What is a Mailbox Garden?
Gardening around a mailbox adds curb appeal and gives your mailperson something nice to view along their route. Your personal taste will dictate if you are creating a Mediterranean, English country, desert, or other themed space. Remember that plants in this location are often near the roadside and will have to contend with exhaust, chemicals, heat that radiates off the curb or sidewalk, and often dry conditions. Mailbox gardens are more than just some plants around the box. They are an opportunity to brighten up a boring mailbox, but more than that they enhance the front yard and can be used to hide the box while tying the space into the rest of the landscaping.
Mailbox Garden Ideas
When planning the space, discard plants that have thorns, attract stinging insects, or will grow rampantly over the box. Be considerate of your mail carrier. Then evaluate the space for soil type, exposure, your hardiness zone, and any other pertinent factors. One of the simplest ways to brighten the mail space is with a vine, but remember to plant it behind the box and keep it pruned away from the door for easy access. Once you have evaluated the space, the fun part comes in. Selecting your design. You may already have some perennials that need dividing or a plant that has grown too large and needs to be moved. Incorporate these with the rest of the mailbox garden design. Some ideas might be Mediterranean, desert scape, Asian garden, English flower garden, and many more. Make sure the plants for your theme will survive and thrive in the space with minimal intervention. When installing the plants, use the tallest at the back as viewed from the front of the mailbox. This will ensure a nice view of all the plants and provide a backdrop to frame smaller flora.
Plants for Mailbox Gardens
Whether you have a small space or decide to remove some sod and make a larger area, the plants need to fit nicely. Small space plants might be ground covers, vertical plants, or annual bedding plants. In a larger garden you have more options. Some suggestions include:
English Country – Roses, peonies, camellia, herbs, boxwood, euonymus, daisies, etc. Asian Garden – Dwarf Japanese maple, mugo pines, spurge, ornamental grasses, etc. Desert Design – Cacti, sedum groundcover, ice plant, echeveria, aloe, agave, etc. Vertical Choices – Honeysuckle, jasmine, trumpet vine, clematis, etc. Mediterranean – Herbs, rockrose, oleander, roses, Artemesia, etc. Tropical Garden – Hibiscus, mandevilla, canna, elephant ears, ginger, etc.
You can also be very simple with some swooshy grasses or a profusion of fall and spring bulbs. If there are no power lines overhead, consider adding a lovely tree to provide shade to a weary postal carrier. Make sure each plant selected is hardy in your zone and will get enough light and water to suit its needs. Finally, add creative touches like bird baths, yard art, wind chimes, mulches, paths, and other stamps of individuality. Gardening around a mailbox is a project that reveals your personality while also enchanting passersby.
