Boxed In!
The Gardener|May 2017

A window box can be a whole lot of garden in a very confined space!

Boxed In!

Did you know that some container gardening books are dedicated specifically to the rectangular container known as a window box? This is easy to understand, as there is something endearing and heart-warming about a window box spilling colourful flowers, or a window box containing complementing combinations of interesting foliage and textured grasses.

Planting up as many window boxes as you can in autumn is a real joy, as nurseries are filled with cold-season annuals in flower, cooking herbs, pretty ornamental grasses and the cutest succulents. And remember: a window box does not necessarily need a window as a backdrop. Custom-made window boxes can be fitted to balcony railings or simply displayed in a row on a patio floor. You can also fit a trellis panel to a large window box and include a dainty creeper into your planting recipe. The result can be a form of vertical gardening against a wall, or a ‘room divider’.

Consider the mechanics

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