Quick Window Box Refresh: Creating A Winter Hardy Planter

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With colder temperatures slowly creeping in here in South Carolina, I recently began thinking through how to refresh my window boxes for this winter season. I love spring, summer and even fall planters (like these HERE!) with their bright array of color and trailing vines, but often have found window boxes challenging to make look appealing throughout the winter months. Typically, I have created beautiful fall window boxes which I am thrilled about until, zap! The first frost or cold night comes and soon everything begins to dwindle away. From here, I have filled them with various clippings which look beautiful at first and then slowly turn brown or begin to sag from the weather over time revealing bare boxes yet again. This season, I decided enough with the back and forth and instead opted for a mix of fresh and clipped material which will last throughout the season. Seeing this I thought I might show the process along the way, so, if you too are looking for a way to refresh a window box in late fall while making them winter hardy, I hope this might give you a few ideas to pull from! 

Winter Hardy Window Box Recipe

When deciding on this window box refresh, I primarily opted to create interest through cold hardy textures and variations of green rather than bold blooms. By mixing fresh and clipped material, the live plants can continue to provide a basis of interest throughout the season while additional elements can be added throughout the holidays or winter months if desired. 

For your fresh plantings, try to stick to 3 types of evergreen plants that are cold hardy within your zone which can be grown in planters. This will provide interest, durability through the winter months and visual cohesion without making your window boxes overly crowded. 

Fresh Ingredient Options

For zone 5 to 8, a few ingredients could be: 

• Dwarf Spruce
• Cypress
• Juniper 
• Boxwood 
• Ivy 
• Holly – I used 
• Rosemary 
• Loropetalum 
• Japanese Spurge 

Within my window boxes, I opted to use two fresh varieties of juniper (‘Blue Pacific Shore Juniper’ and ‘Blue Rug Juniper’), Japanese Spurge and a Soft Touch Compact Holly. This combination provides textural interest, a wide variety of green color and somewhat of a spilling habit while all being cold hardy at least until -10 degrees Fahrenheit which does not occur here in SC. To help highlight and present the best of each item, tip the plant forward a bit within the window box with the roots at a slight angle to help create a slightly spilled appearance even with upright plants. 

Adding Extras 

Once this base was created and the boxes were almost filled, I came back in to add a few clippings of Blue Spruce and Japanese Barberry for more fall color interest. While I love the pop of fall color the Japanese Barberry adds now, later in the season I may add in a few evergreen fir branches or pine cones for a more holiday feel. Certainly feel free to use whatever you may have on hand within your yard or what may fit with your exterior / holiday decor! Since your boxes will already have a solid textural green base that will last throughout the season, you can easily add in a few lights, ornaments, berries or other branches to fit your holiday aesthetic should you choose. 

Final Thoughts 

I have loved having our window boxes filled again and with the sunlight dappling through the trees, they feel like the perfect taste of fall that I can be rest assured will last beyond the first frost!  Certainly, our Christmas decor is coming but with the beautiful fall leaves, golden afternoons and slight chill in the air, I haven’t wanted to rush past this beautiful time and am thrilled that the efforts I make now will last for the months to come. But! I would love to know! Do you have any favorite tips or recipes for your winter window boxes?! Leave a comment below and save this post for your winter gardening adventures!

Happy gardening!

Chloe

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