Looking for ideas to bring more color to your house and yard, but the budget has limited your dreams? We had always lived in an old, Victorian house that was remodeled over a period of about 20 years. It wasn’t a fancy house at all,just a regular ol’ house that we painted a vintage blue with white trim and black shutters. But with window boxes filled to overflowing with bright red impatiens, trailing ivy vines, and tiny blue lobelia, our house was a riot of color every summer!
We now live in a smaller house, a lake cottage that had not received much TLC by the previous owners. So, one of our goals over the next few summers is to make it our very own by planting gardens and flower beds, building a bigger deck / patio area, fixing the driveway, and improving the lawn. But, that little obstacle called a “budget” means that we can only do a little bit at a time. One of the first projects on our list is to build three window boxes and fill them with bright red and white flowers! I’ve tried other colors over the years, but I am still partial to red for some reason. Perhaps because a cluster of red impatiens on my picnic table or in a hanging basket (and especially in my window boxes!) just seems to shout, “Hooray! It’s summer!”
So, if you are wondering how you can bring a bit of cheer and color to your home and garden, you might want to consider starting with a couple of window boxes. They are quite easy, actually, if you just want to start with window boxes that you can purchase from your local hardware store. They are available in a variety of sizes and colors, with holes in the bottom for drainage. Then, the only other hardware you will need is the brackets for attaching them to your house.
To keep them from becoming too heavy from the dirt, you will need for planting the flowers, you can fill the bottom half of the window boxes with packing peanuts (which are also good for drainage, but also will retain moisture enough to keep your flowers happy), and then fill the top of the window boxes with good potting soil. You should be able to fill two window boxes with one flat of your favorite flowers, but you might also want to include a few trailing vines and just a couple smaller flowers of an accent color.
This is a relatively small project that will get you moving in the direction of bringing a bright splash of color to your home and garden, even if you can’t do everything you might want to do out there this summer! Remember, a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step,so get moving! Take that first, small step and you will be delighted with the results. Have a great summer, and enjoy the beauty of the season.
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