Mother's Day

How to Make a Window Box Container Garden

Create a beautiful window box that will beautify the outside of your home and add an outdoor touch through the windows from the interior of a house.

Excerpted from Ready, Set, Grow! by DK BooksDorling Kindersley
Filed under: Container Gardening, How To, Gardening

4. Make a Mini Ladybug House

Fold some corrugated cardboard inside a bottle. Tilt the bottle downward among the plants to prevent water from getting inside. Use a flat stone to weigh the bottle down at the front end (Image 1).

Add a small dish or foil tray, sinking it into the soil. Fill it with water and place some small flat stones around the edge to create a tiny pond (Image 2).

Enlarge Photo+Shrink Photo-DK - Ready Set Grow! © 2010 Dorling Kindersley Limited
Enlarge Photo+Shrink Photo-DK - Ready Set Grow! © 2010 Dorling Kindersley Limited

5. Add Twigs

Tie together some hollow sticks and dried seedpods. This will allow creatures to crawl around within your container. You can also add a rock or two for them to crawl under. Once completed, place the window box on a flat surface. You might also secure your crate to a sunny window ledge.

6. Consider Many Plants

Consider a multitude of plants for your container garden. We used lavender, chives, snapdragons (seen here), hebe and ivy. These will attract busy bees and fluttering butterflies — all great pollinators. Lacewings and ladybugs will eat up any pesky aphids. Many other beetles, and maybe a spider or two, may also drop by to pay you a visit.