If you have a windowsill you can do all sorts of gardening. If you like flowering plants, herbs or just greenery to clean the air a vast range of plants can be successfully grown on your windowsill.

Windowsill Gardening – The Sun’s Effect

• Beware the sun is stronger through glass. South facing windows can provide too much sun and burn the delicate leaves. If worried shade plants or move them back from too near the glass.
• East and west facing windows can also have quite strong sun that will dry soil or compost quickly. Give windowsill plants regular watering and a weekly drink of a dilute feed whilst in strong growth.
• North windowsills can be fine for plants that do not need direct sun including Orchids.
• All plants grow towards the light, some more pronounced than others. You want plants to be even all around not ‘drawn’ towards one side. Turn your plants regularly at least a quarter turn every week. (Fuchsias and geraniums need even more frequent turning.
• Warm compost and dry soil suits Cacti but most plants like humidity. Stand plants on damp gravel or Hortag.

Windowsill Gardening Display Tips

• Protect painted windowsills as damp from watering can make paint blister. I stand my containers on cork mats. Felt mats look good but hold drips and spills causing more problems than they cure.
• Windowsills should be decorative and fit in with your internal decor. I use various containers as plant pot holders bought at charity shops to hold and disguise ugly plastic pots.
• Plants with fleshy leaves like to be watered from below. I stand pots in plastic saucers which I fill with water and let all my plants drink this way.
• If you grow plants that are a bit tender do not leave them in cold draughts and move them inside heavy curtains on freezing winter nights.

Favourite Windowsill Plants

• Pelargoniums like the dry sunny conditions found on many windowsills and can be in flower most of the year.
• Because windowsills allow you to inspect plants close up I like to grow something a bit different like the Calceolaria above.
• Windowsill orchids, Streptocarpus or Cape Primrose is one family of plants fit for the purpose. They are available in many colours and some can flower all year round.
• Herbs are another favourite for a kitchen windowsill, grown for leaves for cooking.

The Complete Guide to Growing Windowsill Plants: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply (Back to Basics Gardening) by Angela Williams Duea and Donna M. Murphy