Spring is here! After a long and cold winter you can finally break ground (literally) on some of your spring projects. While the season is still in transition now is the perfect time to make some smaller changes to you home and garden. The perfect place to start is with a simple yet beautiful mailbox post or lantern post. We manufacture a variety of mailbox posts and lantern posts in a variety of materials. A mailbox post or lantern post is a great way to add some curb appeal to your home and create a classic elegance to your landscaping. One of the most fun parts of having a beautiful mail or lantern post is getting to add some seasonal touches to the area around it.

1. Around the post: Spring is full of possibilities. Garden around your mail or lantern post with bright flowers and simple planters. A great way to start is to add mulch or potting soil to a circular area around the post. From there add some kind of edging like stone or brick. If you don't want an edging make sure the edge between dirt and grass is clearly defined. After creating the space add some simple spring plants that can add some color. Add a few small shrubs to create some lush greens and add a few bushels of colorful tulips, daffodils, or bunches of pansies. If you want a more rustic look go big with larger plants with smaller flowers and grasses.
2. Go tall: If you like something more vertical plant a climbing plant like clematis or climbing roses! These plants will quickly climb and add a beautiful mix of colors and greens that will bring your post to life. If you take this route be sure to keep an eye on your post to make sure the plant is growing in the right direction and is well pruned. Read up on five of our favorite climbing plants to get some ideas!
3. Fun planters: If you want to keep the ground area around your post simple add a few plants in pots and containers. A great way to celebrate spring is to utilize a small wooden barrel cut in half, filled with colorful flowers. Another fun idea is to fill an old watering can with soil and plant some tulips in it and place it next to the post. The post is already a focal point in your yard so make it fun and seasonal!

SHOP FOR MAILBOXES AND MAILBOX POSTS IN OUR ONLINE STORE

When you are embarking on a complicated project finding a designer and supplier that can provide reliable, quality products is essential to getting things on time and under budget. With complex projects like planned communities Walpole Outdoors has provided a myriad of services and products that have delighted homeowners and developers alike. Whether you are looking for a grand entry gate into the community, a custom sign welcoming residents and visitors, large scale fencing, mail and lantern posts that will feature throughout the community or structural elements like pergolas and arbors Walpole can help.

Architects and developers choose Walpole Outdoors to help craft their planned communities for the quality products and flexibility of designs. Walpole products are crafted in low-maintenance AZEK wood alternative. This material has the look of painted wood without all the splitting and rotting that occurs over time. AZEK comes in factory-finished white but can be customized with Sherwin Williams vinyl safe paint to meet the exact color needs of the project. With such a large scale project that will require daily maintenance and attention providing a product that is virtually maintenance-free is highly desirable and one less thing to worry about. Walpole also works with architects and developers to craft custom designs that suit their exact needs so they can cultivate the perfect look for their community. Walpole specializes in working with developers design products that are unique like custom front entrance signage to products that require uniformity like mail and lantern posts that will feature throughout the community. In addition to fencing, gates, pergolas and arbors Walpole also supplies planned communities with options for storage including sheds, durable privacy fencing and small buildings as well as decor items like stylish planters and window boxes.

Give us a call at 800-343-6948 or request a free design consultation online to get started on your planned community. We will happily discuss our variety of products and styles to help you find the perfect structure for your planned community!

One of the best parts of summer is taking a long trip to someplace unfamiliar and spending the time relaxing and forgetting about all of your normal worries. But sometimes you can do just that without leaving your home! We're talking about a staycation. Creating the optimal staycation is all about bringing those resort luxuries to your own backyard and hushing those reminders of work and responsibility. Whether you are on a budget or not you can create a memorable staycation with a little prep work and a true dedication to the art of relaxation.

Disconnect

The first task in any good staycation is turning off the alarm clock, disabling your calendar reminders and simply just shutting off your phone and putting it somewhere out of reach. With your work emails and messages only a click away it's hard for anyone to get any real time away aside from leaving the country. Once you've disconnected you have time to relax without the constant distraction of dings and pings.

Create a resort-like space

Since you will be spending a lot of time finally enjoying the warm summer weather you have to do a little prep work to create the perfect outdoor space. What are your favorite parts of going on vacation? If you love lounging poolside invest in a quality chaise that you can melt into. If you love spending time reading or napping set up a hammock in a quiet place and surround it with flowers and other accessories that make it feel a little more like an island resort than your backyard. Once you have that space created the only thing left is to use it!

Skip cooking (at least inside)

Put household tasks on the back burner and indulge a little. A great way to do this is by ditching the kitchen. Prep some indulgent meals and desserts for your staycation in advance or simply have them delivered so you don't have to lift a finger! If cooking is something you love simply move the kitchen outside to the grill or outdoor kitchen. Put your diet on hold and think vacation. What would you be eating at a resort? Indulge on delicious seafood and rich desserts. Plan ahead and create some >island cocktails by the pitcher that taste as good with lunch as they do with dinner!

Treat yourself

This is the perfect opportunity to take some time out and focus on you. Find a masseuse that makes house calls and enjoy a massage outside followed by a long dip in the hot tub. Play up that theme by turning your bedroom and bathroom into luxurious spaces with aromatherapy candles, plush overstuffed pillows, terrycloth robes and high thread count sheets. Organize all of your beach favorite books in a shelf by the pool so you don't have to move a muscle. Even better sleep outdoors under the stars! Bring comfy bedding outside and setup a wonderful outdoor bedroom in your backyard in a tent or under the kit pergola.

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Now is the best time of year to throw the perfect summer party! From food to decor to company, outdoor entertaining is about creating a low-key environment for people to relax. Here are a few ways you can create the perfect summer party...

Create a comfortable space

Picnic tables and adirondack chairs are a summer staple but another great way to create an instantly relaxed space is to utilize deep seating furniture (or even couches and chairs from indoors) to create a feeling of luxury. Use colorful pillows and throws to create a cozy and inviting space under the kit pergola or on the deck. Grab an area rug and coffee table and bring the living room outside. This is the perfect time to break out those comfy cushions! Set up end tables with colorful summer flowers and pitchers of lemonade or fruity cocktails and enjoy. This set-up works great for an afternoon brunch or an evening enjoying life under the stars.

Light it up!

Nothing brings people together like a fire. You don't need a permanent outdoor fire pit or expensive outdoor fireplace to enjoy a cozy evening gathering, a fire bowl or stand-up fire pit work just as well. If you are looking for something simple and practical a fire bowl with a spark screen is a great choice. Enjoy the ambiance with added safety to protect guests and furniture from sparks. Another wonderful and more decorative choice is a fire pit with a decorative screen. Choose from the Orion screen or Full Moon Party screen. Each pit measures 30 inches so you can get the function of a fire pit while being able to easily change its location. Grab the smores! Adding a fire feature to your evening summer party is an instant way to bring every closer together.

Add some sweetness

If you love entertaining you've probably found a million ways to add some fun to your beverage menu. A great way to do this in the summer is to make simple fruited ice cubes for alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Grab some of your favorite summer fruits and add them to water in your ice cube tray, it's as simple as that. Try some simple ones like blueberries, strawberries and raspberries while also trying out a few combination recipes like adding a little mint and lemon! These cubes will keep your drink cool while adding a splash of color and flavor (once they melt, of course).

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While PVC vinyl has become a popular material for fencing and outdoor structures there's nothing quite like the look and feel of natural wood. Walpole Outdoors has been crafting classic and modern structures out of wood since the company was founded in 1933. Even in 2016 we still utilize the finest decay-resistant northern white cedar for all of our wood products. The US Forestry Service recognizes cedar as one of the woods that is most resistant to decay. This beautiful, durable cedar is cut at our own mills in Maine. The wood is milled to the precise size and proportion to insure the handcrafting of beautiful looking products. Unlike other companies all of the wood sold and crafted at Walpole Outdoors is handled by us from forest to finish. That means we carefully select the wood for each project maintaining quality throughout the entire process. Our wood products, like cellular PVC, are stained using a state-of-the-art in-house airless spraying system which creates beautiful, uniform and long-lasting colors. This system makes sure that color and stain is evenly distributed through the entire structure with a consistent texture. Walpole Outdoors also offers the unique, patented and widely used LifeGuard post bases for wood fences. LifeGuard post bases were designed by Walpole engineers to extend the life of our wood fence no matter the local ground conditions. Only LifeGuard bases prevent damage that causes premature aging in wooden structures - all while protecting the base of the posts from termites and wet soil. The advantage of wood is largely aesthetic with that classic and timeless natural grain look you just can't replicate with even the most advanced cellular PVC. Wood fencing works in any environment with any kind of look and is durable in any kind of weather. Though wood needs to be re-painted or re-stained a few years down the line due to normal weather corrosion that just gives you an opportunity to change up the aesthetic of your home! Wood is also environmentally friendly and can easily be disposed of when your structure or fence runs its course. And lastly, wood is often the most affordable option when it comes to structures or fencing and is easy to customize or repair.

Contact us for a free design consultation where you can get answers to your questions and find the perfect wood fence or structure for your home.