Longbourn Farm

Simple Homemade Recipes & Farm Tips

  • About
    • Press
    • Contact
  • Cookbook
  • Meal Plans
  • Work with Me
  • Resources
  • Blog
    • Recipes
      • 30 Minutes or Less
      • Main Dish
      • Dessert
      • Breakfast
      • Bread
      • Appetizer
      • Side Dish
      • Soup
      • Salad
      • Drinks
    • Gardening
    • Chickens
    • Farm
      • Beekeeping
      • Livestock
      • Land
      • Horse
Home » Animal and Land » Gardening » DIY Self-Watering Window Boxes

DIY Self-Watering Window Boxes

07/04/20 | Animal and Land, Gardening

Jump to Recipe - Pin Recipe
Window boxes are so lovely and a great way to add curb appeal to your home! But how do you water them? With a DIY Self-watering window box drip system!Window boxes are so lovely and a great way to add curb appeal to your home! But how do you water them? With a DIY Self-watering window box drip system!

Window boxes are so lovely and a great way to add curb appeal to your home! But how do you water them? With a DIY Self-watering window box drip system!

When we moved into our house, the outside was drab and boring! I spent all winter dreaming of how good it would look with new siding. Once I priced out new siding, I decided that was out of the budget for this year.

Luckily, I had a few great projects that amped up the curb appeal without breaking the bank! These self-watering window boxes are one of them.

I knew I wanted window boxes on our second story windows. But I also knew that they would get really hot being next to the roof and facing southwest.

I researched and read so much about window boxes and learned that even the most expensive self-watering window boxes aren’t very effective. I decided to make my own window boxes and run drip irrigation up the side of my house to them.

It worked! And they look amazing. I’ll take some follow up images at the end of the summer but even now, 6 weeks in, everything is staying well watered and beautiful.

Supplies for DIY Self-Watering Window Box

  • Window Box – See my DIY tutorial here.
  • 1/4-inch Micro Tubing Drip Line
  • Drip Emitters – I used .5 GPH which is recommended for annuals.
  • 1/4-inch Barbed Connection T’s
  • 1/4-inch Barbed Connection Elbows
  • 1/4-inch Straight Barbed Connectors
  • 1/4-inch Coaxial Staples
  • 1/4-inch to 3/4-inch Hose Adapter
  • 1/4-inch tubing stakes
  • 25 PSI Pressure Reducer
  • Brass 3/4 inch hose adapter to connect the pressure reducer to the hose or spigot.
  • Orbit Single Port Dial Timer so that you can make this a totally hands-free system!

I got all of my supplies at Home Depot except the hose adapter. My store didn’t have one in stock so I had to pick that up at a local sprinkler supply store.

To estimate how much 1/4-inch micro tubing you’ll need, measure the distance you’ll need to take it plus any additional distance in the window boxes for running the emitters.

How to Set Up Drip Irrigation to a Window Box

  1. Run the 1/4 inch micro tubing drip line up through a drainage hole in the bottom of the window box. Reference this post, DIY Window Boxes, for the window boxes I used.
  2. Once the drip line is up through the drainage hole, fill the window box with soil if it wasn’t full already.
  3. Add drip emitters (I used .5 GPH) every 3-4 inches across the window box. I like the drip emitters better than the spray emitters for a few reasons. They keep the water near the soil which reduces evaporation. They also won’t spray your windows every time they come on.
  4. You will add the drip emitters by attaching more dripline with T’s, elbows, and straight connectors.
  5. Once the emitters have been run along the top of the box, connect the end of the drip line that is coming out of the bottom of the window box to your main line.
  6. We ran ours down along the bracket of the window box so you can’t see it and then along the eaves of our house down to the spigot we were using. To keep it in place, we used these coaxial staples.
  7. Test the drip line to make sure it is working once it is all hooked up. You will need a pressure reducer, 1/4-inch to 3/4-inch hose adapter, and 1/4-inch tubing stakes to keep the micro tubing in place anywhere it is in the soil.
Window boxes are so lovely and a great way to add curb appeal to your home! But how do you water them? With a DIY Self-watering window box drip system!
Print Pin
No ratings yet
Share on Facebook

Self-Watering Window Boxes

Window boxes are so lovely and a great way to add curb appeal to your home! But how do you water them? With a DIY Self-watering window box drip system!
Prevent your screen from going dark
Keyword self watering window boxes
Prep Time 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
Total Time 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes
Servings 4 boxes
Author Alli
Get ad-free recipes in PrepearLearn more about Prepear here!
Cost $40

Equipment

  • 1/4-inch Micro Tubing Drip Line
  • Drip Emitters
  • 1/4-inch Barbed Connection T’s
  • 1/4-inch Barbed Connection Elbows
  • 1/4-inch Straight Barbed Connectors
  • 1/4-inch Coaxial Staples
  • 1/4-inch to 3/4-inch Hose Adapter
  • 1/4-inch tubing stakes
  • 25 PSI Pressure Reducer
  • Orbit Single Port Dial Timer

Ingredients

  • 4 window boxes see note
  • 25 1/4-inch Micro Tubing Drip Line Drip Emitters I used .5 GPH which is recommended for annuals
  • 25 1/4-inch Barbed Connection T's
  • 25 1/4-inch Barbed Connection Elbows
  • 25 1/4-inch Straight Barbed Connectors
  • 25 1/4-inch Coaxial Staples
  • 1 1/4-inch to 3/4-inch Hose Adapter
  • 25 1/4-inch tubing stakes
  • 1 25 PSI Pressure Reducer
  • 1 Brass 3/4 inch hose adapter to connect the pressure reducer to the hose or spigot.
  • 1 Orbit Single Port Dial Timer so that you can make this a totally hands-free system!

Instructions

  • Run the 1/4 inch micro tubing drip line up through a drainage hole in the bottom of the window box. Reference this post, DIY Window Boxes, for the window boxes I used.
  • Once the drip line is up through the drainage hole, fill the window box with soil if it wasn't full already.
  • Add drip emitters (I used .5 GPH) every 3-4 inches across the window box. I like the drip emitters better than the spray emitters for a few reasons. They keep the water near the soil which reduces evaporation. They also won't spray your windows every time they come on.
  • You will add the drip emitters by attaching more dripline with T's, elbows, and straight connectors.
  • Once the emitters have been run along the top of the box, connect the end of the drip line that is coming out of the bottom of the window box to your main line.
  • We ran ours down along the bracket of the window box so you can't see it and then along the eaves of our house down to the spigot we were using. To keep it in place, we used these coaxial staples.
  • Test the drip line to make sure it is working once it is all hooked up.
  • You will need a pressure reducer, 1/4-inch to 3/4-inch hose adapter, and 1/4-inch tubing stakes to keep the micro tubing in place anywhere it is in the soil.

Video

Follow me on YouTube!Watch more videos and subscribe!

Notes

Click here for my DIY Window Boxes.
Tried this recipe?Mention @longbournfarm or tag #longbournfarm!

Looking for more great yard and garden content?

  • How to Set Up Drip Irrigation in a Garden
  • DIY Window Boxes
  • Easy Ways to Spruce up the Exterior of Your Home
  • How to Plant Flowers in Large Planters
  • How to Gel Stain Garage Doors
  • DIY Wood Shutters
  • DIY Tall Planter Box
  • Gardening Tips for Beginners
  • Winter Squash Storage Tips
  • Building Raised Planter Boxes
  • How to Start Seeds Indoors
  • How to Make Hummingbird Food
  • The Best Way to Store Zucchini
  • Quick Way to Preserve Tomatoes
  • How to Compost
  • Harvesting Onions and Storing Onions
  • How to Harvest and Freeze Broccoli
  • Herb Harvest and Preservation
  • Garden Soil Preparation

Comments | 7 comments

« How to Make an Omelet
Sweet Tart Crust »

Comments

  1. Technofizi says

    November 21, 2022 at 4:54 AM

    Your blog is a very great.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Top 9 self watering system for window boxes diy (2022 Update) - Bubblonia.Com - Bubblonia.com says:
    August 25, 2022 at 10:07 PM

    […] See more […]

    Reply
  2. Top 9 diy window box irrigation (2022 Update) - Bubblonia.Com - Bubblonia.com says:
    August 25, 2022 at 10:02 PM

    […] See more […]

    Reply
  3. Top 8 self-watering window box diy (2022 Update) - Bubblonia.Com - Bubblonia.com says:
    August 25, 2022 at 10:01 PM

    […] See more […]

    Reply
  4. How to Gel Stain Garage Doors • Longbourn Farm says:
    May 12, 2021 at 9:42 PM

    […] DIY Self-Watering Window Boxes […]

    Reply
  5. How to Plant Flowers in Large Planters • Longbourn Farm says:
    July 21, 2020 at 1:09 AM

    […] DIY Self-Watering Window Boxes […]

    Reply
  6. Easy Ways to Spruce up the Exterior of your Home • Longbourn Farm says:
    July 8, 2020 at 9:29 AM

    […] ran drip line to them for hands-free watering, […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Hi, Friend!


Alli Kelley is an Agriculture focused entrepreneur. She runs a successful food blog, a consulting and coaching business, and all the social media connected with an online presence.

She also enjoys home improvement projects, experimenting in the garden, and collecting colorful eggs from her chickens.
Read More…

Agriculture

Side view of a full DIY chicken waterer.

DIY Chicken Waterer Tutorial

posted in Animal and Land, Chickens, Farm & Family, Livestock

(sponsored)Are you wasting $2500 a year on food? Learn how to reduce food waste in your home and get the most out of your dollar and reduce your environmental impact! @beeffordinner #BeefItsWhatsForDinner #NicelyDone #beeffarmersandranchers

How to Reduce Food Waste

posted in Animal and Land, Livestock, Main Dish, Recipes & Tips

pasture full of cows

Where Does Beef Come From?

posted in Animal and Land, Livestock

Meal Plans + Ad-Free Recipes

less stress save time prepare ad
FTC Disclosure of Material Connection: The way I provide you with free content is through affiliate links and some of the links in the post above may be affiliate links, they will be marked in the post. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to YOU. Read terms here.

Copyright © 2023 · Longbourn Farm • Tasteful Theme by Restored 316

Longbourn Farm
  • Home
  • Cookbook
  • Meal Plans
  • Work With Me
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Recipes
  • Gardening
  • Chickens
  • Farm