Window Box (you can make one out of wood or buy one at any local hardware store, WalMart, Meijer)

Window Box liner

Potting Mix (make sure to use soil with nutrients)

Flowers (your choice!  It helps to use trailing flowers like potato vine, creeping jenny, or wave petunias)

Water daily

Sunlight or shade (buy the right flowers to correspond with the amount of sunlight your box will get)

Tip:  Did you know that you don't need sun for a window box?!  It's true!  Just make sure to use flowers and plants that say "need shade" and that don't require sunlight to survive!

 

I hope you have a window box of flowers adorning your home or maybe this is 'just an idea' you needed to help get you started!!