Small Gardening for Your Remote Work Space: How to Create a Window Box Garden

If your remote space is in your home and by a window then you have an opportunity to bring nature and all its benefits closer to you by creating a window box garden. Connecting to nature during a walk or gazing out your window offers “cognitive benefits and improvements in mood, mental health and emotional well-being.” You can use the power of small gardening to gain the benefits of having nature’s green nearby. Even if you live in an apartment or second-floor condo, check with your landlord to confirm window boxes are permitted. Also, if you are an allergy sufferer, check with your doctor for plants that will not set-off an allergy attack. After you collect all the materials for a window box garden, planting can be completed in under an hour. Then all you have to do is remember to water the plants. Follow the steps below to create your own small escape to nature.

PURCHASE A WINDOW BOX

Purchase a window box and soil

• Find a window box that will attach securely to your window.
• Small animals like squirrels might be tempted to bury a nut or two in there so having it securely fastened will help.
• Buy potting soil as it is light and drains efficiently. If you live in a very arid location, you might mix a little bit of garden soil into the mix, but only if it will not make the box too heavy. A heavy box will crash and could hurt a person or animal.

SELECT PLANTS

• Purchase plants or grow them from seed.
• Easy to grow annuals from seed include zinnias and nasturtiums.
• Easy to care for annuals to buy as seedlings include zinnias, marigolds, sweet alyssum, and petunias for sunny locations. Coleus and salvia do well in the shade.

PLANT

• Plant according to height with taller plants in the back row and shorter plants in the front.
• For the front row consider plants that will cascade like nasturtiums, petunias, or sweet potato vine.

ATTACH THE BOX

Get help from a handy person if needed to make sure the window box is attached securely.

WATER

Be sure to water your window box every day in summer or twice a day (morning and evening) if you live in an arid area.

Window boxes filled with annuals don’t need chemical fertilizers to keep blooming all summer. For flowers like petunias, marigolds, and zinnias pluck off wilted flowers before they go to seed. This way the plant will bloom more and not waste its energy on building seed pods. Then sit back at your remote work desk and enjoy the view!