Windows Boxes - Design Principles In Balance And Proportion

Ideally, window boxes are designed and constructed along with the house; but more often they are added later, and designed to suit the architectural style. When they are in good proportion, balance, and harmony, they add attractiveness and appeal to a house. Location is important, too. Window boxes are fine for relieving the bleakness of bare walls, but not for walls already adorned with shutters or awnings. They should harmonize with - but not compete with or be hidden by - foundation plantings. They should not be used where they make a house look overdecorated.

Finished color can blend a box with the house, or set it off in contrast. Natural wood finishes are often favored because they "go with everything." Green is a good garden color, if it doesn't clash with plant or building colors. Dark shades make the box recede in importance, and seldom display the plants to best advantage. Soft, light colors like ivory or creamy yellow are pleasing. Pure white can be glaring and deadly unless it ties the box in with the window frame.

The size of a window box depends upon the size of the window and other principles of balance and proportion; but it should also be wide and deep enough for proper development of plant roots. Minimum recommended depth is eight inches. A box eight inches wide, inside measurement, will accommodate two rows of plants; ten or eleven inches wide, three rows. Length varies with the width of the window. For two or more adjoining windows, separate matching boxes are most manageable and sturdy. Maximum length for any box should be six feet; and even this may be unwieldy.

Window boxes should be as sturdy and lasting as any other containers, made of any material. They should also be secured or sup-. ported so there is no danger that, filled with heavy soil, they will slip or fall. When they are hung on a house wall, use strong bolts or lag screws, not ordinary nails or screws; and make sure you anchor into the studding. Or install supporting brackets of wood or metal of attractive and suitable design.

Treat all wood with a nonpoisonous preservative. Coat any rust-susceptible nails, screws, and brackets with paint or a rust-inhibitor to preserve them and help avoid rusty streaks dripping down the house wall. Where winters are severe, slant the front of the box out at the top so freezing soil can expand without pulling or forcing the box apart.

Bottom holes or other provisions for drainage are important, not only to plants but also to the welfare of the house. Holes can be bored near the front of the box, and the bottom slanted downward, to carry drip away from the wall. Or arrange pipes or tubes to carry off water. Or line the side of the house with roofing paper. But best of all, use cleats or brackets to support the box an inch or so out and away from the wall, so air can circulate, wood is drier, and termites are not encouraged.

In areas where hot, searing summer winds dry out soil too fast, make boxes with double walls separated by a space of a half inch or more. Stuff the space with a moisture retainer like sphagnum moss, for insulation against heat. The same sort of insulation is good for boxes that hold soil and plants through a cold winter.

Use vines in window boxes as you use them in any container gardening just like the cordyline plant - to blend, soften, accent, emphasize structural lines. To pull a too-high window down closer to the ground, let trailers hang over the edge. To heighten a window, train a vine up and around it. To tie several windows together, use the same variety in all boxes.

For summer container gardens, you have a wide choice of vining plants: annuals, some hardy perennials, and many tender types that can be grown in tubs and stored indoors over winter.