Combining flowering plants with attractive foliage in window boxes
adds color to decks, window sashes and porch rails.
Tools and Materials
· Window box
· Potting mix for containers
· Water source and watering can
· Plants with attractive flowers and foliage
· Flowering plant fertilizer, water-soluble
Design Principles:
Mix plants with trailings, spiky upright and "fluffy"
growth habits, as well as large, medium and small leaves. Choose
a color scheme or color combinations that complement your home or
landscape. Red, yellow, orange, bright pink and white look good
from a distance, while blue, purple and dark greens show best at
close range.
Select Containers:
Choose containers that fit your décor and available space,
and are at least eight inches deep and wide. Make sure they have
drainage holes or plan to drill your own. If mounting under a window,
use a box that is a couple of inches smaller than the width of the
window for best appearance.
Add Potting Mix:
Purchase a sterile potting mix containing peat, perlite and other
ingredients that improve drainage, aeration, fertility and water-holding
capacity, such as 
Fertilome
Ultimate Potting Mix. Consider using a water-absorbing polymer to
decrease watering frequency. Fill your window box about half-full
with the potting mix, and add water to moisten if it is dry. DO
not use regular garden soil.
Add the Plants:
Place plants about two to five inches apart in the box, depending
on their mature size. Gently take plants out of their pots without
pulling on the stems and carefully untangle circling roots. Set
the tallest plants, such as geraniums, in the back of the box. Let
the trailing plants, such as pansies or impatiens fill up the front
of the box. Fill the spaces between plants with soil mix, trapping
gently. Water thoroughly to settle the soil.
Maintain the Plants:
Window boxes require frequent watering-often daily in hot, dry weather.Soak
the soil completely at each watering. Use a water-soluble flowering
plant fertilizer, such as Fertilome Blooming & Rooting Plant
Food, dissolved at one-quarter strength at once a week or according
to package instructions. Trim dead flowers and straggly growth and
replace plants that perish or look ratty. Remove some plants if
the box becomes too crowded or requires watering too frequently.
