Hi everyone!!!
New to this community and super excited to get started but I’m a little overwhelmed with where to begin.
I thought this would be a good place to start. It’s a small patch of grass between the garage and fence that is too small to fit the mower in, so we have to weedwack it 😐 it’s terrible. So it’s my first place I want to go NoLawn! My original plan was just to do rocks as it’s in a tight spot with little sunlight and aesthetic opportunities/wouldn’t really be able to access easily for future maintenance I guess. but maybe there’s something I could do here that would be more beneficial than rocks. Ground cover or otherwise?
Also how would you suggest getting rid of the grass? I’ve read cardboard, cardboard & mulch (wood chips?), just mulch? Would there be a different method depending on what I want to do in the area (rocks vs. plants?)
I’m in NE Ohio zone 6a btw!!
Thanks so much!!!
by jujubee222
40 Comments
I had a similar situation and used river rocks.
My first thought was stone of some type. But what about moss?
Do you walk through there much?
That’s dense shade and a tight space. the only thing likely to thrive there and not need a bunch of maintenance would be hostas or similar
Rain garden?
Wild strawberry and stepping stones/pavers
1. French drain the pathway to empty to street. That grading looks like water going towards foundation.
2. Stone walkway so you never have to mow there.
You can remove the grass and use those pavers as stepping stones to build a walkway with stones to fill it in. You could add some native ground cover like Wild ginger (Asarum canadense), which can grow over the rocks.
Sell the house and move
If you want a groundcover that likes shade and is very low you could try ajuga
Pavers and store my extension ladder there. I think pea gravel and river rock get to be a pain eventually if you want to maintain the space without herbicides.
Run through it as fast as I can while making the Buck Rodger’s spaceship launching sound.
In northeast Ohio we have Meadow City Native Plant Nursery, I would recommend stopping by there and asking what they recommend for this site specifically, but here is a search on their site filtered to full shade:
https://meadowcitynursery.com/collections/shop-plants-instock?filter.p.m.species.sun_shade=Full+shade&sort_by=title-ascending
I’d probably put down some stepping stones or wood chips as a path if you tend to walk through there, and then pick some low growing shade plants for either side.
Use cardboard and mulch to smother the grass first.
Creeping thyme
50 gallon smart pots and 10 cannabis plants .
Gravel and/or pavers. Otherwise it’s a mud track.
How wide is it? Put a row of rain barrels there.
Sculpture garden (miniature)
Hostas.
Gray breeze or crushed granite with a weed barrier underneath
I’d likely go for river rocks.
But if you want to get fancy, you could extend the roof of the shed/house down, moving the gutters as well for drainage, use pavers, and then have a covered storage spot. One poster mentioned ladders…you could stack firewood, lumber, store the grill, bicycles, folding tables…make it a dog house. Any number of things.
Ferns
Stepping stones and a native groundcover (one you don’t have to baby too much or mow often) would help with being able to walk around the house and keeping maintenance low! Maybe violets or wild strawberry?
I have golden ragwort in the spot between my garage and my neighbor’s fence. So much less maintenance than grass, grows in my heavy clay soil, and I haven’t watered them since I planted them. They’re native to where I am (Pennsylvania). If they’re native to where you are, I highly recommend them.
Trees. I would plant eastern redbuds here, they don’t have aggressive roots, don’t get huge, and do well in low light conditions.
Lawn bowling alley
I would probably put cardboard in between perennial shade plants, and maybe even a couple evenly spaced stepping stones, with a light colored mulch. If you make good plant choices it can be accessible and cute. You can step over most hosta, ferns, heuchera, and lily of the valley easily enough.
Stepping stones
Cardboard mulch, followed by easy shade natives like ferns, jack-in-the-pulpit or wood poppies
Pavers. Rocks/gravel requires maintenance
Contact a hard scape company and have them install pavers.
Pick something that’s not invasive so it doesn’t creep under the fence into the neighbor’s yard.
In addition to the suggestions about drainage…
Maybe clover? It.dkesnt grow.high and requires little maintenance.
I would just do clover. I don’t think any plants would fit here if you plan to use it as a walkway. If you don’t need a walkway then you can go wild.
first thought: bowling alley. charge the local kids. make a couple of bucks.
Phlox or creeping thyme.
Lay down cardboard, then mulch. Cut holes in and plant native ferns. This fall, seed with spring ephemerals.
Id pee back there when no one was looking.
I let the violets take over a space like that.
I’d make sure no soil or vegetation is right up against the siding to discourage subterranean termite entry
I would mulch with large pine nuggets. Remove the turf, first, though.