Do you have a desire to create fall beauty not only within your home but also outside of your home? Well, I am right there with you! Let’s create a beautiful budget friendly fall window box together!
One of my favorite past times is gardening. I am also a huge fan of fall colors and when you combine those two things, it creates something wonderful!
I used to work at a plant farm, and I learned a lot of things there when it comes to putting different variations of plants together, the best type of soils to use, and the best ways to care for plants. I’ll be sharing everything I learned with you today.
Choosing The Flowers
When it comes to picking out flowers for your fall flower-box, there’s a few things you want to keep in mind. To start, pick out fall colors. Now, I’m sure we all think the same thing when we think of fall colors – oranges, yellows, and light reds. Although, those colors can be a lot, so it is good to balance them out with greens.
Secondly, you want to think of textures and having variety when choosing your desired flowers. I like to have a big focal point where your eyes will gravitate to. Then, choosing something that balances out that focal point is important. To balance out, choose something the opposite texture of your focal point. For example, I had a mum in the center. Mums are tight and full so I wanted the opposite of that which is wispier and free flowing. I decided to use a fern! I had ferns in some of my summer arrangements so I just transferred them over to my fall ones.
That is my biggest tip when creating arrangements – use what you already have. A lot of what is in this fall flowerbox I had around my house. Using what you have, reworking it, and buying a little new is the way to go!
The Right Kind of Soil
The best kind of soil for a window box is a potting mix. Potting mixes have light and airy soil within them. This type of soil allows for good drainage, and they also are high in nutrients for your plants. For mine, I took some potting soil that was mixed in my garden bed and added it to loose soil I found around the house as well as a bit of compost. The compost will give the nutrients while the loose and garden soil will give good drainage, just like a bag of potting mix would.
Caring For Your Window Box
When it comes to care, there are a few things you should know to ensure the best quality of life for your window box plants. Having a good soil goes hand in hand with caring for your fall window box. So, keep the above information in mind when caring for it! Make sure to check to see if it needs water often. Since these plants aren’t in the ground, and have good drainage dirt, they may dry up quickly. Especially if they are in full sun. If you stick your finger in the dirt and it does not feel wet, then it is time for a watering. Do not fret if you notice some plants in your window box are a little wilted. In most cases, flowers are more dramatic than we think, and they’ll spring back after getting some water.
Assembling The Window Box
To bring all the above information together and show you an example of putting together a fall window-box, let’s assemble mine together!
To start, pick out your desired flowers based on the information above. I chose mums, ferns, and ivy for mine! I also chose some pumpkins that blended into my color scheme. Also, it’s fall so you need to have pumpkins! The total cost of everything was around 20 dollars. I went to a local roadside stand to get everything which definitely helped with the price!
TIP: When planting your flowers, break up your roots before hand! This helps insinuate growth within your plants and decreases the chances of your plants getting pot bound.
Once you have your flowers picked out and the potting soil in your window box, it is time to add your focal point. For mine I chose a red-orange mum.
Next, add in two flowers on either side to balance out the focal point. I chose yellow mums that were a bit smaller in size. I did them a little bit away from the center point so I could add in more things!
Thirdly, add in a plant to give variety. I like how wispy ferns are, so I added them so offset the tightness of the mums! Seeing full window boxes is a favorite of mine and the ferns definitely helped with the box looking big and full.
I always like to add in something hanging when it comes to arrangements. So, I added ivy on either end. It was also another green plant to tie in with the ferns a bit.
Lastly, adding decor into your box is always a good idea! For this one I added a pumpkin on either end. Other ideas would be dried hydrangeas, Indian corn, hay, gourds, and sticks.
The bottom line when it comes to designing a window box is to be creative! Searching the web for ideas is a great way to get the creative juices flowing.
Leave a Reply