I'd like to have one/some trailing plants in this high up window. I can water it but I won't be able to easily check the soil saturation.

It's a north facing window with obscured glass.

I can get up there with a long ladder and would probably do that a couple of times a year, so I'm happy to periodically prune. But I can't be getting a long ladder out every time I need to water it.

Does anyone have any recommendations please?

Attach to ceiling with retractable plant pulley's. See online for pics.

bumplbea said: Attach to ceiling with retractable plant pulley's. See online for pics.

Thanks, that's a good suggestion, however I'd like something in this window, not a hanging basket.

Can you water about weekly?
I'd try a pothos, little investement, sturdy plant. I'd pot its pot in/on something with ample room to catch overflow. Where if you water too much, it has room to spread and evaporate without soaking the plant too long. I'd water weekly in what I guess to be about right. I'd water with rainwater or distilled/filtered water and limited fertilizer.
You could rehearse for a couple weeks before putting it up, practice how much water it takes.
I'm not sure about the long term growth of any vine once it hangs below the window very far and is then in low light. A north window with obscured glass, isn't going to grow very fast. I don't expect you'll be pruning often.

Also make sure it's fixed and not subject to fall out when the vine grows heavier.

Or- some sort of tank or vase of water with a vine growing out.

Hoya is another hanger and I think more tolerant of dry soil; I'm not very up on hoya.

DON'T do Hedera helix ivy of any sort. (well, the silk and plastic sort would do fine)

Hoya will probably work and not need a lot of water. Possibly a Rhipsalis. You could use a self-watering pot that has a large reservoir so you don't have to get up there so often, but "a couple times a year" is nowhere near frequent enough. Maybe once a month at best.

What a beautiful space!!

I think I would go with a faux plant there. Or just some interesting object that's breakable that I would be able to see well but know it won't get knocked over. I think getting out a ladder to water a plant is going to overshadow the fun novelty of having a plant up there very quickly.

It looks like a perfect spot to hang a stained glass piece, if you decide to do something non-plant.

Welcome eastwoodandy!
A couple of things to keep in mind---
Living plants, indoors, in pots, need attention. They need proper watering, pruning and guidance, sometimes pest control.
Also, plants grow toward the light. A trailing plant will try to grow to the window. Any long parts trailing downward, away from the window, will not stay healthy.
Please consider getting a high-class, realistic looking artificial plant. It will be fine with just being dusted a couple of times a year.
When I look at that space, I'd like to see a big climbing plant starting from a big pot in the corner, with a big floor-to-ceiling climbing pole such as you might see in a tropical greenhouse. A lot of "trailing" plants are actually natural climbing vines. They can tolerate lower light as they work their way up toward the window. It's a big space that could take a big plant. Watering would be easy, no ladders needed. I have very little space for plants, and I always have to keep things small. You, on the other hand, can think big with this spot!
Please come back with a picture of what you decide on!

Thanks everyone for the varied solutions to my request. I'll discuss with my wife and decide on a way forwards - I'll post photos of whatever option we choose!

Let us know what you decide.

LOL... I hate to say it, but I would do a fake trailing plant there. That kind of location is impossible to reach, and impractical for maintenance (and watering). I would think you could find a high quality faux plant that you could pull down to dust when you clean that window. At that distance if it's decent quality no one except you will know it's not real.

if You can attach some sort of a corner shelf with lip to hold a pot high but accessible for watering , you can put a pothos (Epipremnum aureum) plant with long stems: it will need stakes to help it reach the window sill. It naturally goes up trees, so if a support is provided it will get to the window and trail down.

They often sell them with a coir wrapped pole already, and then you can add a couple stakes on top and secure them to the wall or something.
If you are handy you can get a length of pvc pipe and wrap and staple coir matting to it yourself. And then secure it to the wall with somesort of zip ties. but it produces aerial roots that can attach to the wall and possibly pull off the paint.
pothos can definitely grow in this light, if slowly.

As a rather strange solution for protecting walls you can mount tall narrow mirror panels on the corner above shelf . They will serve double purpose: protect walls/reflect light. And will create an illusion of a niche filled with more plants..
Ok, that's going far, but i just saw an exhibit of mirror illusions , so it's on my mind. :).
This is what it might look like:

I tape a water bottle to the end of my broom, fill it with water and raise it high, then QUICKLY flip it over in the pot. Works for me🙂

Andy, have you had a chance to do something with your awesome window?

Andy… inquiring minds would like to know..

@eastwoodandy that sure looks like a very hard to reach window. Personally I agree with what others said about using either a container with water reservoir or use artificial plants. Way too risky to climb any ladder at that height.

Or you can use solar dancing plant decors so that window shows some life when some bright light hits it.

We have a similar situation at home, and ours are not even cathedral heights yet, but it takes me awhile to check/do watering, so we opted for containers with water reservoirs, and I also chose plants that will not be too water/light needy. We also do not want to block the windows too much so we have a floor to ceiling plant stand. Even at this lower height I get lazy, even my husband gets lazy to water, so the water reservoirs helps a lot:



And these ones are my solar dancing decors which decorates our north facing bay windows. Easy area to reach but I opted to have them there to make the area look a bit animated.



But if you do really want to put a plant there..my suggestion, maybe a ZZ plant, I hope that window ledge has enough space. That is one plant that can take much longer intervals, even months to need follow up watering.

EWA: with a little patience you could use a Pothos or phillodendron, place the pot on a corner shelf about as high as is convenient for you, keep growing the vines out until long enough to reach up the wall to the window sill. Once or twice a year you still have to get up there to manage the plant, but all the business of ferts/watering etc can still be done as needed down at the pot.
Worst scenario is may drop leaves along the rise and leave a naked vine if corner is too dim, but I doubt it. In any case the vine can definitely have profuse and vigorous growth in window even if its a long way from the pot. the trick is you'll have to grow it out somewhere else, just keep wrapping the vines around a hanging pot till you get 15 feet, and then do you run it to the window. example: Pothos (Marble Queen or Silver Queen) stretched across 12 foot room from pot. Approx 3-4 years old.

I stretched it out, here she is normally-notice all the hanging are not ends until they have looped once at least. Three of the eight primary vines are 13-15 feet shortest is 11 ft. This plant is intended soon to be adapted along top of wall in basement to soften mood lighting concealed behind the crown molding. Good Luck!!!!

I couldn't sleep last night wondering what happened with this. That's a slight exaggeration, I slept great, but curiosity remains.