Box Garden Window

1. Determine the Purpose of your box garden window:

Let's be honest, window gardens are still something of a rarity in America, unless of course you live in brownstone houses or in hoity-toity neighborhoods. However, this is not the case for most of the rest of the world. In places like Japan-where most terrain is steep and uninhabitable, causing populations to crowd in small areas-window gardens offer aesthetic and spiritual relief. So, if you want to find the same aesthetic and spiritual relief in a place like New York, San Francisco, or even if you just want to cover something ugly on your home, or try your hand at growing a garden, a box garden window is a great way to go. So, to grow the best box garden window you can, your first major decision should be to figure out the purpose for your garden; from there, you can choose the right plants for your garden to get the best appeal.

2. Figure out Ornamentation

After you figure out your purpose you can figure out your ornamentation. For many people window gardens are purely there to spruce up their home and neighborhood. If this is your purpose, then your ornamentation may be different then if you have another purpose. For example, you may be satisfied to have just one burst of color in the spring and then allow trailing plants such as to dominate the window garden for the remainder of the growing season. So, you want to plant flowers and other plants that will bloom in different seasons so that you have good growth all year round. Take a look at the following lists to get some ideas for what grows well and when:

Some spring followers include:

Pansies, tulips, daffodils, crocuses, primroses, lilies, and violas.

If you want flowers in the Spring, but you also want to continue seeing flowers through the summer, plant:

Geraniums, lavender, impatiens, salvia, petunias, daisies, begonias, zinnias, fuschias, and nasturtiums (Nasturtiums have an added bonus in that their leaves and flowers are edible and add a peppery, cress-like taste to salads and sandwiches).

For permanent window boxes and year-round greenery, a "winter interest" window garden can include evergreen such as:

dwarf Alberta spruce, bristlecone pine, mugho pine, and small cacti

If you want plants that grow down your window, and are great for year-round greens try the following:

Ivy, myrtle, creeping Jenny, sweet potato vine, and vinca.

3. Determine which Fragrance you want

Sometimes homes have smells, and many times they are smells you just can't get rid of, like the musty smell of an old house. So, if you want to plant things with fragrance to cover the small try mints, or lemon smelling plants. There are also options for other smells, and honey smells from flowers in great as well.

4. Determine what else you want

You can always plant herbs, food, etc. Many people use box garden windows for growing an herb or vegetable garden. It is a great way to supplement the things you use in your cooking through out the summer months. So, if you want to have a small vegetable garden, grow the plants like cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. Try growing sage, thyme, rosemary, dill, etc.

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