Last September I killed 170 square ft of lawn on the hellstrip, intending to spread a prairie seed mix for a lush patch of native wildflowers and grasses.
As I did more research I quickly learned that would have been a big mistake!
Our hellstrip, like most, is subjected to many indignities. Snow plough damage, salt from de-icing winter roads, and a mailbox that has been knocked over once by a teenage driver & twice by lawn care guys, and used as a “little pee library” by neighborhood doggies. There’s also so nasty black plastic mesh about 4 inches below the surface, and lots of gravel.
Plus, this strip of land is owned by the city which means
• Permit required for any changes.
• No wood chip mulch, pavers or bricks.
• No digging within 3ft of the buried gas line.
• The city can tear it up at any time for any reason.
• Vegetation exceeding 2 feet in height “that constitutes a hazard” can be destroyed (especially if it's mistaken for weeds.)
My matrix design went through many painful iterations as I took all of the above into account, and not all my winter sowing germinated (dammit dwarf blazing star.)
Anyway, it’s planted now with 148 plants — 70% of which I proudly grew myself. The plants will decide what thrives or dies.
Hell yeah to the hell strip!!!
by PrairieTreeWitch
4 Comments
Love to see it!! My only recommendation would be to fill in more of the gaps, natives generally have grown adapted to thrive in dense plantings
Congratulations on a job well done!
Great job!
Yaaaasss! Would love an update next year! Was it easy to get permission from your HOA (if u have one)?