5/15/12

Arranging a Stunnning Window Box....Here's How


Do you ever wonder how people are able to create gorgeous, interesting and full looking arrangements in their window boxes? I just love to see them spilling over with an assortment of beautiful flowers and foliage. Take a look at some of the stunning window boxes I found on the Internet.





This next window box may look a wee bit familiar to you...it is actually a window box in Cong, County Mayo Ireland.  I snapped this pic during our trip through the north of Ireland a few years back.


As it turns out I found this awesome website called Flower Framers and they have a wonderful tutorial on how to select the right flowers, place the window box correctly under your window, and how to plant and maintain healthy boxes. You must check it out for help in answering just about all of your planting questions. But for today I want to touch upon how to successfully arrange your window boxes.

Many people including myself, have made the mistake of placing the flowers in a row giving the arrangement a bit of a uniformed appearance. Kind of like a little boy's army men all lined up on the kitchen floor ready for battle. This doesn't do much in the way of making your flower box look very interesting or as if it is brimming over with beautiful plants. 

Below is a diagram from Flower Framers showing you how to place your flowers in the window box.
They use a zigzag pattern and it is this pattern which will ensure that as the plants grow they'll have a much more bountiful and lush appearance. Also you need to place the plants in a graduated pattern.





Here's the simple recipe...
Start with the tallest plants in the back row, the bushier plants in the middle rows, and then the trailing plants in the front row. This will give your box that overflowing look which is so appealing.



For my window boxes I decided to go with a mix of foliage and flowers. My boxes are located in the front of the house which faces east so I get the full morning sun. The one problem I've always seemed to have run into in the past, is that as the summer months move along I begin to get less light in the front, and the sun loving flowers I typically plant in my boxes begin to fade. So this year I selected  a mixture plants which will keep their vibrant color even when less direct sunlight is available to them.





The plants I chose include Potato Vine, Coleus, Lantana, Lobelia, Lanium and Licorice Vine. The Coleus is the tallest plant I am using so it is placed in the back row of the box. The middle row has the Lanium and Lantana, and in the front are the Lobelia and Licorice Vine. The Potato Vine is both tall an trailing so I used it on either end of my box.


and...


Since I used several of the same plants as in this fabulous window box below from Better Homes and Gardens, my hope is that when the plants get larger my box will look something theirs.


Window boxes are a wonderful way to add beautiful color and personality to your home. And having large lush plants taking over the boxes is to me, simply stunning.


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8 comments:

  1. Barbara,
    What inspirational window boxes! Love the hits! We are getting ready to put a window box under Zac's window but because it is on the second floor.... my flowers will most likely be fake! (shhhhh don't tell!) At least now I know how to make the fakes ones looks "pretty!"
    Dee Dee

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  2. I think your window box will be stunning. Window boxes like pots can be a bit tricky to get pretty ones!

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  3. I LOVE LOVE window boxes! My husband is building me one this weekend for the big window on the front of my house! I LOVE potato vine! LOVE IT! You will laugh when I tell you how I plant mine! I am an instant gratification girl...so I buy hanging baskets already MATURE and break them up and plant them in there! LOL Not the best method, as by the end of July they are HUGE!!

    "patience grasshopper"....I'm workin' on it!

    Yours are fabulous!

    Lou Cinda :)

    I am going to go and check out that site!

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  4. What beautiful flower boxes. So much great gardening inspiration.
    Mary Alice

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  5. Hi there ~ you are so right ~ planter boxes below a window bring so much beauty! hopping over from Common Ground to say Hello! would love to have you link up to the garden party going on now over at Fishtail Cottage! xoox, tracie

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  6. I love the window boxes, too.
    I do believe plant/flower boxes are a form of art.
    I have two large barrels in the yard that I plant things in.
    Thanks for sharing all the lovely flower boxes.
    Michele

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  7. Hi Barbara, what a great post. I love the look of window boxes, and this really gave some great tips! thanks so much for sharing it on Vintage Inspiration!

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  8. Great tips! I really like the diagram of where to place plants for the best growth. It makes me feel good to know that I've definitely been on the right track with the way that I have planted them for the last few years.

    Can't wait to get planting again this year!

    ReplyDelete

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