We have seen how a window box can accentuate your window and how to plant the perfect blend of flowers and plants. But what if you are devoid of any green digits at all and shiver at the thought of compost, clippings and chrysanthemums, but still long for a decorative window appendage?
Don’t panic, use your window box as a setting for a number of themed designs.
Preparing the window box
Fill the box or planter with foam packaging material and leave around half to two thirds of the window full – this gives a stable platform for your chosen display. It’s then advisable to place some coloured stones or flint on top of the foam as this will not only give a final dressing but will also give some weight to the troughs so that it does not fall off the windowsill in the wind.
If your boxes are looking rather the worse for wear, then replacing them with shelves cut to the window’s size acts as an alternative stage for your display.
The seaside
One of the most popular is a seaside themed window box. Get out into the rock pools and beaches and gather some driftwood, seaweed, shells and starfish. Stick the starfish and shells to some bamboo sticks and glue them into the foam. Drape some fish netting over the side and link more of the shells and the seaweed into the mesh. Adding a solar light will give it the appearance of a lighthouse.
Another slightly alternative beach theme utilises the good old fishing net, bucket and spade. Placing these into a window box, along with a lifebuoy, beach ball and rubber ring brings a sense of fun as well as summer into your window space. As well as gluing these into place it’s good to add a touch more decoration with some painted slogans on the box:
- Land ahoy
- Gone fishing
- Surfs up
Some more suggestions
A clever way of looking like you were born with green fingers (but secretly weren’t) is to paint plant pots a range of seasonal colours and display them at interesting angles in the box, along with small hand gardening tools and watering cans.
If you have a selection of flags from around the world, you could stand them in the foam or drape them over the box. You could also hang bunting from the box, adorn the sides with red, white and blue coloured ribbons and even hang lights along the window box edge.
Small plastic windmills make wonderful window box decorations as they not only come in a wide variety of colours, but they spin round in the wind throwing out their rainbow effect.
Small wooden crafted birds and a miniature birdhouse, equipped with a shallow birdbath serves as both decoration and an attraction for feathered friends.
Some of the most popular non-floral adornments for window boxes include the following:
- Fairy house: with stars, glitter and tiny winged dolls
- A butterfly on sticks house: plastic or silk flowers interspersed with butterflies on sticks
- Selection of garden gnomes: a range of characters to give life and bring luck to your home
So however you dress up your window box, take the time to stand back, study your window and look at exactly how to make the best of it.
For some ideas take a look at this previous post.
[Photo by 445693]