Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Landscaping Around A Mailbox

You know this little online diary of ours is all about keeping you posted on the little stuff along with the big (and the bad and the ugly along with the good). So file this under small but good. Remember our little petunia-fied mailbox? Well, it went from this in June…

Mailbox10

…to this in August…

Mailbox After2

…to this in October:

MailMums Before

Womp- womppppp.

The petunias were annuals so they weren’t gonna last forever. And between rain washing out a lot of the mulch and the flowers thinning to a scraggly looking vine mess… yeah, it was ugly. But wait, we’ll get to the “good” in a minute.

MailMums Before Close

Fortunately I was able to pull them out with virtually no effort. Note: Some of these pics were taken before we removed/transplanted a bunch of bushes here – you’ll see why we waited to post about this a few photos down)

MailMums John With Plants2

We had actually just received a Home Depot coupon in the mail for “Buy 2 Mums, Get 1 Free” (we signed up for some free garden club a few years back so we get random coupons every once in a while). Sadly we didn’t get that coupon before purchasing our porch mums a few weeks back, but oh well – we decided to put it to good use in another place. The mailbox o’ tumbleweeds. So $14 later we had three sunny yellow mums out front. And yes, Sir Squirrel is chilling out right in the middle of them (more on him here).

MailMums Three Mums

Even though the mums are perennials, we’re so happy with how the petunias filled in the space over the summer that we’ll probably plop some of those back in come springtime (and just transplant these guys so we can enjoy them somewhere else). But we’re loving the autumn look for now.

What weren’t we loving? The washing out problem that we’d been battling after every big rain. See the weed blocking fabric that’s completely exposed next to the drainage grate on the right? In the words of my wife: reeeeal claaaassy.

MailMums Washed Out Drain

The drain worked well most of the time, but heavy rains overload it and, well, you get the idea. So I borrowed some stones leftover from the patio project (they used to line those rows of liriope that we removed here) to build a little stacked stone wall beside the mum-bed. Things are looking up, right?

MailMums New Rocks

We have since had two big rains (we waited to post about it to be sure it wasn’t an epic fail) and we’re happy to report that it kept the water from whisking away the dirt with it. So… victory!

It doesn’t look half bad if you ask me. Although of course those mums could use some filling in, sort of like our petunias back when we planted those. Heck, now that we have the little stacked stone wall, maybe we’ll add more plants to really fill it up come spring. And hopefully we’ll straighten and paint the wooden mailbox post then too.

MailMums After

Did anyone else do any quick outdoor updates for fall? Were they mum related? Or stone related? Or ceramic squirrel related?

Oh and Sherry promised more pics of the feather wreath that some of you noticed from afar on the door in this post, so here we go. It’s just an old black feather wreath from JoAnn (picked up after last Halloween on super clearance- maybe it was $8?). Sherry lazily placed it over the door knocker (didn’t even bother hanging it) and called it a day. That’s my girl.

Halloween Decor13

Halloween Decor12

Sherry also meant to toss the three remaining black spiders that we had (from this post) into the yellow mums for more black-on-yellow action before snapping these pics but completely forgot. But she was sure to do that before those cute little trick or treaters came a-knocking yesterday evening. The ones who noticed seemed to love spiders as much as Clara (more on that here). So yeah. Good times going on at the mailbox and the front door. Although we could definitely use a new doormat (or at least a new stenciled paint job over our current one). How about you?

Psst- You can check out how we painted our front door yellow here and ORBed the handle & doorknocker here.

Comments

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes! We got a bunch! But none of the parents said anything! Haha. Probably were distracted by the barking dog and the cute monkey baby in the background!

      xo,
      s

    • Lindsey @ arkadian belle woods says

      I love those flowers too! I’ve been dragging my feet on buying them this year! I think this weekend if any are left I’ll scoop em up but I’m with Future Mama! I feel your pain – all pots no plants just pots of dirt.

      Hey on the bright side maybe we can start a new “Minimalist” Plant Movement! haha

  5. jess says

    I love little updates. A lot of people feel like they have to focus so much on the bigger ones, but the little ones are just as rewarding sometimes :-)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yeah, we just figure since we started this whole blog 4+ years ago we’ve talked about everything – from the big juicy stuff to the small everyday stuff. Our only rule is that if we feel like sharing something – no matter how big or small or how much of a failure it was – we do. And you know we’re chronic over-sharers! Haha. So we pretty much share everything.

      xo,
      s

  6. Rosie says

    Haven’t had a chance to really look at it yet (I should probably do some work at work today, right?), but I saw that you guys are in Emily Henderson’s Holiday Guide – Yay! Can’t wait to read it! Will we get any extra details on that over here?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Rosie! It was just a tiny stint (they asked us our five favorite kid toys so we sent over a list with links). Wish there were more behind the scenes stuff but it was really simple so that’s the whole story. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  8. Amanda says

    Did you know that you can have your mums and your petunia’s too? :) I have had our mum’s in the exact same spot for the last 3 years. I let them ‘die off’ over the winter – in the fall, I don’t do a thing to them – like literally just leave them alone. In the spring, I come back and pull all of the dead/dry parts of the bush off so it looks like I pretty much have nothing.

    At that time, I fill in the flower bed with petunia’s and what ever other annual I am feeling the love for at the time. As the summer progresses, my mum’s start coming back and look like bushes. The kind of grow up in the middle of everything else that has filled in. It adds a little more greenery to the flower bed. Then, at the end of the summer, I just pull out the annuals and wait for my bushes of mums to bloom.

    I don’t know if that is how everyone else does it – but 3 years ago, we bought these small plants (I think they were like $.47 each on sale) and planted them. They were pretty small that first year – like the size of your petunia’s to begin with. Last year, they came back so huge, it looked like my entire flower bed was giant hedges. This year, they came back pretty big (minus the ones that my husband accidentally tossed away) but they got strangled a bit by the extra annuals he planted to make up for his boo-boo so they weren’t as lush as last year but they were still pretty. They have been the best $.47 each investment ever!

    Reply

    • Carrie says

      I am about to plant some mums too and my nana said to cut them back until July and then to just let them go and they will be pretty green bushes until they bloom. Love nana’s and their gardening knowledge! I have a green thumb (I have no idea how either!) but have always just done annuals because I have commitment problems and wanted to wait until the fence was built before I did any real landscaping. Just planted my spring bulbs too!

    • Amanda B. says

      I do the same thing! I actually planted spring and summer bulbs (perennials) around my mums, so I get three seasons of awesome for the cost of no yearly effort. Daffodils in the spring, Gladiolus in the summer, and Mums in the fall. Four seasons if you count the dried forms of the mums that stay through the winter. It’s best to not pull off the dead parts until you notice greenery growing in from the bottom in the spring.

      Hope you guys have good luck with them! They look so cute under the mailbox, and the yellow ties right into your front door color. Mine are four years strong. They don’t call them “Hardy Mums” for nothing!

  9. Robin @ Our Semi Organic Life says

    Love the mums! They’re so fall like and happy. Glad you got lucky trick or treat’ers. It’s my first year in a real house in a real neighborhood so I did the grown up thing and got candy and luckily we got some kids! Oh and a few grown ups too. Anyone else? Yes middle aged women with no children not dressed up came by – I reluctantly gave them candy. Wasn’t sure if they were homeless or just sugar hungry (or greedy).

    Reply

  11. Natalie Muurisepp says

    Love the yellow mum. We have one hanging by our door, it has done ok but the one that we gave our neighbor to thank them for always being our mail checkers. WOW that thing is HUGE :)

    On the bug front, we are home to a Praying Mantis! (sp) But the snow we just got up here in Boston may have caused him to say his or her last prayer. hehee

    Reply

  13. Cindy S. says

    I love the small posts, too. :)

    Nice anti-erosion solution with the stacked stones. They look great, along with the gorgeous new mums. Just so you know, mums divide really well, so you can “spread the wealth” with other areas of your yard without having to actually remove these, if you don’t want to.

    Reply

  14. Jenni says

    So, this will sound a bit creepy, I’m sure. But, I had a dream about you guys last night. You were at the improv theater where I perform, and I saw you and told you that I read your blog and asked if you were going to stay for the show. You said that you were, and then I found out that I wasn’t even in the show that night. Weird, I know. That being said, if you are ever in downtown Orlando, be sure to come out and catch a show at SAK Comedy Lab. I may or may not be performing ;-).

    Reply

  16. georgia says

    Love the Mail Box spruce up! You should totally paint mailbox a snazzy colour rather than the norm. Would look lovely red! :)
    I love the feather wreath! it looks eery!
    We didn’t get any trick or treaters as they cant get into our block of apartments! haha
    We watched the Shrek and Monsters VS Aliens Halloween dvd’s because its ok for a 30 year old and a 24year old to do this whilst eating sooooo many sweets you feel sick right?! haha

    Reply

  17. Maureen @ This (Kinda) Old House says

    I have never had mums survive. I always assumed they were annuals. Maybe here in NY they just can’t survive the winter.

    I took in my begonias and little tiny potted pine tree and potted junipers before the snow storm came. I think I may try to keep the begonias alive over the winter. They are so pretty, why let them die?

    LOVE my black feather wreathe that we have, but sadly I don’t put it outside because we have no overhang. I don’t want to ruin it. I put it on the wall next to our door on the inside. Still looks great. :) The front door has a glowing skeleton on it. I hate to take him down now that Halloween is done!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Maybe mums only live if they’re planted in the ground and not in pots (since they are exposed a bit more in pots)? Either that or it’s one of those location differences since NY has more deep freezes!

      xo,
      s

    • Alicia says

      I am looking through comments to see if I can figure out why my Mum isn’t looking good either. I live in SC so I would think it’s not weather related. I haven’t taken it out of the pot so that has to be it. I wanted to make sure it was worth the effort and would revive itself before I went to all that trouble!

  18. Allyn says

    I love the mums on your porch, but they make me think of your huge spider.
    I guess being creeped out is pretty appropriate for the season.

    Reply

  20. Andrea says

    I think it looks great! Love the sunny, yellow mums! I made a feather wreath similar to yours, just took 2 black feather boas and wrapped it around a metal wreath form (or any type of metal form). The boas were actually leftover Halloween costumes so it was free!

    Reply

  22. Grace says

    This isn’t ceramic squirrel related, just plain old squirrel related. This is a youtube video of our pet squirrel that we raised from being a motherless baby to a fully independent, runs-around-the-backyard squirrel.

    Reply

  24. Jennifer says

    I just bought the same feather wreath at Michael’s with a trusty 40% off coupon! I love it :) I also painted our pumpkins black and used white puff paint to decorate…the trick or treaters were more interested in our black pumpkins than the candy…thanks for the idea last year!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw man! So sorry to give you nightmares! We haven’t seen Charlotte in a while (it has been pretty cold so maybe she moseyed off to find someplace warmer?

      xo,
      s

  27. Ladizzle says

    Love all of it! The stone looks fantastic! And the yellow is so great! Lowes had the BIGGEST pots of mums this year got one for my front porch..by my yellow door of course! Happy Fall!!
    Also…this may be an over share BUT our home projects have been totally in sync (not to be confused with NSync…you know you went there.. ;) lately….we finish one and I report to the husband “YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHAT YHL JUST DID TOO!” makes me feel famous! For the record…THAT cork was my vote for our kitchen floor too! It may have been vetoed by my husband (too dark for his approval..Crazy) but I still love it! Cant wait to see it in your kitchen! Love it!

    Reply

  29. Donita says

    You probably already know this, but you can actually get mums to bloom twice a year. My mom taught me, to cut them back to just a few inches after the fall bloom. If you keep them in a warm place, garage, basement, and water them once a month, they will actually bloom in the Spring. I usually do not plant mine in the ground, so I can get a Spring bloom out of them. I had some that actually lasted for several years. Then forgot to water them, or was out of town and they died. Just a little tip, if you didn’t already know. ;-) Love those yellow mums from Home Depot.

    Reply

  32. Celia says

    Ack!The environmentalist in me is FREAKING OUT about the fact that you have a drain IN YOUR YARD! I’m super impressed by your little retaining wall though, it’s pretty AND functional. Have you thought about putting in a rain garden around that drain, to supplement your rain barrels?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That’s a city drain (we don’t have curbs here so all yards in our neighborhood have a drainage ditch with a drain like that out front). We can’t tamper with the water since it’s technically city property and it would mess with the whole runoff flow of our block, but we have a rain barrel on the side yard off of our gutters (which is thankfully allowed).

      xo,
      s

  33. Anne says

    now is the time to plant bulbs that will come up in the spring! imagine cheery tulips surrounding the mums (which will likely look like green bushes this spring)! would be so cute. i love to plant bulbs in the fall, it’s so much fun to see them break ground as winter finally turns into spring.

    Reply

  35. Amanda K. says

    No need to transplant your mums! You can just cut them back in the spring when you plant the petunias. They’ll spread, too, so if you WANT to transplant them, two plants will look like four plants in a few seasons.

    Reply

  36. Hayley says

    Love the mums. Would love to hear an update post on the ORB painted door hardware. I want to do it, but fear that it won’t hold up, and then have to hear the hubby continually whine that we should have just kept the satin nickel :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Update: still in mint condition. Not a mark or a scratch on them… but who knows how they’ll do over more time! Will keep you posted if anything cracks or peels!

      xo,
      s

  37. kelly says

    i would recommend a rubber doormat for the front door. I recently made the change from what you have now to a rubber doormat from $20 from Lowes. It’s durable, doesnt fall apart and bring in your falling apart dooramt into your home and for sure wont blow away because its significantly heavier.

    Cant wait to see what you choose. I just know I love mine!

    Reply

  42. Sean says

    I love how clean it looks but be careful of the bee’s in springtime. Flowers so close to the door and mailbox could be asking for trouble. At lest in my area it would be.

    Reply

  44. Kelley says

    It must be nice living somewhere where you can plant mums in late October/November and expect them to look pretty for longer than a day! Not the case here in Montana! The snow is already flying here.

    Reply

  46. renee says

    Apropos of nothing – you kids got me hooked on Dexter {thankyouverymuch} and I just finished season 4. I died! I cried my eyes out! Did you have a strong reaction as well? {Trying not to spoil anything for other viewers} Season 5 arrives tomorrow on Netflix – booyah!

    Reply

  47. Ami says

    That looks so nice and fall-festive. Just a note about the mums and wanting petunias in the summer. I have mums planted everywhere and fill same area with the petunias. The petunias grow right over them (even in pots) and you don’t have to pull the mums out. As soon as the petunias have lost their lovely, just rip ’em out and that is just about the time the mums start getting tiny buds. As you know, they are perennials and will just come right back every year! Thought I’d throw that out there for ya! p.s. Lovin’ the kitchen!

    Reply

  48. Dawn says

    Love the mums! I have 9 in my front garden bed planted in spring 2010. They got so big this year and some fell down (wop, wop). I learned a tip at the local garden center – give them two haircuts before 4th of July, then leave them alone. Hopefully next Fall I will have upright mums!

    Reply

  50. Heidi P. says

    Cute cute. And nice work with the retaining stones.
    Free advice is worth what you pay for it ;), but I say, keep the mums where they are and just plant around them in the sping. Perennials are nice like that. Have you heard of the perennial called “Heather”? It’s semi-evergreen here in UT, so I’m sure it’d do great in VA. And it has cute little flowers in white or light pink in the winter. (At least the varieties here come in those colors.) Just hinking of some sort of small evergreen something for you to put there. :)

    Reply

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