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| What to do with your Memorial Day Weekend! = = = = = = = = = = = = = Dear Casual Gardener, I have just enough time to complete a small project on Memorial Day weekend. What do you recommend? Signed, “Green” Girl = = = = = = = = = = = = = I have a fantastic plan for you - - a Mailbox Garden!! It’s a perfect one or two day project that anyone can do! My first garden at our current home was the mailbox garden. I insisted it had to be “large-and-in-charge”. The bigger the better! I wanted to pull out all the bells and whistles and make it fabulous as I was new in the neighborhood and had lofty visions of the neighbors drifting out to greet me, coffee in hand, to discuss the larger issues in the world. All the while admiring the hundreds of butterflies and birds who would be enjoying this garden – yikes! We all start out with such grand ideas. The first mistake started before I ever lifted a shovel. I decided digging that large of a spot was too difficult for me to do by myself, so had my husband and his sister dig it FOR me. With me hovering over them supervising. On a holiday weekend. At 6:00 PM in the evening. IN THE RAIN! No kidding! Even more amazing; they actually did it! What a husband! What a sister-in-law! I fixed them the grandest most fantastic recipe I had for dinner and owed them and owed them and CONTINUED to owe them for their efforts. They are not gardeners. This was an incredible act for them. Truly it was a psychological learning experience – it’s important to pick your battles in a family and it’s REALLY important to pick your favors. Without a doubt, it would have been much more beneficial for me to have dug the garden myself; I would have received the exercise benefits, the meditative benefits, and the personal satisfaction of having done it myself. I do 90% of my digging, building and gardening now, with only an occasional assist. Oh yes, and that’s not the end of the story because I committed every mistake known to man when planting it, killed half the plants in it one year trying to fertilize and am completely shocked when it bursts forth every year in beautiful flowers. It’s a never ending story, which is why gardening is never boring; I have an entire novel out in my front yard to keep me busy! My lesson for you today is to NOT follow the above example!! A mailbox garden can be incredibly simple to create and easy to maintain. In my mind, there are only four basic plants needed to make a spectacular mailbox garden: a climber, a tall perennial, a medium perennial and a low perennial. You can, of course, plant annuals, bushes, trees, and whatever your imagination can create on your site. But I’ve found the easiest and simplest is the climber and three perennial combination. First, dig up the grass (or weeds) all around your mailbox. I’d make it a little less than three feet by three feet. Add soil amendments (see my past articles in my website for soil amendment recommendations), add long- acting fertilizer granules and dig in well. For visual appeal, I attached a metal six foot tall trellis to the back of my mailbox. It is not something that is required as a climber will climb the mailbox no matter what, but it enabled me to support a larger climbing clematis for the full sun location. Before planting, I’d recommend you set your plants out while they are still in their pots and “eyeball” the site. Make sure it looks good together. Set the climbing vine directly behind the mailbox pole, the lowest perennial in front of the mailbox and the other two plants behind the mailbox in the larger dug area. Once you get them placed well, gently pull the plants out of their pots and plant them. Mulch well and water it in – you’re done! Now wasn’t that easy? My plant recommendations for a part-sun to full sun area include a Clematis as the climber. Clematis love to have their roots mulched and cool. Therefore, mulching is absolutely critical. If you want all summer flowering, I’ d recommend speaking with your nursery expert – there are several varieties that flower most of the summer, including “The President”, “Rosemoor” and the traditional “Jackmanii”. The tall perennial could be either Perovskia Atriplicifolia (“Russian Sage”) or Phlox Paniculata (Tall Garden Phlox – a good variety is “David”). A medium perennial could be either Rudbeckia Fulgida Sullivantii (“Goldsturm”) or Chrysanthemum Superbum Shasta Daisy (“Becky Shasta Daisy”). A low perennial might be STACHYS (“Lamb’s Ears”) or Artemesia (“Silver Mound” or “Silver Brocade”). For a part-shade to shady area, I’d suggest Clematis again as the climber, however they do best with at least half sun, so speak with your nursery expert about a climbing plant for your site. The tall perennial could be either Ligularia Dentata Desdemona (“Golden Groundsel Ligularia”) or a taller Hosta (“Krossa Regal” or “Sum and Substance”). A medium perennial could be either Alchemilla Mollis (“Lady’s Mantle”) or Hosta (“The Patriot”) or for medium to tall – Dicentra Spectablis (“Bleeding Heart”). A low perennial might be Heuchera (any variety) or Carex (any variety). To expand the mailbox garden and make it fuller, I’d suggest widening the beds and adding one climber and three of each perennial; three tall perennials, three medium perennials and three low perennials all of the same variety. Remember, the first year you have to give perennials attention. After that they virtually take care of themselves. Water well and fill in with a few annuals this year and you will have a beautiful garden! By the way, that mailbox garden I originally struggled with has, in the end, been the best thing ever. The garden encouraged the neighbors to come out and say hello and was exactly the prescription I needed after moving into a new neighborhood! I’ve now built really nice relationships with my neighbors who are loving and kind and have become my friends. I owe it all to the garden – I wish the same for you! A mailbox garden is another example of a way to build a better relationship with and for the community. Build a mailbox garden today or add on to the one you have – spread the gardening love! Please send your gardening questions for Shawna Coronado, The Casual Gardener to dearshawna@thecasualgardener.com or The Casual Gardener, P.O. Box 358, Warrenville, IL 60555. Go to www.thecasualgardener.com for more ideas! |
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