Spring has sprung in Pintester land, and even the Pintester is not immune to wanting to create some outdoor garden magic when the air gets bright with nasty green pine pollen. I decided that this year I would redo my mailbox planter, bane of my existence with regards to the front yard. It has looked like actual shit pretty much every year since we moved in.
But this year will be different, thought I. This year I will make it look like this:
Image from Green Gardenista
I found the exact plants. I dug up my mailbox planter. I unearthed some gross giant bug larvae that I failed to take pictures of because I was too busy dry heaving.
And then I planted my plants. And now my mailbox planter looks like this. I suck.
Summary
Article Name
Mailbox Planter
Description
The Pintester attempts to do some gardening based on an example picture from Pinterest. The heart is willing; the black thumb is not.
Author
Sonja Foust
19 Comments
Give it a few years. Or go buy the more expensive plants that are bigger; it’s worth the extra $10-$20 to get that instant gratification rush. Also, I’m pretty sure those will be too close together once they start growing.
At least you tried. I’ve given up completely on the strip of grass where our mailbox is… between the street and the sidewalk. It’s green with weeds now. I hate it.
I’ve given up on mailbox planters and just let grass grow. I hated redoing it every year. Give the plants time, they’ll be bright and bushy in no time.
That is going to grow in lush and beautiful. Patience.
Fun fact a lot of people don’t know: in most cities, the area of grass next to the curb is not, in fact, your property, and the city/utilities can dig it up, without your permission, any time they need to. The size of the right-of-way varies, but I wouldn’t both putting too much time/effort/money into an area that can be destroyed (if they’re a nice city/utility, they’ll put back grass, but not plants). Save the good stuff for up by the house! And, yes, patience to let it all grow up – most of those garden pictures are well established gardens and they started out looking a lot like yours.
Gorgeous! Love it! Absolutely perfect! You wouldn’t want to give the mailman any jungle anxiety like the people in the first picture. As a matter of fact, I think you should prune those plants every couple of days to make sure they don’t get out of hand.
Miracle Grow. It’s steroids for plants. You just need to pump them up!
I like your mailbox. Give it time and I’m sure it we be lovely.
I am redoing the front of my house this year, the grass never grows there. However the grass sure as hell doesn’t want to come out of the ground, it’s a bitch. Only 75 more feet to go!
Omg you came back, I thought I’d never see you again. 😀
I’ve always wanted a mailbox with flowing greenery around it but as one Pinster stated, most curb areas are on city right of way and vulnerable to trimming or destruction by city utility people at any time. Most will avoid it if it looks “nice” so I don’t think it is much of an issue. (unless of course you live in my neighborhood). The local street crew does not seem to be able to tell the difference between a dandelion and violets and/or snapdragons or any of those willowy grasses. They cut down everything! At any rate, good luck with your landscape project and be patient. Rain and sunshine will make it beautiful.
I have been in my home now for 6 years. It’s taken me that long to figure out what will grow in our soil, in our light, and also to learn what works and what doesn’t. Bulbs or full grown plants that come from bulbs, like full grown tulips, seem to be the very safest things to plant. Perennials you buy little and pray they grow – crap shoot. Perennials you buy big tend to come back (like 70%). Annuals like pansies usually bloom longer and look about the same as they did when you bought then – you can fill in the spots while your perennials grow with annuals. But you have to plant every year.
I also think mail carriers would prefer not to get stung by bees so I think all the flowers around the mailboxes may not always be so exciting to the people who have to open and close the door.
Aw no pictures of the giant bug larvae you unearthed 🙁
aww they will grow! nice work.
I miss this site. :/
I’m so sorry! I promise I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth and I will try to get new content going again! Thanks for hangin’ with me!
I miss the site too. I only found it a few weeks ago and went on a binge. Now as soon as I got all caught up the new posts stopped. 🙁 Hope it comes back, it’s so funny!
Thanks for reading! And I haven’t stopped– I’m just slow now because I have, like, an actual job, which sort of sucks in the way that I have to, you know, do things other than blog, but is also really good in that I have money. So there’s that. But I shall return! Promise!
I’m a landscaper, I could give you advice if you would like any. Btw, please don’t put potting soil with plants that are going in the ground. Please mix compost in with the soil you have instead.
I’ve actually heard mail carriers talk about how much they like people who don’t have excessive amounts of greenery around the mailbox. Either way, you win.