Potted plants, strewn like confetti all over the house...or grouped together in a window garden? The decision is yours. For my own limited space, a window garden, as you may have guessed, offers unlimited appeal.
Any ordinary window can become a garden, once it has been outfitted for the dramatic containment of plants. The windowsill is the most logical place to start.
Sill. Most windowsills are pathetically narrow. There might be room for an unimaginative row of tiny pots and their saucers, but there isn't enough space for the creative arrangement of plants. The easiest and also the cheapest solution to a narrow sill is a foot-wide board, painted or stained to compliment the window frame, and braced at each end with shelf supports. Or, perhaps an attractive piece of furniture can be found that matches the height of the existing sill. In one of my window gardens, a pine cabinet fulfills this role; in another, a painted bookcase makes a broad surface for plants.
When the plant picture is confined to the windowsill alone, it seems inadequate, for it is only a one-level drawing. A real window garden must be a complete horticultural portrait. As in classical landscape design, vertical elements are necessary to generate eye movement.
Shelves. Glass shelves add a vertical dimension, and thus draw the eyes upward. Two shelves are generally adequate for the average window; three are the maximum for an especially tall exposure, such as one in a Victorian house. Align one shelf with the latch ledge above the windowsill, and another at the midway point between the two. If you add a third shelf, it should be positioned at an equal distance above the latch ledge.
There is one caveat with glass shelves. Heavy, tempered glass is very expensive - often $100.00 per shelf. But you can ask your glass cutter to use salvage glass of a half-inch thickness. This will reduce the cost to about $10.00 per shelf. Non-tempered glass is fine - I use it.
Brackets. Mounted to the window frame, brackets are useful accessories for holding pots of trailing or spreading plants that require a "perch" of some sort. I favor old, cast-iron kerosene lamp holders to support my vines, holiday cacti, scented geraniums and cascading petunias.
Staples and wire. The window garden, like any "Still Life with Plants," deserves a suitable frame. Philodendron and grape-ivy are my favorite "framers." I give them something to climb by stringing wire along three sides of the window frame. Two-inch staples, hammered part-way into the window frame, keep the wire in place. The potted vines are placed at each end of the uppermost shelf, where they climb and join together at the top.
A broad sill, glass shelves, brackets and wire -- these are the architectural components of a window garden with unlimited decorative value. And whatever your view is beyond the window -- rain, snow, or a busy street -- it is seen through a springtime setting of fragrant flowers, climbing vines, and lush, graceful greenery.
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Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Creating A Window Garden with Plant Shelves & Brackets
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Kevin, what a great blog. I'm so glad that you've included window garden design that even I can accomplish in my NYC apartment. I'd much rather look at plants than the building across the street!
Welcome, Neil, and thank you! When I lived in NYC, it was my window garden that kept me connected to nature, while improving the view of a very ugly building across the street.
Hope to see you around here often.
Do you ever worry about the glass shelves breaking?
I was wondering about the shelves too. How wide are they, and how thick is the glass?
Samantha & Justin: The shelves in the photo on top are 1/4-inch thick and 8-inches wide. They can hold a surprising amount of weight. I never worry about breaking them.
Not only is your window garden beautiful to look at, it takes advantage of all the light that streams in. But I guess that's the point?
Gregory - it's the sunlight issue, and also the fact that eyes skip over an arrangement of houseplants confined to the windowsill alone. In terms of decorative value, the window garden packs a terrific punch, and becomes the focal point of a room.
What's on the shelves? African violets? They are lovely.
This looks cool. I'm going to do it.
Cheryl - yes, this window garden features African violets on shelves and broad sill; bracket on right is pink rose-bud impatiens, while on the left is piggyback plant.
Safety Gates - Welcome! I hope to "see" you here again!
What a great way to transform a window into a garden! I love the philodendron vines in the picture. Who needs curtains?
Kevin, I'm going to do this. And, I've forwarded your article to a friend who loves gardens, but lives in an apartment. I want her to see that she can easily turn one of her windows into a very real, and very satisfying garden.