Where are you buying self watering?

cute house but the shutters are way too small for the windows. would look better proportioned w/larger ones. (remove them from large double window altogether)

In fact, remove the shutters and paint all the trim that same dark color.

Almost all of the Storybook Tudor cottages I've seen do NOT have shutters. I suspect those windows were redone at some point? if there's a chance you could redo those windows in the front, I would do so. the left one needs to be bigger. Look at all of these main front windows. then compare them to yours.

beautiful w/the dark trim

almost identical to yours.

Thanks or your ideas but its all just been redone and to many other things we need to do without redoing... I like your canapy idea but for now i just want to figure out window boxes ...

If anything, I'd do one window box on the smaller window...same color as the shutters. We've had them and they do require maintenance but I enjoyed it. Moisture can definitely be a problem.

I agree with Beth regarding the shutters. Each shutter should be half the window's width. That rules out the larger window.

I agree with partim. Window boxes (& hanging planters) are a lot of work to maintain and can be messy.

However, if you do add one on the left keep in mind the mature height of your hydrangea. If mature height is too tall your window boxes will be even more difficult to maintain and may get lost visually in the hydrangea.

For the smaller window perhaps balance things out with a container planting so that you can try to balance both sides. Containers do require work but if the right material, self-watering and size the amount of work decreases.

I’m not sure if bench is permanent but it is too small. If you’re going to keep it perhaps place things around it so that it’s not just a small bench but a small rest area for you to pause while working in your garden.

Gardeners Supply website carrys self watering window boxes. I had them on my last house and they worked well. I'd water before I went away on long weekends and my flowers flourished.

I love the curves you’ve created in your beds.

Since taking this picture I have added to otter trees in either side of the bench. the window above the bench is the bigger window of the 2 ... by quite a bit.

Such a cute house. My vote Is no window boxes! Wouldn’t want to drill into stucco or window trim to hang them & they’re going to drip down & get stucco dirty. Are these current pics or from last spring or summer? Did you plant any hydrangeas with colored flowers or only the white? Wondering what the vine is & if growing enough to need another trellis - that black trellis is great against siding & ties in with porch railing. I agree with Jonny Quest that bench is too small for spot & looks to me like awkwardly blocking stairs. What about placing it where I see the green chair just off grass by tree? Or, by the wash basin planter on tree stump?

The bench used to be where the green chair. I moved it when we started landscaping. snd it just ended up where it is now. So ill give it a try.

White Hydras. Annabells.

I agree wit your husband.

Consider a style of wrought iron window box that has curves. You can root flower directly into the coco mat in the front of these, like hanging vines.

30-inch Window/Deck Planter with Coco Liner in Black · More Info

Deluxe English Garden With Coco Liner, 42" · More Info

European Window Box Cage with Metal Liner, 30", 100% Real Copper Liner · More Info

Consider having the boxes custom made to compliment your stair railing

I think you should paint the bench

Fake flowers in the boxes ?

On Home Town today, they did window boxes with faux flowers and greenery. The window boxes will need drainage anyway if it rains or snows, but the faux greenery doesn’t require much maintenance. You may have to replace the “plants”. Every year or two if the western sun hits that wall. Thrillers, Spillers and Fillers is the code....Thrillers are some floral stems with leaves, Spillers are some vine-type greenery to drape down, and Fillers are leafy greens to make the window box look full and lush. That’s my kind of gardening.
You can mount one box below the smaller window...the same width as the window or a little bit wider. You can do the same with the larger window if desired.

Just have to say that IMO fake flowers are waste of $$$. Will definitely weather & fade & no matter how full the widow box was stuffed will look fake with the beautiful hydrangeas just below,

Absolutely adorable home, living in a storybook! I feel a window box under the double window that spans from outside edges of the shutters will balance it with the larger window on the right.

As opposed to width of window only

Ooops, posted same photo twice. Here is the right one.

Window boxes on both windows

Your garden beds are going to be beautiful. I love Annabelle. They are very forgiving & pack a punch when in bloom.

Luv all the ideas and suggestions!!

I’m confused window boxes on shutters width or window width? I also love to garden so im not scared of garden work. I do luv the wrought iron look also.

Your house is charming as is . The only thing I would change is the size of shutters . Then the house is perfect . You do NOT need any window boxes of flowers ..your garden around the house and under the Windows is enough . Put nothing over the bench ...just enjoy your very beautiful house !!!

Get some painters tape and try out the 2 different sizes under the window to see what looks best to you.. Also see what depth you like best. You also have the option of using brackets to support a wrought iron shelf to support pots or box that you can remove.

other styles of wrought iron

Not to burst your bubble, but you’re a great gardener and your foundation plantings may grow too big. Once you drill holes in your house, you may regret the window boxes. Now you have holes in the house and an empty window box. Your house is very storybook. I would play that up with the landscaping and buy larger (more spatially correct) shutters or remove them and do the window trim dark, as Beth suggested.

Totally agree with RedRyder. And another thing no one has mentioned- it looks to me that a window box at window by stairs will surely be a nuisance as well as a shoulder whacker when using those stairs - there’s just not enough room there.

Before you decide on the flower boxes by the stairs, rig up a cardboard box the size of your planter, and stuff some things in it that project out and hang down the way your flowers will, both to the front and side. I think you'll see that it is in the way of the staircase, especially since the "spillers" can get longer than what I have shown here.

The wrought iron is beautiful but likely not a good idea for a stucco home.The coir mats lining those baskets are going to hold moisture with each watering and possibly degrade the stucco wall behind it. Because the mats are so porous any water added to them is likely to cause a stain the stucco beneath the planter and behind it because fine soil particles will leach through the mats. Because those coir mats hold water you may also run the risk of introducing moisture into the holes drilled into the wall. This may not happen immediately but is likely to happen. I’d do a little more research on that type of planter before you pull the trigger.

Although I know this is your home to do as you wish, I am biased. I don’t think your home requires window boxes (or shutters) because your landscaping and the style of your home are the stars of the show here. Hardscaping near stairs may be a better fit.

I am an avid gardener as well and love the look of window boxes. But window boxes also require a LOT of water and often require changing out plants as they die off because there just isn’t enough resources (water and NPK) available for plants to thrive long term. If you’re in an area where water is rationed, it may be better to focus that water towards landscape plantings that you’re installing especially for that first year as foundation plants are established. Also as plantings grow in you may have a better sense of how to balance things out or do some editing.

Speaking of gutters will you be extending yours further away from your homes foundation? Sorry for that as it is not part of your original question and likely is part of the grand scheme of things.

Last I’m telling you most of this and I’m sure others that are trying to steer you away from this because we’ve already gone the window box route and have learned that although they are beautiful and may visually balance the home’s exterior they are not worth it in terms of maintenance (especially if vacations are taken) and risk of damaging the home.

I hope you post a follow up of the finished landscaping so we can see how it turned out.

Good luck.

One last thing. Consider thinking about how long you will remain in your home. I began my garden in my 30s and I’m finding that some things are being edited out because I will age in place and want to continue being active in my garden as long as and as safely as I can. Gardens can be either high or low maintenance or somewhere in between. Planning for how you will be gardening in the future is never a bad idea. I think that often gets lost when planning especially if you are an avid gardener and have the space and can somewhat plant to your hearts content. I find that I am editing quite a bit now to remove items that are too high maintenance or may result in maintenance repairs I did not anticipate when the structures/plantings were installed.

Good Points thank you!!

Some of the comments remind me of when i told people I was moving to Italy -- and I'm still here and happy!

Before you give up on window boxes, solicit opinions from a local pro. I have never had window boxes with a stucco home, but I have seen others have them who did not have problems, and I loved the window boxes in the homes I did have and did not find them too much work.

Exuberance is beauty said William Blake.

Enjoy whatever you choose to do!

(edited to add:

Exuberance is Beauty. If the lion was advised by the fox, he would be cunning. Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius.

Wm Blake The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

All the gutters have been adjusted for franiage. The house without the shutters looked boring snd drab. A few neighbours who said the same you don’t need shutters. Changed their minds and said the were not right about that.

A year ago

No to window boxes and honestly I would remove the woefully undersized shutters. Nothing good comes from putting unnecessary holes if stucco siding.

^^^ you go girl ^^^

Here are some tips you may find helpful. https://www.askthebuilder.com/window-box/#:~:text=If%20you%20use%20traditional%20wood,causes%20the%20paint%20to%20fail.

here's an example shown on houzz today

Costal Modern · More Info

Very cute.

I generally love window boxes, but I am wondering if your plants on the left may grow too tall to have window boxes there.

On the right, will windowboxes make people feel like they have to dodge and weave between the bench and the window box when they go up the steps?

How about this idea on the right?

Two or three really glorious hanging planters?

And meanwhile, try to wait a while on the left to see how tall those plants grow?

A good point however all l my plants are all able to be pruned so no worries there snd need to wait. I’m not sure what idea? The one with the window on the right? If so I like that!!

The idea about big bushy hanging plants in front of the window on the right in lieu of a window box.

I have seen some great magazine articles on creating fantastic hanging planters.

This is an article about the marvelous hanging baskets in Victoria, B.C.

http://northcoastgardening.com/2010/03/hanging-flower-baskets/

There may be some great articles about hanging basket plants good for your neck of the woods.

I have also seen, and I cannot remember where, the kind of hanging planter hardware that are some dazzling feat of engineering where they can be let up and down easily so you don't have to risk life and limb to water and care for them, a retractable pulley if I recall correctly.

There are some cheap ones with ropes, but I would favor ones with a chain (which would be more costly,) but the chain won't freeze and fray or otherwise snap.

Do your children wait for the school bus on that wooden bench?

If so, leave it there.

Otherwise, you might like to have a little table and a couple of chairs instead for neighbors who may walk by, you can wave them by for a glass of lemonade. Or hot cocoa.

Another thought, some people have written here about rust dripping down and discoloring your stucco.

If you use the cast iron planters with the cocoa matting (which also come as hanging planters)

maybe you can spray the cast iron frames with a clear lacquer -type spray, such as this Rust-Oleum Rust Inhibitor.

If you use a more traditional rectangular wooden box, you can purchase plastic liner shells for the bottom to catch water overflow, so water doesn't drip down. Of course that presupposes that the window boxes would contain plants in pots that would rest in the plastic liner shells and that you would periodically lift up the pots and check out what is going on down there. A big fat turkey baster would help you get the excess water out of the bottom and rinse it out, too.

Walmart sells one that is 11.5" long, just be sure to also get a narrow bristle brush to clean out the inside that is dedicated for this purpose, you don't want soil bacteria and fungi to get mixed into your dishes.

I have many large wrought iron hangers and usually have at least 5 baskets in my front and also in the backyard Funny I’m originally from Victoria so maybe Why I love flowering baskets and boxes!! You’ve given me more options and things to think about ... Thank you for sharing!!

Oh, that is just too funny!

There was a great article in Sunset magazine years ago as well about the hanging baskets of Victoria, I can't seem to find it.

You may want to add a large colored ceramic planter pot (with a taller plant) to the right of the larger window to bring some color over there. Place the bench where it has a view of your pretty garden.

Yes that’s a great idea .....presently ( not in the picture) I have two potted blue spruce on either side of the bench. Which I’d like to change to nicer pots with cedars or a true evergreen.

Consider a window box on the smaller window and balance it with a black Polywood bench in the Chippendale style on the right, replacing the bench which is currently shown in your photos. With a dark bench on that side of the house you wouldn't need a window box under the larger window. But, if your walkway slopes a bit, the dark bench would show on a slant unless you could place small pieces of painted wood under the feet on the lower side. If the walkway has a definite slope that bench might not be a good idea.

Polywood benches are pricey but made of the same kind of man-made material as Trex decking so they can withstand weather and have a 20-year guarantee. BTW, the price is lower on the Polywood website than on Ama zon. https://www.polywood.com/chippendale-48-bench-cdb48.html

If that older photo is the "before" I just want to say that you've done an amazing job at revitalizing that house. The folks in your neighborhood must be thrilled for you AND the neighborhood!

I like that. Thxs!!

"Consider a window box on the smaller window and balance it with a black Polywood bench in the Chippendale style on the right..."

Agree...a black window box and black bench would be very nice.

Thank you I like that!!