Learn Everything There is to Know About Your Garden Window

Greenhouses are a great way to cultivate fresh fruits and vegetables, grow flowers year round and add beauty to your home; however, they can be expensive to heat and construct. What if there was a way to have all of those benefits without a greenhouse? Well, a garden window is the solution. It is a window that juts out slightly from the exterior of your home in order to reach and capture more sunlight, therefore making it a little greenhouse – inside your house! Garden windows allow you to grow beautiful flowers and plants without the hassle and prices of a greenhouse.

Garden windows are similar to greenhouses because of their glass structure and design. Greenhouses capture the sun’s energy with the use of glass or other products to help cultivate plants. It conserves resources, such as lighting and space heating, that some plants need to grow. Garden windows have two stationary windows on the sides and an awning window in the center that has the option to open with a crank. These garden windows are meant to use some of the same technology as greenhouses, the only difference is that garden windows are inside your house.

Regular windows do allow some plant life to grow, but garden windows give you the opportunity to grow many different types.  These windows are perfect for any room in your house, but are typically found in kitchens – but this is just personal preference! Garden windows can also be found in living rooms and bedrooms.

Key Benefits of a Garden Window:

Garden windows can be a great addition and they offer many advantages to your home.

Energy Efficiency

Feldco’s garden windows are designed specifically for any curveball that mother nature decides to throw. It will keep your house cooler during the blistering summers, and warmer in the harsh winters.

Adds Light to your Home

Garden windows allow more light into the room, which is a great feature if your kitchen is small or dark; they offer more depth making your room look bigger and brighter. Garden windows allow you to cultivate plants and from the comfort of your own home. That is why it is the perfect window for nature lovers.

Perfect in Any Room

A garden window is perfect in just about any style home! Though they are usually found in kitchens, they look good in bedrooms and living rooms as well.  Having a garden window in the kitchen makes it easier to keep your plants watered and healthy.

Great in the Winter

Cold winters shouldn’t stop gardeners from growing their favorite plants, and they don’t have to with the garden window! These windows allow for the sun to reach your plants and you don’t have to step out into the cold of the winter. Its shelves are a perfect place to put potted veggies and flowers –  all of which are right at your fingertips!

Fun Themes For Your Garden Window!

Once you have your beautiful garden window, you can decide on a fun theme where the limit is your imagination.

Endless Options

There are many possibilities: herb, vegetable, or fruit gardens or a surplus of flowers and succulent gardens. You can also design your window based on your kitchen — flowers that match the color of your walls or jars and pots that coincide with your room’s style.

Don’t have a green thumb? That’s ok – some folks like the depth and extra shelf space of a garden window to display knick-knacks and their favorite kitchenware.

If you need more great theme ideas, there are a lot of sites on the web that can help you out, like this one. 

Decorate for the Holidays

To get your room in the holiday spirit, holly and evergreens make to be  perfect garden window decorations; you can also add some pine cones and berries to lend some color to the window. If your window tends to let in less sun, consider getting plants like violets, philodendrons, begonias, ferns and caladiums.

Customize Your Window

You can customize your garden window’s features with options such as colors and finishes. Some garden windows are designed with an operable window that can be cranked open allowing for wonderful ventilation. This is perfect for those who do lot of cooking because the hot air from an oven or boiling water will be able to escape easily.

Create Your Own Aquarium

Garden windows are not only a perfect place to for plants but, they can be an ideal spot for your fish! The Betta fish, a common house pet, would look beautiful in your in-home garden. Betta fish enjoy the light and darkness, so your garden window would be an ideal location. Betta fish like having both sun and shade, because they like to have regular sleeping patterns just like humans. You can even decorate your fish’s bowl with plants! Recommended plants for your fish’s tank are the Chinese Evergreen, Philodendrons and even artificial plants; however, these plants will not sustain a Betta fish, so you will have to provide other foods such as worms or shrimp. (Warning: Drastic temperature changes from your window might cause harm to your fish because their bodies are unable to adjust to the change. Keep that in mind before setting your tank in the window.) 

Plants for Your Window

Veggies!

Vegetable and herb gardens, also known as, edible gardens, are one of the most popular gardens to grow in your garden window. Baby vegetables are suggested because of their tendency to need less depth to bloom. Recommended baby vegetables are cherry tomatoes, peppers and radishes.

Herbs!

Another type of garden can be made out of herbs. Containers can be decorated with the name of the herb to match the theme of your kitchen as well! Suggested herbs to grow are basil, chives and oregano. Rosemary, lavender, spearmint and peppermint are perfect if you’re looking for herbs that will give off nice fragrances. For windows that let in a lot of sun, petunias, cacti, succulents and geraniums will thrive.  

Care for Garden Window Plants

Rosemary- bring inside during the winter months, water evenly, and prune regularly.

Lavender- demands full sun, do not prune regularly, drought resistant but flower better with water.

Basil- soil should be moist, cut flower stalks off, mulch is recommended to be used.

Garden windows are a perfect alternative for a greenhouse. They are a great way to grow fresh foods and flowers and add light and beauty to your home!