
“From the neighbor’s backyard to the gardens of the world….”
That’s part of the description of what you will find in our “Garden Tours” section of the GardenVoice website.
Today’s page definitely originates close to home!
And, actually closer to the neighbor’s front yard than to their backyard.
Camera in hand, I walked up the street yesterday and observed what a couple of my good neighbors had done to beautify their mailboxes.
I’m sharing photos of their good ideas of landscaping on a small scale.
I like the combination of roses and petunias (top photo) added into the planter boxes of this brick mailbox structure. Lots of blooms and color for a long period of time as the summer progresses.
And, in the bottom photo, the simplicity of a solid planting of a mass of only one blossoming variety works really well.
Why landscape around your mailbox, anyway?
Several reasons.
Small beds are less labor intensive in their installation and less expensive in the cost of plant material, fertilizers, and mulch needed to complete the job.
Also, once installation of the bed is completed, only a minimum of time and effort is required to weed, water, fertilize, and maintain the landscaped area.

And you get to view and enjoy your neat little mailbox garden every day as you venture out to collect the day’s mail. (I’ll bet your postal carrier will enjoy it, too, when he or she delivers the goods!)
The neighbors will like it, too, as they wander up and down the street.
Whether they have the dog’s leash in their hand or their camera, your little garden can be a real point of interest for your home.
Climbing and trailing vines that produce lots of blooms (like clematis or even morning glory) are good plants to use, too, with the mailbox structure acting as a trellis.
Be clever in creating your own little street side garden. You might give the term “curb appeal” a whole new meaning!