Ideas & Tips for Making Flower Boxes for Gifts and Pleasure
“You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt.”
–Anon
One of my favorite pastimes is hanging out in my yard and garden. This year I had fun making flower boxes out of scrap wood left over from building our home. Some I gave as gifts to friends. They loved the personal touch and the flowers I choose.
It was fun decorating the flower boxes with found objects. Some I painted in bright colors and added tile, beach glass, and metal decorations. It is really fun to be creative and just have fun playing to see what you can come up with.
Wooden flower planter boxes also make great gifts for friends. Once you make your planter boxes purchase plastic inserts to place the dirt in to keep the wood from rotting. This will keep your boxes in good shape so they can be uses year after year.
A friend asked me, “What are your ideas for a flower box?” I shared a little secret! I have fun browsing through my favorite mail order gardening catalogs to get great ideas. You really can plant just about any perennial flowers you choose and some annuals. I like to combine flowering plants of bright colors, like reds, oranges, or yellows with some leafy foliage plants. Other times I choose to combine flowering plants of pink, blue, and violet like the balloon flower in this picture. You can view a mail order, gardening catalog’s perennial flowers picture list to get some great ideas.
A rule of green thumb is to mix a variety of shapes together. You can combine a single color range, or work with complementary colors. It really is up to your own taste. Added foliage in a different leaf pattern adds interest.
You can also incorporate Feng Shui by placing your planter boxes in different areas of your yard to attract good fortune. For instance, Red flowers are great placed by the front door. Water features, are also beneficial when placed by the front door. You can add different types of water lilies. You can also make your own containers out of wood and staple a plastic liner in place then add water to make your own water feature. Fountains with pumps and flowers are easy to add.
More information on this can be found in our free online health magazine.
