Well it has been a little while and I thought I would post an up date on my post entitled Keeping Spiders at Bay. To recall, I was trying to keep spiders from building their webs around my mailbox and in particular from being present in my mailbox itself using dried lavender. The big question is, “Did it work”?

My original post was on September 18. It is now October 10th. So it has been about three weeks since my little experiment started. To date, I have not had any spiders in the mailbox. Exactly what I was hoping for!

I may add a few fresh springs of lavender in the box every once in a while to keep the aroma fresh. So far so good. We shall see if this lasts…

It feels as though Halloween is approaching my neighborhood. But it is only September. Yet, spider webs are everywhere.

On my daily walks in the neighborhood, I have noticed the incredible amount of spider webs found on my street. Spiders have been very busy weaving their intricate art in the yards of my neighbors. Spiders seem to love weaving their webs around lamp posts, trees, bushes, porches, and mailboxes.

One morning I woke to find garlands of webs stretching across my whole front yard, from tree to tree to bush and across the front porch. Must have been quite a party these eight legged guys were having in the night. While the making of webs is quite amazing, sometimes they can get in the way. I do not usually mind the webs outside the home. Spiders do have their benefits and place in the world after all. However, I was getting a bit tired of the spiders over-taking my mailbox.

I clean the mailbox frequently so the webs do not build up. However, the spiders come back and decorate the box again. It is a never ending process. It is not unusual to find spiders in my mailbox when retrieving my mail. I personally do not like the idea of reaching my hand inside knowing there may be a spider waiting inside.

The question is: How to keep spiders at bay? I did a little research and found that spiders do not like some plants such as mint and lavender. Lavender caught my eye. I grow lavender! Why not plant lavender around the mailbox? But first, maybe I should see if the lavender thing actually works. So, I proceeded to clean the mail box of all webs and occupants. Luckily, no occupants were in the box at the time of cleaning. Next, I took some clippings from my lavender plants and made tiny little bundles which I tied with twine. One bundle I placed inside the box. The other bundle I tied to the post. I will wait and see if this will have the outcome I desire. Time will tell…