Landscape Now: Decorating Window Boxes and Planters for Winter
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Saturday, November 30, 2013
Frank Crandall, GoLocalWorcester Landscaping Expert
The holidays are the perfect time to get creative with your window boxes and planters. Compliment the evergreen boughs with pine cones, outdoor Christmas bows, small sticks and other decorative items.
Finding ways to fill in your window boxes and outdoor planters with plants and evergreen boughs can be challenging, but certainly feasible. Begin by removing any annuals that were growing in the boxes and planters (which by now are looking pretty shabby due to the sub freezing weather we have had recently!). Make sure the planters have plenty of potting soil that will be able to support evergreen boughs and small plants for the winter season. Next, let’s look at a selection of appropriate plants, evergreens and native sticks that will work in your window boxes and planters.
Selections for Winter Decorating
One of the key criteria for winter decorating is to choose evergreens and plants that will survive winter conditions and be the right size for the containers. Choosing large specimen plants that may not survive the tight sized planters will be an expensive mistake. Choose small, dwarf evergreens (like Dwarf Alberta spruces, Dwarf Hinoki cypresses and boxwoods) that can grow in tight spaces and survive the winter planted outdoors. Select evergreen boughs (spruce, fir, pine, cypress, holly and boxwood) many of which can be found in your own landscape. Carefully trimming off some evergreen boughs from large trees in your yard will provide needed greenery for your planters and help to prune your trees and shrubs! Finally, the use of deciduous twigs like birches, red twig dogwoods and blueberries will give structure and height to your decorating.
Decorating Tips:
1. Collect your plants, boughs and twigs and formulate a design plan for installing in the window boxes and planters. Typically, smaller boughs and plants can be used in the window boxes and the taller plants, boughs and sticks are used in the planters.
2. If you are using a Dwarf Alberta spruce place it in the back of the planter so you can add some smaller boughs (boxwood and holly) and a grouping a pine cones to fill up the planter.
3. Window boxes are a little trickier since they are not very deep. Cut your boughs to a 6-10” height and place taller ones in the back and shorter ones in the front. Use at least three different textures of greenery...pines, spruces, firs, hollies, etc. as your palate for decorating.
4. Compliment the evergreen boughs with pine cones, outdoor Christmas bows, small sticks and other decorative items like small ornament sized sleds. Be creative! Choose a theme and items that will look good now and all winter long.
5. For those who enjoy lighting you can wrap outdoor lights around the small trees and highlight the evergreen boughs in your window boxes. Be sure all cords and lights meet the UL standards for outdoor lighting and do not overload outlets!
Some Final Suggestions
Even though you may be planting some small shrubs and inserting evergreen boughs into the window boxes you will not have to water them. Within a couple of sub freezing nights they will all be frozen in the planters until spring! If you can find local holly twigs that will work best...the holly bought at the local garden center probably came from Oregon and the red berries will turn black after frequent below freezing days. Use the plants you have in your yard for variety...rhododendron clippings, yellow cypress boughs, ornamental grasses, and andromedas are all creative choices for your decorating. The important point is to use evergreens that will provide your outdoor window boxes and planters with color and structure all winter long!
“The pine stays green in winter...wisdom in hardship.” —Norman Douglas
Frank Crandall, Horticultural Solutions. Frank is a R.I. resident specializing in coastal landscaping, organic land care, small business consulting, writing, speaking and photography and will be submitting biweekly articles about Landscape Solutions. Frank just published his third book, Creating a More Peaceful, Happy and Successful Life!. You can read more about his book on his website, www.FrankCrandall3.com Comments about Frank’s articles are welcome by contacting him at [email protected].
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