Decorate Your Mailbox With Vines, Shrubs and Flowers

Decorate around your mailbox with a small landscape bed full of shrubs or flowers. Grow vines up the post and it will nicely flow around the mailbox. Decorating by the road is a nice way to get more color. Not all mailboxes are close to the road.

Some older homes have mailboxes near their garage. You can still create a bed near the road.

Many colder climates may not be able to have a landscaped bed year around. Snow plows can damage the beds along with salt near the road.

If you are able to plant near the road, prepare and plant annuals after the last frost.

Another option for cold climates is to decorate a bed along the side of your driveway.

There are several different styles of garden designs you can use to decorate around the mailbox.

Create a triangle, semi-circle, or square of evergreen shrubs. Add some color such as a variegated cypress, (Mop Cypress does well) along with a small Soft Touch Holly or a Dwarf Loropetalum.(Ruby Chinese Pizazz) You can make the bed as large as you want, but always try and keep in mind the contour of your front yard.

Think about putting in one deciduous shrub such as Little Princess Spirea. Surround it with a couple of evergreen shrubs. Standing or Spreading Yew, Compacta Euonymus, or a Globe Arborvitae will add rich color tones.



Decorate with just one shrub. Plant the shrub on the back side of the post.

The first picture is of a Golden Euonymus that is established and planted over six years ago. The shrub started growing around the box, and was kept shaped.

Trim the new leaves in the spring and re-trim in the fall. This is a slow process but well worth the wait. A neat way to decorate a colorful area near the road.

Tips for a small garden project shows you a picture of a landscape bed along side of a driveway. This type of bed can be done in any climate.

Perennial flowers are great around a mailbox. Now is a great time to purchase perennial flower seeds and germinate them in either inside our directly into the ground. If you are unsure how to get great results with growing seeds, check out the page on Herb growing from seeds. This page has simple tips on germinating herbs, flowers, or vegetable seeds successfully.

Plant a variety of perennial flowers. Add a decorative pot with some annual flowers. You can create a definite color scheme with this type of garden. Put our base color in perennials, through in some accent colors in the pot.



Another idea for your container, put a miniature shrub in the center and surround it with annuals or perennial flowers. Sunkist Arborvitae is a great small variegated shrub used often in containers. Dwarf Hinoki Cypress gives the bed a deep green tone and soft texture. Blue Star Juniper will add some teal tones. Great to match up with your outdoor house colors.

Do a single vine up and around your mailbox and post. A Clematis vine is a very popular plant. Clematis comes in a variety of colors. Plant 16 to 18 inches deep in the ground and as the plant grows, wind it carefully around your post. They are pretty fast growers, and before you know it, your mailbox will have Clematis blooms.

A great shade plant is a climbing Hydrangea. Woodbine is another fast growing vine and is low maintenance. Consider putting some ground cover around the rest of the bed.

Veronica, grows to about eight inches and will take sun to part shade. Veronica grows well in zones three through eight. Dianthus - Gold Dust will grow about six to eight inches and does well in zones four through eight. The Dianthus ground cover like the Dianthus flower, does well in full sun.

Free flowing Lilies create a wonderful natural look in the small area. Mulch, pine straw, or decorative stone finish and decorate a landscape project. Each of these materials will give a brand new look to your mailbox.

Any one of these suggestions can work for you. The work involved is minimal. Prepare this bed like you would any other landscape area. Add mushroom compost, or a soil conditioner, plant and enjoy driving in and out of your driveway every day. I am sure your mailman or woman will take notice the very next day!