Growing on roadside windowsills

falcieri

unrecordings wrote: »

Something I've considered in previous houses with good old fashioned high ceilings/sash windows is an internal shelf above the sash (assuming it's opening bottom/fixed upper)

That way you can scratch that grow your own itch and add/remove pots of whatever to suit the seasons, light, etc.
Obviously I'm thinking about things like herbs, chillis, maybe potted salad, but you could get creative with maybe some peas or tumbling cherry tomatoes

Back to the pollution thing, with the rise of electric vehicles, who thinks the pollution argument in this thread will be a moot point in say ten/twenty years ?

This is what I did in my kitchen. I added an extra free standing shelf half way up the window. Lots more room and it works a treat!

vintageteainmywardrobe

falcieri wrote: »

I am in a first floor flat with no window boxes. My own front door opens out onto the front however and I have a small patch of paved ground a couple of metres square separated from a moderately busy road by a low wall. I have lots of pots and troughs out the front. I have grown a few things from scratch including leeks, tomatoes, peas and spring onions. And then for the rest I grow cut and come again which I can also grow indoors on my windowsills in pots or glasses of water. For that I've got spring onions, leeks, fennel, peppermint, basil and lettuces. Two for the price of one! It's definitely saving me money and it's fun. I miss having a garden dreadfully and this way I get to see greenery all around me and save a few quid too and I'm able to grow a few things which I can eat which is pretty satisfying.

Wow! This sounds great, you are growing so much!! I will look into the second growing, I never knew that was a thing.

falcieri wrote: »

This is what I did in my kitchen. I added an extra free standing shelf half way up the window. Lots more room and it works a treat!

Ooooooooo that's an idea, do you not find it gets in the way? In late summer I find the sun coming into the kitchen really bad and have to put the blind down otherwise I'd need sunglasses to do the dishes :eek:

falcieri

vintageteainmywardrobe wrote: »

Wow! This sounds great, you are growing so much!! I will look into the second growing, I never knew that was a thing.



Ooooooooo that's an idea, do you not find it gets in the way? In late summer I find the sun coming into the kitchen really bad and have to put the blind down otherwise I'd need sunglasses to do the dishes :eek:

I get all the sun on the back of the flat (the kitchen side) in the morning and then it moves to the front where the troughs are outside in the afternoon so I'm well set up for the sun. I hate shutting out the sun so I never use my blinds. If it gets warm I open the window, plus it's free warmth and I do love to be warm. Up here in the North getting a sunny day is still a novelty! I haven't had any problem with the higher shelf getting in way, I can still open the window with the height it's at so it's a great solution for me.

Diana2014

I'd certainly grow low plants on your roadside windowsills; anything that thrives will vastly improve the quality of the air that comes into your home from those windows. Ground covering plants like perennial viola or vinca minor would thrive even in the shade, while you could plant allium bulbs amongst them for seasonal flowering and interest.

I've seen some amazing sill planting on tall sash windows - even sweet peas, on a sunny sill, but those would have to be constantly monitored and kept well watered. The hotter the conditions, the stronger the plant you'd need; vetch or 'perennial' sweet peas are stronger than the annual ones and flower lavishly, but don't have their sweet scent.

If a window has too much sun coming in during the summer, try growing more rampant climbers on strong supports that will take them up the sides of the window and across the top of it. I grew a passion flower in a tub below one ground-floor window for many years and trained it that way. It rapidly became a dense mass that shaded the south-facing window from above, like an awning made of plants. With that, I no longer needed to use a blind on even the hottest day. (But I eventually discovered that it had rooted through into the ground and spread everywhere; I should have kept a deep tray under the pot to hold back the roots!) Annual climbers might be equally effective but some (eg nasturtiums, sadly) are fearful aphid magnets, which you don't want by your windows.