Mailbox Native Plant and Pollinator Garden

Description

I wanted to start replacing the grass along the road to reduce lawn maintenance and to introduce neighbors to the ease and benefits of gardening with native plants at little or now cost. With 5 families that visit the mailboxes daily and dozens more that drive by the corner, I thought this was the perfect location to start from scratch and document my journey. The site gets full sun; the soil is dry at the top and wetter on the bottom (especially after the rain).

This garden was started in the fall of 2022 by sheet mulching the area behind and beside the mailboxes with paper, then topping with arborist wood chips. Within a few weeks, I planted 93 "hunk of seedlings" that I'd started from seed in the winter of 2022 (9 months earlier) via winter sowing in protective containers, along with 30 plugs purchased from a local native plant stand. After planting, I did minimal hand watering for the first couple of weeks to help the plants begin establishing.

Fast forward to spring 2023 and the plants are waking up and showing signs of life.

Garden Template

Mailbox Native Plant and Pollinator Garden Template

Photos