Gardening for Amateurs 



621 



Window box planted with the double white Marguerite Mrs. Sander. 



Window Gardening 



WHEN the garden is very small 

 many are the ways devised by 

 the owner to render it attractive, 

 and the windows of the house usually 

 receive a goodly share of attention, often 

 with excellent results. And really, there 

 should be little reason for failure in what 

 is known as Window-box Gardening, for 

 the choice of suitable plants is very wide, 

 and most of them are extremely easy to 

 grow. Presumably because there is a wide- 

 spread belief that flowering plants will not 

 thrive unless grown in the sunshine, windows 

 which happen to face north or east are often 

 neglected. This is a pity, for in such positions 

 something bright is especially desirable, and 

 provided suitable flowers are selected, there 

 is no reason why such windows should be 

 less attractive than those on the sunny side. 

 Too often the window-boxes are regarded as 

 being useful only during the summer months, 

 and when October arrives they are removed 

 and stored away until spring. Thus one of 

 the greatest pleasures associated with this 

 or any other form of gardening is lost, viz., 

 the opening of the first blossoms in early 

 spring. 



Making a Start. Window boxes should 

 always be made as wide and deep as the 

 sills will allow ; the plants thus have plenty 

 of root-room, which tends to produce a 

 finer general display, and, incidentally, the 

 larger the boxes, the less is the labour of 

 watering. Some kind of hard and durable 

 wood must be used, otherwise the boxes 

 will need renewing rather frequently. Free 

 drainage is provided by boring holes through 

 the bottom, and the outside should be 

 painted dark green preferably. The front 

 is often covered with cork. Good soil is 

 necessary, though it need not be very rich. 

 Turfy loam, with some leaf -soil and a good 

 sprinkling of sand, forms a compost suitable 

 for practically all plants grown in windows ; 

 if manure is added it must be thoroughly 

 decayed, and placed immediately over the 

 drainage material. The latter may consist 

 of crocks, cinders, small stones, or rubble ; 

 it should be 2 inches deep at the bottom of 

 the box. 



The Planting of window boxes is carried 

 out towards the end of May, when the summer 

 flowers are put out, and in October, when 

 those intended to provide a display in spring 



