Gardening Fun – Recycle a mailbox!

You might have heard of a mailbox planter, but have you seen a mailbox that is a planter?  When I saw Myra Glandon’s mailbox transformed into a planter, I filed the idea away for future,…I really loved hers!  All I needed was the  old mailbox to start my own project.

Myra Glandon’s delightful mailbox gave me an idea

I totally ‘stole’ the idea from my friend, Myra, whose mailbox planter is in our Marvelous Mailboxes photo album. I have had her idea in my file for EVER, I loved it that much. She gave me a few how tos

A friend snagged this mailbox for me, nice and heavy and perfect for my future planter

When driving with a friend past her bank of mailboxes, we turned to see a workman replacing an OLD with a NEW mailbox for my friend’s next door neighbor. ‘Hmmm, would they be tossing out the old one,’ we asked?
He didn’t know and said ask the neighbor. I protested,..’no, don’t bother,…really! Oh, no, please don’t ask!’ But my friend had already walked over to talk to her neighbor’s house saying, ‘if it was for me I wouldn’t, but for you….’   Oh, my! Embarrassing!

That’s how this mailbox eventually came into my possession. I love it,…it’s big and heavy! I know just what I’ll do, and you all will see the result…someday soon.

Lesson:
It pays to let your friends know you like old junk for the garden..

Drill to make an opening for the saw

Here is the old mailbox now ready to have a piece cut out of the top. Tractor Man cut out the opening with a hack saw and then graduated to a sawsall.

Tractor Man saws near one of the ribs in the side

Remove the cut out piece once it’s detached

Leave a two inch rim so it will hold soil

I used pliers to fold over the raw edges,…oof, this took the most effort

Now the fun part comes

Plants and paints were picked out

Spray paint and plants were all I needed…I wanted teal paint, about the same as Myra’s and chose hardy Martha Washington geraniums and Sedum for the plants.

Spray paint is fun and easy and while many times I’ll leave things rusty, this time I wanted color!

Paint the flag a contrasting color

After planting, I set the mailbox on a stump near our back door entry,..where our friends come in

Here it is in all it’s splendor, my finished mailbox planter!

I loved doing this project!  and here it is! Many thanks to my friend, Lisa who snagged this mailbox from her neighbor and to Myra for the idea!

More on garden mailboxes

Marvelous mailboxes in the garden