1 Dress your windows
High summer is the time for pretty, tender plants – and, with no threat of frost, why not go to town on wonderful window boxes?
with a cascading floral display
The sky’s the limit when it comes to the planting possibilities and colour schemes for window-box gardening. From the scents of perfumed flowers wafting into the home on warm summer nights to the sight of cheery flowers at close quarters on rainy days, you can create just what you want.
Displays can be in tiers with just two or three types of plant, overflowing with natural trailers or very simply made up. Filled with herbs, window boxes are great for easy picking, too, especially from sash windows.
Where boxes can’t sit directly on windowsills without being in the way, you may prefer to use brackets to fix the boxes just below the level of the sills. This is safer for upstairs windows, rather than risking boxes falling and causing accidents, and a useful way to allow more light into the room.