Dave Miller
Across the country, window boxes brimming with fillers, thrillers and spillers are elevating curb appeal—and perhaps even inspiring a little neighborhood jealousy as passersby stop and take notice.
“‘Wow’ was the expression we heard most often,” said founder Sue Schneider, explaining how the WOW Windowboxes business earned its name.
Schneider went from sharing her window boxes with friends and family to serving residential and commercial clients.
Now the concept has arrived in the Harrisburg area, thanks to Dave Miller. The Susquehanna Township resident, who grew up in Pennsylvania before spending years in San Francisco, recently launched the local franchise.
“I had been doing corporate marketing for 20 years and wanted to build something for myself that is more tangible and local,” he said.
Many people assume the service is seasonal, but Miller says that’s not the case.
“The beauty of it is that it’s year-round,” he said.
Each installation includes a discreet irrigation system connected to the homeowner’s outdoor spigot.
He returns quarterly to switch out the plantings. In the spring, he may bring pansies. Summer arrangements vary depending on the house’s sun exposure. For homes with full sun, plantings may include vinca and sweet potato vine, while shaded homes might feature begonias, impatiens, coleus and creeping Jenny.
In the fall, Miller adds seasonal elements like pumpkins, gourds and ornamental kale. During the winter season, he removes the irrigation system and replaces displays with items like faux garland, wreaths, magnolia leaves and fresh greenery.
Miller believes services like this shouldn’t be limited to larger metropolitan areas.
“Big cities have this service, so why not Harrisburg?” he said.
Growth Path
Customers can tailor their installations to their preferences. Some choose to skip a season, while others enjoy year-round displays.
“We send a quarterly email out to keep people in the loop,” Miller said.
Pricing is determined by the foot.
Homeowners can choose the color window boxes they prefer. Standard options include black or white, but customers can choose any color from the Sherwin Williams palette to match their home’s trim.
Several architectural styles are available as well, including standard, English, mission and modern designs. Some customers opt for corbels—ornamental window brackets installed beneath the planters to add support and visual interest.
The boxes themselves are crafted from PVC, which is weather-resistant and mimics the look of painted wood while resisting rot, warping and insect damage.
Amy Tobin remembers the frustration of maintaining her own window boxes.
“It would take forever for the tiny plants to fill in,” she said. “Then we’d go away, and they’d die.”
When Tobin heard about WOW Windowboxes, she liked the fact that the arrangements start with mature plants and account for whether the house is situated in the sun or shade.
She now has the boxes installed at her home and at an event venue and says they frequently attract compliments. Tobin also likes that the company puts the plants on a timer.
“If I need to use the spigot for something else, there’s a lever we use which makes it easy, and it’s also easy to turn off the irrigation system if there’s a cold snap,” she said.
For now, Miller’s goal is to grow the business steadily while helping homeowners enhance the appearance of their properties across central Pennsylvania.
His dream project? To irrigate and plant the window boxes at the Governor’s Mansion each season.
“That would be great and would make quite a difference,” Miller said.
Until then, he hopes to see more window boxes popping up throughout the region.
“We have pride in home ownership here too—not just in the big cities,” he said. “We also have century-old houses here that could benefit from the ‘WOW’ factor and maybe even become the envy of the neighborhood.”
For more information on WOW Windowboxes, visit www.wowwindowboxes.com.
If you like what we do, please support our work. Become a Friend of TheBurg!
Visited 5 times, 5 visit(s) today
