Ground level window boxes are tricky enough to keep thriving and looking good. Second floor window boxes will be next to impossible. And depending on your location, may only last a couple of months anyway.

I agree to focus on plantings to accent the ground floor porch.

We've been doing so many renovations on this property since we moved in that curb appeal has just made it's way up the list. Heck, the porch wasn't even there, neither was the 2nd floor, soooo, it's been a busy process.

I've always been more experienced with indoor renovations and I don't know a thing about landscaping and shrubs...and I tend to over analyze everything.

Beverly, that pic looks great! Thank you. I would recreate exactly that but I'd have to check what will thrive, given we don't get that kind of sun in that area in front of the porch.

I think shutters would work if sized so there is always a gap between them.

The porch roof needs to be raised to give the house better proportions.

Your second floor windows look fine. We had ground level window boxes at a previous home. Our location (Southern CA) did make it easier to have year round blooms (ivy geraniums) without much work. I actually enjoyed keeping them up, but wouldn’t with a second story. The suggestions of focusing on the ground area around your porch make sense. If possible, consider simplifying the front porch a bit by removing a couple rockers. Maybe just have two for each window. It’s hard to see, but I might also edit what’s flanking the front door. Just simple planters/urns flanking the door would be nice…nothing under them.

Agree that flower boxes on the second floor will be super high maintenance - I think it’s hard to keep them looking nice. I would say keep the house lovely and simple then add lush and sophisticated landscaping.

Once all the new landscaping is in place, you could re-evaluate…

you have a lovely home! i think there is already a lot of stuff on the porch. I would not do any window boxes. In fact, I would consider removing those boxes flagging the door, which appear not to be real plants. I would plant some shrubs around the porch in the ground. Look for multiples of the same plant. Choose no more than three different types of plants to start-but get 3,5, or 7 of each. large to medium shrubs would be good.

There are so many good suggestions here! Thank you so much.

The porch isn't typically so cluttered. If it's OK, tomorrow I'll clean it up and get a better photo from a different angle, but in the meantime, thank you all, for the suggestions.

Another vote against flower boxes. They weigh a ton and you need to have very strong fixings to attach them to the house. They require constant watering (which can cause streaks on the wall) and regular changing of the medium and the plant display. I have three on my house using the original cast iron balconettes to support them. In summer I'm hanging out of the window nearly every day to water. And anyhow, I don't think your façade would be improved by more clutter. Concentrate on gardening in the ground. Much less hard work.

Ask neighbors what they’ve planted that looks pretty to you. You need to know your planting zone so you stick to things that will thrive.

Make friends at the local garden center. They know what works and looks good together. Have a plan! Don’t just plant willy-nilly.

IMO flower boxes come with all kinds of issues like leaking dirty water down the siding , watering etc What you need for curb appeal is landscaping that is what will do the job . Some color on the porch and maybe some big planters .

In seeing your picture initially, I didn’t even notice the distance and in reality no one will. As others have said, window boxes are not the answer. Once you change the walkway, address front and landscape, I’m sure you won’t even notice anymore. Before making changes, be sure you look for inspiration/have a plan: shape and direction of the walkway, landscaping options, and consider how you would like to enjoy/enhance the veranda.

Flower boxes??!! Oh my. I am a strong and dedicated gardener with two green thumbs and I would never do flower boxes. They are a major PITA.

I like your house. Plant a few shrubs in the ground; they are far more self-sufficient than things in boxes suspended in the air. We can’t make any recommendations, though, because we have no idea where this house is located. Idaho? Manitoba? North Carolina? Oklahoma?

By the way, there are many plants that can thrive in partial shade.

With no direct sun to evaporate the water in your flower box soil, you will have a moist surface sitting against your house and staining the wood. Not a good idea.

The issue isn't the space below the windows, but that there isn't enough space above between the windows and roof line. And, that the roof color and siding color have such a strong contrast.

The remedy is to distract the eye and bring the focus down to the landscaping at ground level. You've put a lot of work into this beautiful house and good landscaping will change everything. If you have the funds, interview and get proposals from three local landscape designers and pick one. Tell them that you want to have an evergreen presence in your foundation beds so that during the winter your landscape design doesn't totally disappear.

Agree with comments re window boxes. i live in a very mild climate ( coastal So Cal ) & I like to garden, however, even I finally gave up on window boxes even though I spent alot of $ having structures built & buying expensive ”self watering” fiberglass boxes.

I’d have the walkway lead from parking spot to the front door.

FWIW, we've always had second floor window boxes and I think always will. Photos of current house: https://bamasotan.us/2021/05/exterior-photos/

I think all of our family and friends in Europe (Scotland, Sweden, Netherlands) have them on their homes as do a significant percentage of all homes.

They take a bit of effort, they are not push button maintenance like I think most Americans like, but it's well worth it IMO.

You could consider window shelves.

Here is my sketch of the concept.

Get some benderboard for a gravel rock front path and set your stone pavers in them.

Great house! Good idea to table the window boxes.

Do you have deer issues?

Have a landscape designer at a good local nursery create a plan with trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and bulbs. Some of them have crews that can also do the hardscape.

The house is super!!! Don’t clutter it up with flower boxes and shutters, it needs a simple approach. There are too many pieces of furniture on the front porch, I would do a pair of rockers on either side of the door, maybe a small table between each rocker. And a big welcome mat. Your sidewalk needs to curve to the center of the porch straight to the door, not the side. Get a great landscape design too.

opaone , thank you for the one vote for flower boxes! I as beginning to feel crazy.

By the way, the house in that link you shared is AMAZING! I also enjoyed the articles on sauna life. My wife is Fin, and we used to sauna regularly in Michigan. We miss it a lot and my plan is to build an outdoor sauna soon.

Nurseries, some of them, have free consultations for design and which plants to use.

Have you considered adding window moulding to visually lengthen your upper windows? You probably wouldn’t want a fancied up version; maybe just plain straight lines like these.

Littlebug, are you referring to an apron for the top row of windows? That could help, however I would want to do it on all the windows, which is a bigger task. Then of course I'd have to deal with the siding modifications as well. Creative idea though. Thank you.

I agree with what PPF said. The pitch on the porch roof should have been steeper to more mimic the roof and not look so flat. This also would have filled that awkward gap below the windows.

Since you have the corner vertical lath, you could mount a white ledger board along the porch roofline using the corner pieces to tie into at each end. Similar to the trim along the top.

The porch ceiling would look fantastic painted light blue.

@berto87, Your wife can probably relate to this... Americans lean towards easy button / don't sweat the details. Window boxes are a detail and also not an easy button so why go to the effort.

People throughout Europe approach them as an important detail that adds a lot to the aesthetic which makes us happy, and are worth the extra little bit of effort involved in maintaining them. But they also view the effort as healthy activity and for most an enjoyable healthy activity.

A little bit of effort that improves our health and happiness. My wife says that they bring her joy.

Perhaps one (of many) reasons why Finland is the happiest country and the U.S. is not even in the top 20 (even though window boxes don't seem as pervasive in Finland as other countries).

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Saunas are the same. Americans skip over details like getting benches high enough and proper ventilation, and then wonder why they don't like their sauna very much.

People in Europe, and I think particularly Finland, pay attention to the details and have much better saunas for the little bit of extra effort.

When you're ready to build your sauna make sure to read Secrets of Finnish Sauna Design and Trumpkin's Notes.

@tracefloyd, I like the window shelves.

Many window 'boxes' are actually closer to your shelves but with decorative sides (and a drain in the bottom). Then 3 or 4 pots in them.

Tiny little countries with sovereign wealth funds do tend to be “happier.”🙄

I'm with Beverly. Concentrate on front yard, not the second story of your house. Hire a garden designer to create new pathway and front garden to give yourselves something beautiful to look at from that great porch. The right native year round plantings and mulch will eventually be much less work than second-story window boxes.

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You have the perfect porch for hanging baskets. I would also do plantings around the trees.

The beauty of landscaping is that you don't have to do it all at once. Just have a plan and work towards it.

It's a great house with next to no landscaping.

I own a container gardening business and I can give you some tips on that front. Stay away from second-floor window boxes. They will be a headache and you can do more on the porch to draw the eye down. Shutters would be beautiful but need the gap in between. The two large containers should be moved onto the porch on either side of the front door, but pulled out to the edge. This will center things and give a focal point. Window boxes on the first floor windows are fine, but not necessary to get great curb appeal. Shrubs, plantings in front should be low - no higher than 2-2.5' at maturity. The front bed should be curvy to soften up all the lines and edges. Hanging ferns would compliment your porch - which is stunning....Hope this helps!

I like littlebug’s idea of adding wider trim along the bottom of the windows. Also like tracefloyd’s idea of the horizontal trim board, but i would move it up so it’s right under the windows. You could add shutters to just the center window and create a simple faux Juliette balcony (nothing too fancy, so it doesn’t fight with the style of the house).

Here are some more photos - trim boards on the first two would be at the bottom of the windows. The last one shows a railing style that might fit better with your house (I believe it is called a chippendale railing).

I do think you need window boxes-but I would not ever put real plants in them. They are sooo far up and so far away you could put fake get the pop of color and not destroy your new siding. True window boxes are not great for the integrity of your home.

Oh please, no fake plants. They always look fake. They display no movement, no dynamism, no texture, no life and no taste. Better no plants than fakes.

I agree with Beverly’s post. Focus on foundation plants around the porch. You can create a path leading to the front door. Read up on plants for your climate zone. Decide before planting how much maintenance you want to do. Do you want to have to trim shrubs every year, do you want seasonal color, do you want evergreen plants? Go to a local garden center and get recommendations. They often offer free design services if you are buying the plants from them.

My first thought is walkway path and plantings around the tree. Can you take a picture from the porch out to the driveway and street and post please?

Kelly Norris, Benjamin Vogt, and Piet Oudolf have some great ideas for landscape planting that becomes relatively maintenance free. Most of the photos will be too large of a project for what you may want, but they give great ideas, color schemes, etc. Also look at Jay Sifford's work. You can find him on Houzz as well. He has lots of ideas with conifers, perennials and sedges.

A talented landscape designer would be a good idea. It's hard to tell from a couple of limited pictures, but I get the idea that a certain amount of plopping has already occured at this property, and an overall plan could help bring order. It doesn't have to all be done this year, or even at the same time, but it would help so that something like the asparagus patch ends up in the best place for the sauna doesn't happen.

Agree with @nolanirvana - Go to a garden store (not Home Depot) and ask if they have a landscape designer who can work with you. My design was free because I bought all the foundation plants from them.

Then I designed my (mostly) daylily garden. But I needed to rip out everything the previous owner planted and was stuck on getting started.

Look thru magazines and photos online and see what appeals to you. And consider how much time and money you have to spend on the work. begin by digging up grass around the porch and edges of lawn and planting whatever flowers you like in garden centers. Ask around to see who is splitting plants. No matter what you plant, some may die, and some need to be moved, and other reasons to move things around.

The house is fine. Your yard sucks. Ignore everybody and hire a landscaper whose work you admire.

Also, don’t be shy about asking a neighbor who has a stunning garden what they’ve planted. They know what will grow in your area!

Thank you all for the help, I've taken all this into consideration.

(I just posted some photos from the porch. Someone thought it may be helpful).

I agree, a landscape designer is needed. There are 3 acres of property and I have been clearing dead trees and overgrown thorns for years. It's time to start tying everything together and I'm overwhelmed.

In case I forget, let me shout a huge thank you to everyone for taking the time to respond. We all have busy lives and time isn't easy to come by.

You are all very much appreciated!

BTW, those are two beautiful Japanese Maples (they don't look it now) in front of the house. The one closest to the driveway appears to be on it's last leg, so I'm not sure if I should plan any hardscapes with it in mind, as it may not last.

Such a charming home and beautiful grounds! You're smart to be considering a landscape designer as they can help you look at the whole property cohesively and tackle it in stages over time. Good luck, what a great prospect!

second floor window boxes would look nice, use faux plants, easy maintenance and if you buy a higher quality would look great. Change them out in the fall for faux evergreen branches, you could even add lights (solar)

Enjoying this thread - re: American's being lazy about window boxes, my thought is this house is on a large piece of (lovely) land so there’s a lot of work with seasonal upkeep, plantings etc.. adding 2nd floor window boxes contributes to the (already significant) workload

FWIW family friends live in Belgium and have lush/gorgeous window boxes but they hardly have a yard at all... so all of their gardening times can be spent on the boxes - I totally understand window boxes in that scenario