Yeah, we’re those neighbors. You know, the ones who are so busy working on the inside of the house (slash baby-wrangling) that our yard is looking a little worse for wear. Check out the weed convention taking place under our mailbox:
And hark, who is that sweet little guy peering out of the overgrown insanity?
Why it’s a sweet iron squirrel left by the previous owners. And yes, I do love him and occasionally pet him. His name is Norman.
So the first step of the whole mailbox makeover was clearly to weed. For the first time in half a year. Yup, other than this mom-assisted weeding event, we haven’t done it at all since moving in.
I just got a bucket and filled it five times with all of the stuff sprouting up around the mailbox post:
Then we used some landscaping fabric to block those evil weed babies from coming back (since we’ve established that regular weeding isn’t our strong suit) and grabbed two $7 pots of fast growing all-summer-blooming petunias from Lowe’s. They tend to creep outward and get pretty big throughout the summer, so we think they’ll fill in that whole area nicely without having to buy ten pots of different things to plant.
We just cut little x’s into the landscaping fabric and dug in our petunias so they could spread their roots under the fabric – without a lot of other weeds coming up through the opening (hopefully).
Then we added an ultra thin layer of top soil to hold things down and a nice thick moisturizing layer of mulch. Can’t wait for these babies to grow a bit and creep outwards to fill more of our little mulched area with blooms.
Oh and see that area on the side of the post in the pic above that looks like it’s painted gray? That’s where our house numbers are so I just “painted” over them in photoshop for privacy reasons. And see that big blank stop-sign looking thing? That’s our alarm sign that I painted over in Photoshop to obscure it as well (as for the shape giving anything away, multiple companies have the same shape so it’s all good). Our house is armed like Fort Knox since we’re paranoid parents who realize that putting your whole house on the internet requires a few more precautions than the average home. So when our alarm company recommended that we not share their name on the internet (for maximum house security since they didn’t want anyone to think they knew the inside scoop on our system or try to research it or something – even though the way they installed our system is different than the norm with a bunch of crazy sci-fi extras) we were happy to oblige.
We actually thought it was pretty darn awesome of them to recommend the not-sharing thing since most companies would probably cross their fingers for a mention. They’re serious about security. Like Jack Bauer serious (or Chloe O’Brien serious). But we weren’t exactly thrilled about the three tin signs junking up our mailbox. A single alarm sign would usually be hung facing the street on the base of the post, but there was an old sign for an electric fence (which is no longer in use on our property) there instead. So they hung two signs on either side of the… arm?… of the mailbox. So after longer-than-necessary debating, J and I decided to remove both alarm signs along with the electric fence one and just hang one alarm sign in its place near the base. Here I am after removing both alarm signs and starting on the electric fence sign.
Oh yeah and my shorts were looking a little short so I added a “modesty heart.” But the real story of the picture above is the pink arrow (which explains my skeeered face). By removing the alarm signs, we uncovered this:
A wasp (or hornet’s) nest. Le gasp. I just left him alone and he left me alone. Thankfully. But we’re planning to ditch the nest (naturally and hopefully carefully) this evening. Fingers crossed.
Update: Mr Wasp was out this evening (at least I believed he was because at dusk his nest appeared to be unattended) so I donned a lot of clothing and closed toe shoes and used a long yardstick to knock the hive to the ground from afar. Nothing flew out of it (it was in fact empty – although I’ll never know if he was just out for a stroll or had abandoned the nest when I removed the alarm signs) so I stomped on it a few times with my shoe. Done-zo. Woot! And yes, I’m feeling pretty tough right now. I’ll keep you guys updated if he comes back (although I think the loss of cover thanks to the missing signs might mean good things for keeping him gone for good).
Here’s what we had going on once I hung just one alarm sign on the base of the post facing the road. If I were an overachiever I would spray paint the mailbox with oil-rubbed bronze paint to get it looking nice and shiny. Someday. And maybe even paint the post something glossy and fresh. Oh and see that birdhouse on the back of the post? A quaint little bird family lives there. They all fly out when we get the mail. So cute.
Speaking of cute, you know El Squirrel stuck around right? Here’s Norman living it up among the fresh mulch and happy blooms:
So yeah- we didn’t Curb Appeal The Block, but it’s a quick little upgrade from the embarrassment that was this:
Any other quick yard updates going on in your world? Have you ever used weed-block fabric (it was our first time beyond using it for the patio)? Or found little faux woodland creatures on your property only to fall in love with them? Or come face to face with a bee/hornet’s nest? Spill it.
MacKenzie says
We bought our first home last summer and the old owners left us a little squirrel too! He needs a new paint job but I love seeing him sitting out in our back yard, looking all friendly but slightly protective of his family. Or at least that is what I imagine, my husband would probably say I’m just nuts.
r8chel says
I actually just destroyed a wasp nest yesterday for the first time. We were hosting a party last evening, and I needed it to be GONE, so I just used Raid. It obviously wasn’t the most earth-friendly solution, but it got the job done!
Also, I’d love to fix up our mailbox area, but our mailbox is right next to our neighbors’ mailbox in between our driveways, and there’s one big azalea bush growing behind them. I’m sure the neighbors wouldn’t care if I offered to beautify the whole mailbox area, but first I need to figure out what I’d like to do so I can propose an idea. :)
Britt@knewlywifed. says
We have relentless weeds even with our landscaping fabric. I’m anxious to see if the thin layer of dirt helps (or promotes!) weed growth!
Amy @ Triangle Honeymoon says
It looks awesome! Love that you kept Norman around. P.S. I’m reading Tina Fey’s book now and it has me snorting it’s so funny!
Alisa says
Yeah, we’re those neighbors too. Since we bought our house *coughcoughtwoyearsagocough* and have been trying SO hard to get the front and backyards looking decent but it’s just not in the cards for us. I was able to successfully uproot some bushes that were in the backyard and plant them in our front planter (where my husband used weed killer on PLANTS and killed them all) so it’s starting to look better, but I had no idea how much work 1/2 an acre is.
Our mailbox totally still has the old owners name on it too. Mailboxes are big business out here too. The current trend it to build a huge brick sculpture-like surround for the box. Some people even have miniature versions of their houses crafted into a mailbox. I wish I was retired and had too much money..
RebeccaMac says
I haven’t had good luck with the weed block fabric. The critters tend to tear it up leaving the garden looking rather unattractive. A friend of mine had a better solution. Put down a couple layers of newspaper before adding the mulch. It really only helps prevent weeds for the one season, and of course it just breaks down. Love it.
Ashley says
I loved this post. I have been meaning to doctor up our mailbox area and this was great inspiration!
Katie says
Ugh – we weed-blocked large areas last summer that we weren’t ready to plant in yet. Covered them with mulch a few times since, but it doesn’t seem to have helped! I’d love to hear any brand recommendations if it worked well for you! Also – how did you pin down the edges that the weeds didn’t just grow up around the sides of the cloth?
I’m a black thumb for plants but we seem to be weed magnets.
YoungHouseLove says
You get these little u-shaped pins that go into the dirt to hold down the fabric around the edges. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Sarah Beth says
The armed like Ft. Knox comment gets me everytime. I live outside of Elizabethtown, KY and Ft. Knox is in my county. Unlike Ft. Knox you can take pictures…yep that is right, on Ft. Knox you cannot take unauthorized pictures (especially of the Gold Vault). And I’ve been told that the yard of the Gold Vault is littered with land mines, not super cute iron squirrels (even though that would be awesome). Just some random facts lol. BTW…I love this blog!
YoungHouseLove says
Woah! Thank goodness photos are allowed here. Blogging would be hard without them. Haha.
xo,
s
Marcia S. says
Years ago we used the thick black plastic for weed control. It eventually broke down into little flaky pieces that were very hard to clean up. Now we use the weed cloth. It works best where there’s no holes in it, i.e., an area where you don’t want anything to grow. We usually use rocks on the cloth — they don’t blow away like mulch does. We’ve used the cloth in a vegie garden and it’s better than weeding the whole thing but anything that spreads from runners will come up in the holes where the plants are.
Love Norman!
Amy @ Lovely Nest says
This same thing happened to us. I was focusing so much on the inside of the house and it seems like I looked outside one day and the whole yard was overgrown. I’m currently on a journey of clearing out all the weeds and overgrown plants. I say journey because it’s no short task!
Monika says
Sherry, Your modesty heart made me laugh! You are so cute. :)
Good luck getting rid of the wasp/yellow jacket/hornets nest safely.
On an unrelated note, I was wondering if you planned on doing an update soon on how your experience using coupons is going?
YoungHouseLove says
Coupons are still in use but I have a hard time saving more than $50 per major shopping trip (which is still nothing to sneeze at, but I refuse to buy stuff we don’t actually need so it’s hard to get 95% savings or anything like that). I’m still happy to use them for stuff we use/need though! So I guess it’s a very status quo update for ya. Haha.
xo,
s
Monika says
Saving $50 per shopping trip is pretty great! Do you shift your shopping habits in the summer and buy less at the grocery store and more at the farmers market?
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Monika. Yup, we tend to buy less produce at the grocery store (sometimes hardly any) when we can get it fresh at the market in the summer. And now that we’re growing things like basil and other herbs we use a lot (we like those fresh, which isn’t always cheap) that should save us some money too. Not a ton, but it all helps!
xo,
s
Brooke says
As always, I loved your post! You give such great ideas. Just FYI…be careful w/the bird house in regard to hornets. We had a huge hornet’s nest in a bird house a couple of years ago that I did not know about until I was weeding nearby. I learned a painful lesson that hornets like bird houses nearly as much as birds do!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Yikes! Thanks for the warning! It’s probably a good sign that a family of birds flies out when we get the mail so I think it’s inhabited by the right creatures – at least for now!
xo,
s
Kacie says
I love Norman and your mini garden. We just bought our house and the WHOLE FREAKIN’ yard is weed-matted! It’s going to be a huge bark/weed mat removal project!
Kacie
http://www.acollectionofpassions.blogspot.com/
Alison @ The Movealots says
Just a little pulling makes a big difference! Your mailbox looks great. We’ve been working (ok, I’ve been working while my husband has been ignoring) on our backyard for a while and it looks much less plants-taking-over-the-planet now.
I’m always amazed at how nice mulch makes everything look, though. Just did a little bit of work in our front yard and it’s so much nicer coming home now!
http://movealots.blogspot.com/2011/06/welcome-welcome-area.html
andrew says
Don’t worry.. we all know your real weapon of defense.. the burg(er)ler.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, he’s pretty ferocious!
xo,
s
anglophile.ash says
Last time I moved, in 2009, I had some patio furniture that I was retrieving from my BFF’s place. They had a porch at the time, while I did not, and so they’d been “hosting” my little table & chair set. Upon moving, we found this little beauty. This is my BFF Gretchen reacting to it, with a stick.
anglophile.ash says
Ack, HTML fail. This is the first pic:
and this is the second, of Gretchen:
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, I don’t know if those links worked (invisible issues), but I’d love to see!
xo,
s
Katie says
Does it sound crazy if I say that I am so glad that you have uber security? That is something I was talking about with husband just the other day. We have two young babies and the idea just makes us nervous. The more parnoid the better in this situation:D
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, when we were getting estimates it was crazy to learn how high-tech sensors and sound-triggers can get. At first we felt like we were living in the belly of a robot but we have grown to love it! Especially with Clara, you just get all protective when you’re a parent- you know?
xo,
s
Cory Ann Ellis says
Hello,
I’ve been working on my landscaping a lot in the past month. Our city offers wood chips/mulch for free and they actually load it in your truck so that is what I decided to use when laying out the framework for my yard. First I used a rope and created my design then spray painted and cut out all of the sod. I then put down top soil/compost soil (we can get this free at our landfill too). After that and creating the plant bedding areas I used paper bags and newspapers to put down prior to the mulch. So far there are a couple of places were a weed has poked through but not many. The perk with the newspaper is it’s free and it naturally biodegrades to add to the soil. When I ran out of newspaper I used some yard fabric that I got on sale last year and either way it works well so far.
Our curb appeal has gone up considerably since I started the landscaping. And I’m hoping that will help in the refinancing. I’ll share some pics if you ever want to e-mail. O and last weekend I finally put the mailbox on a post it was sitting on our front porch for almost a year.
CA
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh we’d love to see pics on Our Facebook page if you feel like sharing!
xo,
s
Carly says
Thanks for the motivation as we are also “those neighbors” — going to go clean up the yard stat. :)
Libby says
Not sure if anyone has written this yet, but I have read that you should ditch any alrm company signs that mention the name of the company. Security experts suggest it is better to buy a generic “This home is protected by an alarm” sign so that burglars are not clued in to what type of system it could be and how to bypass it.
Rachel @ We Heart Minnesota says
We just used that weed barrier fabric on our new landscaping.
http://weheartminnesota.com/2011/06/13/everyday-were-hustling/
It definitely helps wrangle pesky weeds (that seem to be everywhere this year, at least in Minnesota). And I wish we had found a cute iron squirrel like Norman. All we have found is a huge amount of random bricks and pavers strewn about that we have to get rid of somehow. Grrrrr.
Jenna says
we just did a mailbox makeover too! ours is an old wooden house that our neighbor made for the whole street many years ago. ours is the only one left, so we were determined to save it, especially since he died last year. we painted it and re-shingled it last weekend. ode to don! haha.
MB says
IMO landscape fabric stinks, you will have weeds growing on top of it by next year (especially since you put dirt on top of it) and the roots will get through. Next time you need weed control try good thick cardboard. After you put it down wet it then mulch on top of it. It will decompose and you just do it again. Mine last two to three years before I have to redo the cardboard. Good luck.
Adam says
I love the 2nd to last photo- the squirrel hiding in the new shrubbery. Looks much better, Sherry!
Suzie says
Came face to fave with paper wasps under our bbq while watering pot plants at the begining of Autumn (live in Australia), got rod pf them by using the garden hose. Didn’t want to use insect spray. But last week we wanted to sit outside to enjoy some winter sun warm we opened out oitdoor umbrella (you can still get sunburnt inwinter here) & wasps flew out! They made another nest! We ended up javing to kill them:-(, we are both allergic & just couldn’t take the risk of them returning again. Goodluck with your wasps!
Stefanie says
Our neighbors are “those neighbors”… they have now not mowed their grass in SEVEN MONTHS. At first we thought it was kind of funny, and we contemplated going over and offering to help out – but then work got crazy and by the time we had time to help, the grass was over a foot tall and our little lawnmower would not be able to help with that! Now it is close to two feet and I am terrified that animals are living in it… haha.
Juls says
I use cardboard boxes (thanks, Amazon), and thick newspapers if I have them. They eventually decompose into the soil and make better soil. And they smother out weeds quite well. (I do lasagna gardening, so I tend to add things on top, kind of a grownup version of mud cakes)
I had a HUGE hornets nest one time in the corner of the roof. It was scary, and I was debating who to call when a guy drove by, rolled down his window and said (insert thick Kentucky-ish accent) “Can I have that hornets nest if I get rid of the hornets for ya?”
I said um, what for? And he said it would make a nice wall decoration. I said okay, and next day, it was gone. I hope he got a lot of joy out of it and spray painted it pink.
Oh, and don’t anyone from KY get upset. I say it with love. I’m from extreme Southern Illinois, which is not Kentucky only because we’re on the other side of the river. That’s how we talk.
Handy Man, Crafty Woman says
eh, we’re those neighbors too. there is so much rocky sandy soil around our mailbox, it’s gross. I want to do something nice around it, but we have very bad winters up here and hubby says the plow would wreck it (he’s already knocked over our mailbox…) grrr! It does need tending to, though. but I can’t bother with doing anything too “nice.”
erin says
We also renovated the inside of our house for 2.5 years and did not touch the outside.
the chuck says
We just replaced our mailbox entirely, but we have not yet had the time to landscape it yet. Thanks for the inspiration/motivation.
Keep up the good work.
brita says
When we first moved into our house 13 years ago they had basically used the back yard as a dump for the last 60 years. The woman who lived there (for like ever before us. The house was built in 1800 and we’re the third family to own it) didn’t want the neighbors to know about the excessive amount of prune juice she drank so she threw all the bottles into the back woods. There are also a ton of ancient make up and spice jars all in really cool greens and blues. i found a leather shoe that looked like it had been there for centuries hidden under a rock. Itd be crazy to do an excavation. Anyway there were also a ton of little figurines that we found, most of them broken. One was a hand carved soapstone african-american woman holding a big basket of stuff and looking really sad. Shes about 4 inches tall and still very brightly colored for being buried under dirt for years. The other is a little silver wizard holidng his arms up in the air with a staff and stars everywhere. hes about two inches tall. They’re been living in out kitchen since we found them and the wizard holds the end of out kitchen twine ball for us so we don’t lose it. as weird as they are i love these little things. and even in redoing our kitchen (almost, its halfway there)they have stayed in their spots.
Pinky Tan says
thats exactly what our overgrown weed looks now, (maybe ours is worse lol) because we moved out long time ago and we rarely visit our old home to maintain it.
oh the poor wasp and his nest :)
Elaine says
Hi John and Sherry,
As an avid follower of your blog I just wanted to say that I love your posts and to mention that I’ve just started my own blog. Please check it out if interested – visualmeringue.blogspot.com
Thanks!
Elaine.
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! Happy blogging! Off to check it out…
xo,
s
Kiran says
Weeding is something I don’t look forward in summer. Sigh. But y’all did a great job sprucing up the mailbox area.
Thais Bessa says
I don’t know if you guys have already written about it, but it would be really amazing to read a post about how you chose your alarm company, the cost/benefit criteria…
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We just arranged for a bunch of in-person estimates to meet everyone so we could get a feel for each company. Since we wanted some high-level upgrades and extra security, we knew it wouldn’t be cheap but it was worth it to know that when we travel our house would be protected (and when we’re in it, our baby- and the rest of us – would also be protected). We did look for a company who could give us the most for our money while feeling like their protocol and reaction criteria were “on the ball” and in the end we’re really happy with the company we chose!
xo,
s
Bella Daylight says
I once had a very scary encounter with a wasps nest back when I was like 8 or 9 years old. We used to have the bell of the gate in a small wooden box which was hung up on the fence next to the gate and a few wasps had built a nest in there and it was entirely impossible to ring the doorbell so I had to scream and scream so my grandparents would hear me. I think I stood there for like 15 minutes or something until they noticed me and beeing allergic to wasp and bee stings from a little age I was half scared out of my mind one of them would sting me
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man that sounds so scary!
xo,
s
Annika says
Ha-ha, I love the birdhouse! I now have visions of you guys singing and dancing to get your mail, while little birds flutter around you, just like in a Disney movie!
Anita says
This fall, you could plant some easy no maintenance perennials there. It’s an area that often gets neglected and it’s so far out of the way from your front door to tend to. My mother in law does a combination of Shasta daisies, mums and irises. Irises keep the weeds away and daises and mums keep blooms from summer through fall so you’ll always have something blooming.
I have used the weed preventing material. It helps a lot. Eventually, weeds do grow on top of it though.
Anita says
hey guys, my comments are always in “moderation” and I also get your news feed way late..is it me?
YoungHouseLove says
Nope, it’s definitely not just you Anita! We manually approve all of our comments (to cournteract spam and ensure that we answer every single question) so sometimes in the early morning they sit for a while as we feed Clara, get the first post ready, etc. As for the feed, we intentionally program it to arrive the next morning because we often post two posts in one day and we thought it would be annoying for people to get two emails in one day from us. So we have it “wait” until the morning so it can deliver two at once. Hope that makes sense!
xo,
s
OntarioGirl says
My fiance is a landscaper so we’re working on our yard right now…our house is always last to be fixed up of course haha but we’re also using landscape fabric and mulch for our gardens because I despise weeding!
The previous owners left us a little iron bunny out back who watches over our puppies fenced in area. So cute!
ktmade says
Wow – what a huge difference! It looks so nice and cheerful. :) And it doesn’t look like it took that long – inspires me to do a little gardening of my own.
Megan M. says
We just moved into a house and the previous people had left one of those boot scrubbers on the front porch. And it’s a pig! His belly is what is scratchy! Something I would never personally buy or own! My kids (4 and 2) have fallen in love with him! They clean off their shoes when they enter the house and even when they leave! He’s due for a name if he’s going to stick around!
Ann says
As our daughter, infant grandson and I pulled into our driveway one day, we noticed a large black trash bag hanging from one of the trees. Our daughter went to remove it from the tree only to find out it was a swarm of bees. You notice I said LARGE !!! After quickly getting safely indoors,I called around until I found a beekeeper that was willing to come collect them. As we watched through the window, we were amazed to see him back his truck up under the swarm, standing on the open tailgate he reached into the swarm (NO PROTECTIVE CLOTHING !!) and removed the Queen. He deposited her in a hive box on the ground and drove away. He returned later in the day and all of the worker bees had followed her into the hive. He told us that sometimes when the hive becomes too large for the container they are in they will take off looking for a “new” home. What an amazing thing to see !!
YoungHouseLove says
That sounds amazing! Wow. What a fearless guy.
xo,
s
Amber says
We had a yellow jacket hive in the wall of our old house. Only found when my husband heard buzzing when he was sitting in a chair next to the outlet, like any normal person thought tapping on the wall a few times would stop the buzzing. Well due to the stud to stud and 2 foot tall hive that they had created unknowingly behind the drywall my husbands hand went through the wall with the tap and INTO our home came hundreds upon hundreds of angry hornets! What a disaster! Luckily our pets were in a different area of the house and we didn’t have any children at the time! Oye!
Ryann says
I Just started following your blog and LOVE IT! I did wonder about privacy and security since so much of your house is on the internet – glad to hear you guys have a top of the line security system. We just bought a house as well and before we even moved in we upgraded the existing system due to the fact my parents house (in a nice neighborhood, where they have lived for 30+ years with no problem) was robbed at gunpoint while we were all there. Most traumatizing event of my life. I now set the alarm system religiously at our new house and believe whole heartedly in top security. Glad to see you guys do too!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh that’s so scary! So glad everyone was ok!
xo,
s
Melz says
OMG my garden gnome’s name is also Norman! Common garden statue name huh? :) Love it!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s just a great outdoor friend name I think.
xo,
s
Kirsten D says
I found a nest just starting, on our Master bath window. The window is right above the toilet so we never open the blinds. The only reason I saw it was because it was power washing our deck off that goes around or above ground pool.
Belinda - Nest Design Studio says
We are that type of neighbour as well! We built 2 years ago and still don’t have a front yard…..oh well we have had 2 kids in 2 years so we have been busy with some things!
Rebecca Foxworth says
Yes, we use a roll of weed-blocker. Yes, we put dirt on top. We’ve had to replace patches of it after about five years, but by then the plants are so tired looking, it’s pretty much time to dig and start over with a new roll anyway.