Adventures In Living and Gardening

Visitors to Europe, flower-minded or not, return with enthusiasm for the gay window boxes they have seen the red geraniums in Germany and Austria, the tuberous begonias of Switzerland, these so perfect they seem to have been moved right out of a catalog! In fact, Switzerland suggests glorious possibilities for this country. How beautiful our cities might be if railroad terminals, apartment houses, department stores, and office buildings could all be decorated with window boxes, as they are in that small mountain country.

With centuries of tradition behind them, Europeans have had rich experience in growing plants in boxes. We see them high above the streets of London, Dublin, Copenhagen, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Heidelberg, and Geneva. Along narrow, winding streets, they are a charming decoration throughout the growing season.

In spring, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, pansies, wall flowers, and English daisies appear in profusion; in summer, geraniums everywhere radiate their dependable brilliance.

Those who live in farmhouses share the enthusiasm. In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, potted geraniums, grown indoors in winter, are moved out to window boxes in summer, but still kept in pots. Sometimes boxes are solid structures, more often, they are of latticework painted green or white. With cool weather, potted plants are put back on window sills, where they remain and flower until spring.

In enchanting medieval Dinkelsbuhl in southern Germany, I recall a green high-gabled house with boxes of geraniums and tuberous begonias at windows on four floors, including the single one below the steep peak. In that village, even tiny windows are adorned with potted geraniums.

Gardens in Window Boxes
In this country, boxes at windows offer apartment dwellers the enjoyment of a little garden from within or without. If you live in just one room or on a very small property, you, too, can have a window-box garden filled in spring with pansies and primroses, in summer with petunias or fuchsias, and in fall with chrysanthemums. In winter, greens and berries, like bittersweet or California pepper berries with pine, give color. Where English ivy is not exposed to wind, it can provide trailing green all winter.

Size and Materials
To be serviceable, a window box must be large enough to accommodate comfortably the plants of your choice. Small shallow boxes are not worthwhile, because they hold too little soil and so dry out quickly. In hot summer sun, a small amount of soil also tends to overheat.

For good results, a window box ought to be at least three to four feet long but not more than six feet. Ii larger, it is too heavy to suspend and secure properly, and it cannot be lifted easily, even by two people. Boxes resting on broad window ledges and on firm porch railings might be eight feet long, but hardly more since moving them becomes too hazardous. Keep to a minimum depth of eight to nine inches, with a width of ten to twelve inches across the top. Of course, lengths must vary according to the window, or series of windows, or railing to be decorated.

The most common material for window boxes is wood California redwood, which becomes a neutral gray if not painted, and cypress will last for years. Cedar is recommended, as is a good grade of white pine. Other materials include metals, which are attractive and, for the most part, light in weight.

However, they have the disadvantage of conducting heat, thus overheating the soil. Other suitable and durable lightweight materials are plastic, fiberglass, spun glass, and Garden glass Instead of window boxes, shelves wide boards with holes to support pots at the rims can be attached to windows. Here plants are easily changed to keep up a colorful appearance.

Consider though that potted plants on shelves dry out quickly.
If you are handy with tools, you can make your own boxes of wood, following instructions in pamphlets from your agricultural experiment station. Whatever plan you follow, get boards one to one and a quarter inches thick. (Thinner boards will warp and offer little insulation against summer heat.) To fasten, rely on brass screws rather than nails, which in a few years may push out and cause a box to fall apart. To make corners secure, reinforce with angle irons. Be sure to provide enough drainage holes in the bottom for water to pass through freely. Space half-inch holes six to eight inches apart.

• Evergreens and Berried Branches for Winter
• Gardening In Pots & Boxes Outdoors: The Beauty Of Geraniums
• Container Plants In Places Of Business
• Outdoor Gardenning In Pots & Boxes Advice: Great Bulbs
• Painting the Window Box