Elegant London Windowboxes

The English are positively ditzy about gardening and cherish plants like Americans love their cars. A terrestrially frustrated Brit must make his or her London townhouse evoke the countryside gardens using nothing more than an ordinary window box. But this is much more than a place to plant summer flowers. This becomes a permanent garden that is attractive in every season whether blooming or not.

When flowers that created color for summer die back, the bones of these boxes are revealed. What remains is elegant evergreen beauty throughout the holidays despite plunging temperatures. The key to this year’s round box is dwarf shrubs that remain perpetually in scale with these smallish containers. While it is cold and bleak outside, the windows are framed with a garden of green that is even more charming with a dusting of snow.

Two types of plants are the hallmark of the upscale London window box. First is the dwarf needle-leaved conifer that is remarkably cold-hardy. The English prefer the small upright columnar-shaped varieties that stand like little Christmas trees in the window. They frequently shear them to retain a small size, and the limited root zone slows growth as it does with a Japanese bonsai tree. The key is to buy plants in very small sizes, with a 4” or 5” potted root ball ideal for starters.

The best choice is the North American species, Juniperus communis, because it’s both the right size and hard to kill. As a native it’s adapted to both dry heat and extreme cold down to USDA Zone 3. Of its many forms, choose the variety “Compressa,” because it produces a very tidy cone-shaped plant that will never exceed 3 feet tall. If sculpted from youth, you can keep it small indefinitely, and these can be decorated with whimsical tiny glass balls and colorful garlands for the winter holiday.

English window gardeners add evergreen ivy to spill off the edges of their creations. The miniature English ivy varieties of Hedera helix are considered generally hardy to USDA Zone 5. Their smaller leaves are much better for window-box applications than those of their full-sized ancestors. Ivy adds a feminine element to play against the masculine junipers for a distinctly elegant touch.

Miniature ivies with unusual leaf shapes such as “Needlepoint” add interesting fine textures. Distinctive variegation is a good way to gain more color in off-seasons. Consider the creamy-white-edged gray leaves of “Little Diamond” or the rich golden yellow and emerald “Gold Dust” for added interest.

The best way to buy window-box ivy is from a six-pack or groundcover flat. These offer you a number of young plants with very small root balls that don’t demand too much space in the box. You can mix variegated types for variety, allowing some to grow long while trimming others to denser, mounded forms.

London window boxes are composed of two pieces, with an outer shell that’s a permanent decorative fixture on the building. A lightweight plastic insert drops into the shell, holding the soil separate from the outer box. This protects against moisture damage or discoloration. If you want to replant the window box in spring, or trim what’s already growing, simply lift it out and bring it inside.

If you live in the heart of the city but are ditzy about gardens yourself, take your inspiration from Londoners. Make every inch of accessible window count by planting an elegant evergreen garden of juniper and ivy. Then when it’s time to say goodbye to the flowers, you won’t miss them, because you’ll be too busy celebrating the evergreen winter garden in a box.