|
|
| Listed below you will find links
to all Gardening and Lawn-care items in the
category Windowboxes: Wooden in alphabetical
order. Clicking on an item will bring up a detailed description. Previous Category | Next Category Back up to Gardening Container categories index top of page |
|
Wood Containers
Say "wood" and a bushel basket or crate or half barrel may spring to mind - or you may, instead, picture one of those elegant Versailles planters with Chinese Chippendale trim. The look of a wood container depends on your personal preference, your budget, your handiness, and what goes with your house. Wood is a great insulator and keeps the roots of your plants nice and cool. You can plant right in it, or use it as a way to dress up (actually, to hide) homelier cheap pots. If you're looking for longevity remember - the flimsier the wood the shorter its life. Bushel baskets are good for about one season unless strictly used as a cover for a plastic nursery pot and kept off damp ground. Heavier is better - except for your back. Varnished or sealed wood will last longer - but to won't breathe as well which could cause drainage problems. Luckily, drilling a few holes in the bottom of the container doesn't require a Ph.D. in woodworking. Then there's treated lumber - a definite no-no if you're growing food crops in containers but probably acceptable for ornamentals. You'll have to paint treated lumber containers unless you're fond of arsenic green over beige. Windowboxes What you can do with a window box is only limited by your imagination (Unless, of course, you have an unlimited imagination). Window boxes can be made of copper (tres chic!) or other metals, wood (redwood or cedar being the most durable), or plastic. They can be simple boxes, totally unadorned, or you can stencil them, glue on wooden appliques, or add little pickets to give the look of a tiny fence.A popular window box style for colonial houses is the hayrack style. You've probably seen pictures of these attached to the windows of European houses. Since they are open structured, things are likely to plop right out of them unless you line them with sphagnum moss and use pots to hold the plants. Other than hayracks, window boxes tend to be enclosed containers. If your window box is too beautiful to endanger, then use it as a holder for multiple small pots of plants. But if it's sturdy and practical, make sure you have drainage holes in the bottom and some wire mesh to keep in the potting mix, and treat it as a miniature garden. The key to a really good-looking window box is proportion. A good rule of thumb is to make them 25% of the height of a short window and 20% the height of a tall one. Too skimpy and they'll look like badly applied false eyelashes. |