CURB APPEAL Window boxes add some interest to a house

The key to keeping plants healthy is water and good drainage.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- As leaves and grass fade to brown during the fall, window boxes provide an easy way to add color to a home.
More people are buying the old-fashioned boxes, says Jan Vinyard, landscape designer and co-owner of Longview Gardens in Kansas City.
"They add so much pizazz and so much flash to a home," Vinyard says.
On small houses, the boxes are fastened beneath lots of windows for an English garden cottage look. On bigger houses, owners are planting one or two large boxes for dramatic impact. And apartment dwellers are adding them to balconies.
Perhaps the best aspect of adding a window box is that the plants can be enjoyed from inside and outside the house. That's something you can't do with other curb-appeal upgrades, such as a new mailbox.
Window boxes range in price from as little as $8 (for plastic planters at local nurseries) to more than $200 (in outdoor-living catalogs). Wooden planters, both natural and painted, tend to be the most popular window boxes, Vinyard says. Many people also buy terra-cotta boxes and wire baskets filled with sphagnum moss.
Drainage is crucial
The key to keeping plants alive in window boxes is to have good drainage, says Judy Keith, assistant patio manager at Suburban Lawn & amp; Garden in Overland Park, Kan. Otherwise flowers and greenery can float out of their containers when they're watered.
For example, a box 3 feet long should have four holes in the bottom, Keith says. Put down a layer of gravel, and cover with dirt.
The deeper the window box, the better. Boxes are typically 6 inches deep, but ones that are 8 to 10 inches deep don't have to be watered as often. "Narrow, shallow window boxes are almost obsolete because they become dry so fast," Keith says.
Here's a guide for watering window-box plants, according to Vinyard:
UEach week when temperatures are cooler than 60 degrees.
UEvery three to four days when it's between 60 and 80 degrees.
UEvery other day between 80 and 90 degrees.
UEach day when it's hotter than 90 degrees.
Choosing plants
The best plants for fall are pansies because they can endure the frost as the season changes. Coralbells also can be planted now. Mums feature the colors associated with autumn, but they have a short bloom time.
During the winter holidays, people are using cut pine and cedar greens to stick inside the dirt of their window boxes. Sometimes they trim them with ribbons and ornaments.
With water, the greens will retain their color until March when the spring planting season begins. Dwarf live evergreens can be too heavy for window boxes.
XTo learn how to build your own wooden window boxes, visit www.handymanwire.com on the Web and enter "window boxes" in search field.