Window box suggestion

Hallo all!

I'm really new to all this...I inherited some window boxes from my mum when she moved abroad a couple of years ago. For a while they just sat on the sill with whatever they'd had planted in them (not much: an handful of crocuses and some chives, very sparse). Last year I bought some bedding plants and loved seeing them grow and flower over the summer. This year I planted more stuff: bulbs, some ivies, I've got some seeds to plant out too. I'm very excited, I can see this growing into a lifelong passion!!

My question is this...the windowbox that is west facing is doing really well, it's quite sheltered. The other windowbox it east facing and is in a windier position. It's not too bad, no howling gales or anything, but I do notice a difference with the other box. At the moment it's got two small ivies at either end. I'm looking to plant a bit more green stuff in it, just to try and offer some protection to the flowers I'd like to grow. Does anyone have any suggestions? I guess I'm looking for a hardy perennial that's not too tall (maybe 20/30 cms).

Any other suggestions/ideas are very welcome!

 

My garden is quite small so I mainly have pots and window boxes. I'm not overkeen on ivies - I like to see the boxes in full bloom so I tend to replant them a couple of times a year. In autumn, I put in some pansies, polyanthus and primrose. This year I planted bulbs quite deep (dafs and crocus) below them first. In a few weeks, once the dafs have died off, I'll replant with - well - I'll go mad!

 

I have lilies everywhere I can get them - they're my all time favorite.I haven't tried spier flower though, or Portulaca. I'll have to look them up

 

Thanks for the suggestions. There's a few plants I'm not familiar with, so I'm busy looking them up at the moment. Nothing more exciting than discovering lots of new plants!!

 

How about lavendar GM

 

Hi Scotkat, thanks for that. I really like the sound of lavendar - does it not need to be in full sun though? (I'm not sure, I don't really know much about this at all...I'm just starting out!)

 

Hi again GM thought you might enjoy this link.

http://www.norfolk-lavender.co.uk/content/gardening.asp

 

Thanks for posting that, I really enjoyed looking at that. Can't believe how many different types of lavendar there are! They're beautiful.

One question - how can you tell if a soil is alkaline or acid? It says that lavendars prefer a slightly alkaline soil. I had thought a planting a wee heather, but I think they like slightly acid soil. How can I tell what I have in my window box?

 

You can buy soil testing kits but for window boxes it's probably not worth it. It's easy enough to empty the box and refill with specific compost, Ericaceous for heathers, azaleas and rhodes etc. and for lavender and dianthus etc. just use ordinary peat free compost and add some crushed chalk or limestone chips to the mix.

One of the beauties of container gardening is you can create exactly the right conditions (acid, alkaline, dry, boggy, shade, full sun) without it costing an arm and a JCB.

 

Hi everyone,been Stalking for a while now and finally plucked up enough courage to post.Would love to have window boxes in the front and back of my house,but i'm not to sure about securing them.Would i have to bolt them to the sils?i know they would be heavy but its gets pretty windy where i live and i'd be afraid of all my hard work ending up on the floor.The front and back could do with some cheering up.Cheers for any help,sorry for the long winded post:D

 

Hi Cyril
You can buy windowbox brackets that hold a fair old weight.
They look something like this, http://tinyurl.com/dxhpcf
Judging by the simple design you could probably make your own if you are handy.

 

You don't want anything too tallin a windowbox.Begonias love full sun and fower all summer.YOU COULD HAVE SOME UPRIGHT AND SOME TRAILING.

 

some thing trailing i want upstairs so i'll have to make sure they are well secured,dont want them slipping off and hitting someone:dh: