Mailbox Garden Ideas

[pinksand]

As Winter is settling in I'm finding myself making plans for next season to get me through. I have about a million plans, but one that I actually hope to bring to life in 2013 is a garden to keep my lonely mailbox company. The location is currently grass and what may be Pennsylvania Smartweed.

Prep Work:
I've been saving all the newspaper I can get my hands on and will be laying that out next month and covering it with a layer of soil and compost (purchased because mine won't be ready for quite a while). I've heard it can take 4 months for the bed to be ready. Is this the case in the colder months as well or will it take longer? I was hoping the garden would be ready for Spring.

Growing Conditions:
The site will receive full sun since it doesn't have anything around it to provide shade. The mailbox is at the bottom of a hill so water tends to pool there when it rains, but dries quickly due to the exposure.

What to Plant:
I planted a Confetti Abelia at the top of the hill that I just love and was thinking that if I can track down another, this might be a good choice due to the 4 season interest, and small stature. I don't want anything with too much height that will obstruct the visibility pulling out of the driveway, but I also want a variety of shapes and sizes. Maybe some Russian Sage or lavender for height? I have ranunculus bulbs I would like to plant there in the Spring. Do you have any plant recommendations? Since I'm starting with a blank slate I'm hoping to have some fun! I'd also like to plant a flowering vine the climb the mailbox. My only concern is that it may take over and engulf the mailbox. Any suggestions? I've been looking at the obvious clamatis, but also red cross vine, or annuals like hyacinth bean vine or Thunbergia (black eyed susan vine). I don't have experience with any of these so any advice would be appreciated!

[gbronner]

Be careful using Russian Sage it can be very aggressive but more important when it blooms it can reach 4 to 5 feet high . This may pose a visibility problem.

[applestar]

Wow missed this thread completely. How's the prep work going?
I've planted as early as one months after cardboard/paper treatment.

My mailbox area is the driest it can get especially during drought. One thing it has going for it is the golden honey locust tree which provides modicum of shade but not much since its on the north side of the bed and provides N-fixing roots which is really only source of fertilizer since I don't do anything for that area. Oh that and the neighbor's dogs.

FWIW surviving/thriving plants in my mailbox area are German bearded iris, lambs ears, grape hyacinths, wormwood, and tulips plus some red clover and black-eyed Susan's. Clematis did not survive -- I suspect not enough shade and too dry. Catnip didn't make it there either, and not because neighbor cats were bothering it either. Even though it hang on through each summer, it was SO wimpy and sorry looking due to lack of water after three years that I took pity on it and moved it elsewhere.

Volunteer oaks, Callery pears, and crabapples as well as eastern red cedar/juniper are also growing there now. I've been pruning the fruit trees into stepover-border fences surrounding the bed. DH keeps threatening to pull the oak but I want it to grow there and eventually move the mailbox, I'm planning to dig up the two junipers and stick them in pots for "wannabe" bonsai.

[rainbowgardener]

I agree that Russian sage will rapidly get way too big for a mailbox garden. But in your climate, the lavender would be really nice. In warmer climates, lavender will also get too big and bushy, but in colder winter climates like yours and mine, lavender dies back in winter, so never gets so big.

And then you will have lavender, which you can harvest and use!


I love purple and yellow as a garden color combination that really pops. So for me a nice thing to grow with the lavender is coreopsis. It is a very hardy, drought tolerant, long blooming, yellow flowered native wildflower.

And I agree with you that clematis will also get too big and overwhelm it, so you couldn't find your mailbox. Cardinal climber is a nice annual vine that hummingbirds really like. Hyacinth bean vine or scarlet runner bean have pretty flowers and then edible beans.

[applestar]

I took some pictures of my mailbox garden
1) because the yellow iris is in full bloom
2) it's getting overgrown -- didn't do anything with it last year
3) every time I want to work on it, I find poison ivy This way, I can look at it and plan.

Do you see the poison ivy? I wanted to trim the stepovers, and cut down that tall volunteer in the middle....

image.jpg (33.98 KiB) Viewed 5881 times

[webmaster]

Looks fantastic!

[imafan26]

Looks good.

All I used to plant by my mailbox was a single mammoth sunflower. It was the only place where it had the space and sun all around it. It was great to come home everyday and have it be the first thing I saw. It was also fun to watch it follow the sun.

I also like sweet alyssum, nasturtiums, wave petunias and iris around the mailbox. The iris for height. Nasturtiums and petunias have short vines. They fill in like a ground cover but will also climb up the mailbox post. Alyssum works with any border and grows from seed to bloom in 6 weeks and lasts a long time.

Sometimes flowers attract too many bees and so it might be nicer for the postperson if you planted things with colorful leaves instead like coleus. It can also be cut back to control the height. Or you can select flowering plants that won't be attracting bees like four o'clock which does not bloom until the evening.

[catgrass]

Lantana would be a good choice, I think, if it survives in your area. Daylillies, maybe, or butterfly bush.

[pinksand]

So I swear I wrote a response to this thread months ago! Oh well

Applestar, besides your mailbox garden looking beautiful, I love your mailbox! It has so much charm.

I never ended up following through with this project because I took on the front and side garden space viewtopic.php?f=12&t=58318

I have the room to plant a substantial garden around my mailbox, like an ornamental tree, some shrubs etc. I just have so many other spaces I'd like to work on and too little time and budget. If I do anything I'll probably just do something small... maybe an annual vine and some perennials. I do love Lantana catgrass but it is an annual here. I might take it on as a fall project! I can always expand over the years.

RGB, purple/blue hues and yellow/orange are my favorite color combo to work with in the garden! I love the idea of lavender and coreopsis since both should thrive in those conditions. I just found some cardinal climber seeds I'd gotten at an exchange last fall and thought I'd lost. It's too late though right?

[pinksand]

I finally jumped into this project after our neighborhood plant exchange and started digging up my grass around the bed. I was concerned about smothering the grass like I have done with other spaces since this would raise the bed which seemed problematic.

The situation is a bit unique because our driveway is so steeply sloped that visibility isn't a huge issue. Obviously I can't plant a 10' tall shrub, but I could definitely add 5' without much visual obstruction as we back out. My biggest hang up is that I'd like something evergreen and structural to ground the space so it isn't a patch of dirt in the winter. I was considering a dwarf mugo pine. Any other suggestions for something structural yet smallish and evergreen?

Here is what I have for the space (none of which are yet planted)...

3 gladiator alliums
2 Guara plants
1 Coreopsis
1 Artemisia Silver Mound
1 Aster
1 Northern Sea Oats Grass
(All free!)

I might also add lavender because I think it would add some nice texture.

I'll probably also get some early spring blooming bulbs to get the party started. I'm considering adding a simple black trellis panel behind the mailbox (black because the mailbox is black). I was thinking of growing an annual vine there, either cypress vine (suggested by RBG above) or annual black eyed susan vine. Several of my neighbors have trellises behind their mailboxes and I've always loved them!

Any thoughts on something for structure or thoughts on the specific plants I've listed?

[applestar]

Can you post some pictures of the area?
I'm having trouble visualizing the "behind the mailbox" concept -- maybe because mine doesn't have that.

I can tell you sea oats can get pretty big clump and freely reseeds.
I'll go grab a picture in a minute.

...
Can I show my stepovers? I think they are starting to take shape.

[applestar]

In the picture on the right, the small clump in the front that is yellowing and browning first is the original little clump I planted here next to and a little to the front of the American Hazel shrub.

I had some raspberries that were escaping from the inside of the fence to this side and for two years, were harvesting from the extended patch and was even thinking about how I wanted to continue the raspberry "hedge" into the front yard edible landscape, then this year, the sea oats and hazel started to push back and claim the space all the way to the fence!

I had to rethink my raspberry hedge idea.

[pinksand]

We don't have sidewalks in our neighborhood so basically my mailbox is to the left of my driveway at the bottom of my front lawn.

I ended up planting the garden last weekend and in typical fashion most likely over crowded the space... especially after seeing your sea oats! I'll try to remember to get a photo. I can always expand the space over time and spread things out more.

I ended up planting everything above with the exception of the alliums, although it's about that time to get my bulbs in the ground! In addition to that list, I planted...

1 penstemon ($1 on clearance so not exactly sure of the specific variety)
1 double echinacea ($3 on clearance)
1 lavender
1 Klein's Hardy Gardenia
1 dwarf mugo pine (Pinus mugo var. mughus)
4 plugs of angelina sedum

So basically a hodge podge of random free/cheap plants. I'm really hoping the gardenia will truly be hardy. I wanted it for structure and thought the scent would be nice for people walking by. It will probably crowd out the penstemon as it grows... assuming it survives the winter. I'm a little nervous about the mugo pine... was it a bad choice?

[tomato boy]

If you build a small raised box plant a moon flower some snap dragons and chrysanthemum it gives 3 seasons of interest

[LeaSmea]

Love all the inspiration on here. Just thought I would share my brand new mailbox garden.

I had this old trellis lying out in the shed and couldn't find a place I wanted it for, then I started poking around the interwebs for ideas. I have a Ramona Clematis that I am training up it and the bushy plants at the base are native tickseed. I thought the contrasting blooms of purple and yellow would be lovely. The tickseed blooms continually from June till frost and the Clematis is a reblooming variety, so hopefully I'll have some awesome visual interest this summer. This was my project last weekend and already I've had several neighbors compliment it. The rocks are from a local river bed and the mulch was left over from my back gardens so I only invested $30 in it.