The Tupperware Mailbox has to go! old mailbox ( photo / image / picture from CrisGzr's Garden ) the new mailbox ( photo / image / picture from CrisGzr's Garden ) I have always loved mailboxes. I love the ones that are as pretty as birdhouses or the old Victorian letterboxes. So, I was really disappointed with ours and it's a very popular model on our street -ours kept getting moldy. I wanted to spray it with moss but R only glared. Then one day in the Habitat Restore he rolled his eyes one too many times and I snapped: "One of these days you are going to find something here and I am going to drop dead of a heart attack!" He rolled his eyes again and turned away -he was face to face with a Tall 7 foot mailbox! "He then smiled and said, I want this!" Me being a little 5 foot gnome, never saw it! It was leftover from the charity Birdfest auction. No one bought it! It is a handmade, hummingbird mailbox made of wrought iron!!! A local company that does custom iron work made it. It cost $200, which is a lot for a mailbox but I think it's pretty cheap for art! So, next weekend, we plant the mailbox, which means digging a hole... did I mention we have very rocky land -there are huge boulders hidden under ground, LOL Should be fun! The garden: The previous owners used black trash bags for weed control and now years later I have a thick mat of weeds woven into this thin plastic! Two years ago I planted about 12 blue elephant ear hosta, thinking they would 'fill in' and painted ugly mailbox green, bought a bird condo and unfortunately, the garden went from looking neglected to pathetic. The plan: Not sure. The bird condo stays, may repaint it. The road runs north south, this is the east side of the road. very tall trees and azaleas behind garden area, gets afternoon and evening sun. I have a ton of old bricks, was thinking two circular raised beds, no mortar just bricks. R has bought garden cloth... he is pretty adamant about the cloth LOL These plants I have, which can be moved here but not sure if area is best: Irises, peonies, daffodils, daylilies, bleeding hearts, ferns, hosta -many many varieties, heuchera, vinca, pink astilbe... monkey grass? Any ideas? The driveway is 200 feet long and short of buying 200 feet of garden hose or carrying water it should be self-sufficient! Any ideas?
Love the new mailbox, that is going to look so much better than the tupperware one. You have a mix of sun and shade plants in that list and water requirements are different. If the strip is hard to water it will be great for the Iris, Lilies, Daffodils and Peonies. Weeds tend to just laugh at the landscape cloth and grow up right through the holes and the edges where one strip overlaps the next one. I would get a roll of black landscape plastic instead, nothing grows through that stuff. Play with the Advanced Search feature in our Plants section... http://www.gardenstew.com/plantstew/search-adv.php Specifically enter in your Zone, the Sun Exposure (Full sun if that area gets 6+ hours a day) and Soil Types (Dry since dragging a hose would be difficult) , that will get you a long list of possibilities to do research on to find plants that will thrive in that space.
Great ideas Toni! I will check out the database later, if I get near it now, I'll never get any work done or gardening! Mumble: "must be strong...' I'll tell R about the plastic instead of the cloth... me, I prefer about 4 inches of mulch LOL
If your weeds are like the ones I have here, 4 inches of mulch just slows them down a little bit but they love growing on top of it!
CrisGzr--I so agree with you about that plastic thing (mailbox) I know they are popular, but boy are they ugly! I love your wrought iron mailbox. Very charming! Two circular raised brick beds sounds attractive. If you don't use mortar, you could have plants peaking out from between the bricks. I happen to like that look. However, if the raised beds are not within easy reach of a hose, the soil will be even drier because the beds are raised. I don't think it would be a good place for astiles, bleeding hearts, heuchera or ferns. I think those plants like moisture. How about Sedum, 'Autumn Joy', armeria, california poppies, variegated euonymous, yucca? You could amend the soil in the planters with good humus and that might help water retention. Good luck & happy planting! Your plan does sound like a great one. Could you post some photos of the area, and let us know what you have decided?
Toni, I don't mind plucking the weeds out of mulch, they never seem to get a good grip! LOL Cayuga, good point on the raised beds, will need to think about it while I am clearing the area this week! I am determined to try to not buy any plants this year and only use ones I already have, I have a lot! And much of them are now languishing in areas no longer suitable (trees grow make shade...) I have some hummus and compost and lots of rotten leaves to mix in... I do have sedum and yucca, will have to look up the others you mention. And you betcha I will post pics, its the best way to get me working! Thank you for the advice
Lovely mailbox! Congratulations. Good luck with your garden project, it actually sounds like a lot of fun, even though it's a lot of hard work too.
Thanks Droopy, I think it will be fun but today is a challenge. I started removing the weed layer -more like a carpet on top of the old plastic and I disturbed some yellow jackets which are a very angry aggressive wasp we have here. It bites and stings! So frustrating, I can work among the azaleas and the bees ignore me, it's kind of comforting but these wasps are not so friendly! I found a post in the forum from RJ last summer, suggesting Pinesol, which I have put into a spray bottle. Now, allow them to calm down and ice my arm; then war! Tomorrow a better day?
Ah, just got back from spraying the entire new garden plot with Pinesol, I saw a few very large wolf spiders run off into the trees, so that is very nice! I may spray this under my doors too! I know they aren't aggressive and rarely bite but they freak me out! I won't kill them but don't mind repelling them. I heard some buzzing when I started spraying but then nothing! A fly buzzed me and I did a strange hopping dance but I forgave myself LOL Tomorrow, we'll see. I will keep my spray bottle of Pinesol handy!
I too love the new mailbox. We used to have our own brick company and specialized in those brick mailboxes. These days... I hate to even see one because it reminds me of all that headaches that went along with them! I much prefer the one's like you found. So much more character! Can't wait to see your makeover.
Cris, I would suggest a soaker hose for that bed that you lay on the bed serpentine like then cover it with the mulch leaving the end accessible to hook it up. When you need to water you hook up the hose and turn it on. just don't turn it on full blast. just enough pressure to make it come through the pores of the hose. If you can find a tree trimming service close by (and they aren't trimming any black walnuts), ask them for a few loads of the chips. These places usually love to get rid of the chips so they don't have to go back to their yard and dispose of them or pile them up. dump them in an out of the way place to set for a year and use that for the bottom layer of mulch for your bed, then top dress it with cyprus mulch for the summer...just a thought when there is so much to mulch. I did ours this year and put a 6" layer on my beds to help keep any weeds out/down. The mailbox is awesome. For you bee stings...Use dandelion sap immediately, if you can find one. pull it and let the sap well up and dab it on. It will leave a latex like liquid that will, throughout the day, get dirty and look like you didn't wash that spot, but it works very well. The pain is immediately gone. Or try plantain, crush it and use it like a poultice on the site. I have heard, too, that it works better if you run a lighter under/over the leaf to erupt the cells, don't burn it, just wilt it.
Hi Carolyn, I thought about a soaker hose, but I'd still need 200 feet of hose to get to it! A few years ago, during a drought, I punched holes into the tops of club soda bottles, filled with water and planted upside-down with some thirsty tomatoes. That is do-able if I go that way. The services around here charge for the chips and mulch ;-) we had a big dump truck full delivered last year OMG my back ached for weeks LOL. We are going to have another load delivered later this year. I am thinking of making the brick circles three bricks high and leaving holes, likeCayuga Morning suggested -using the bricks for a border rather than a raised bed. Then layering newspapers, flattened dead leaves and a top of mixed soil/compost. A friend gave us some cactus, the perfect drought resistant plant and I figure the bricks will contain it and help prevent local children or dogs from getting stuck with spines. I'll add some yucca, sedum, daylillies and in the back some irises. I'll also ry some lilac suckers in one corner. Then finally lots of mulch. R is still going to use plastic LOL he insists -event hough right now the plastic is supporting a carpet of weeds and invasive roots. I am thinking this is not going to be a one weekend project but that's okay. Thank you all for the wonderful advice! It's been very helpful and appreciated.
Carolyn--I love the tip about asking tree pruning companies for chips, and then taking from the bottom of the pile, as it decays. What a great idea, and worth trying. I also like the tip of how to deal with bee stings. I will try that one too the next time me or my family has the misfortune of getting stung.
